Home > South-East Asia >> East Timor

East Timor News Digest 8 – August 1-31, 2014

News & issues

Timor Sea spy scandal Media & journalism Labour & migrant workers Health & education Foreign affairs & trade Mining & energy Analysis & opinion

News & issues

Garuda soon to fly Bali-Timor Leste route

Jakarta Post - August 30, 2014

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is to open a new route from Denpasar, Bali, to Dili in Timor Leste, in October, in an attempt to tap into the growing number of travelers from the country's former province.

Garuda sales and marketing director Erik Meijer said on Friday that the carrier was scheduled to run daily flights from Denpasar to Dili in October, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Timor Leste's flag carrier Air Timor on Tuesday.

"We see Dili as a promising market. There are limited flight options to the city, so we are trying to meet the market demand," Meijer told reporters at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Indonesia Tourism and Creative Economy Fair (ITCEF).

On Tuesday, Garuda president director Emirsyah Satar signed the MoU with Air Timor director Francisco Bento Alves Pereira Belchior, witnessed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Under the MoU, Air Timor has committed to help to sell Garuda tickets, Meijer said.

According to Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (BPPI) chairwoman Wiryanti Sukamdani, Timor Leste is a promising market due to the price disparity between the two countries.

"People from Timor Leste see Indonesia as a shopping destination as it is cheaper to shop here than in their country. So it's a promising destination to be developed," she said.

In a bid to further expand its flight network in the eastern part of Indonesia, Garuda will open three further routes starting on Sept. 1: Makassar-Kolaka (Southeast Sulawesi), Makassar-Bau Bau (Southeast Sulawesi) and Mataram-Sumbawa Besar (West Nusa Tenggara).

"We have decided to open these new routes in order to show our commitment to supporting the development of the national economy by increasing the connectivity between regions," Meijer said.

He added that the airline was planning to link Manado (North Sulawesi) to Raja Ampat (West Papua) by the end of this year, in an attempt to entice more foreign tourists to the country's most popular diving destination.

The carrier will also increase the frequency of the Makassar-Luwuk route from one flight per day to two per day, in an effort to meet increasing market demand.

"We are also planning to increase our frequency to Labuan Bajo [East Nusa Tenggara] from twice per day to three times per day, on the back of rising demand, mainly from foreign tourists," Meijer said, citing that the flight's load factor was almost 100 percent.

Garuda has been considering assuming management of Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo due to its tourism potential. In April, the firm submitted a written statement to the Transportation Ministry expressing its interest in managing the airport.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/30/garuda-soon-fly-bali-timor-leste-route.html

Action against veterans' benefits fraud a 'big failure'

Dili Weekly - August 5, 2014

Venidora Oliveira – Member of Parliament Eladio Faculto has expressed concern over the government's failure to stop the falsification of veterans' documents.

Deputy Faculto said the government had failed to find a solution, despite the fact the problem had been recurrent over many years. The government has placed the blame for the problem with field staff who record data.

"The government has not find any solutions about this matter, which means it does not have the capacity to resolve the problem," Deputy Faculto said at National Parliament. "Politically, it has been a big failure."

He the number of veterans on the books has increased each year, causing much confusion. He suggested the government reassess the issue in order to find an alternative solution.

Secretary of State for the Fight for National Liberty (SEKLN) Julio da Costa (alias Metan Malik) said the issue was complex, without an easy solution. He said honesty was needed to resolve the problem.

"I am here as an individual secretary of state whose working in upper level -- I can not do anything about the falsification of documents because it happens at the base level," he said.

He called on members of Parliament to work together for a solution. More than 18,000 veterans received the benefits, he said.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/capital/12618-action-against-veterans-benefits-fraud-a-big-failure

Timor Sea spy scandal

Government wants East Timor spy charged

Sydney Morning Herald - August 31, 2014

Tom Allard – The Australian government has asked the federal police to investigate if lawyer Bernard Collaery and a former spy can be charged with disclosing classified information after revelations Australia spied on East Timor during sensitive oil and gas treaty talks.

Confirmation of the investigation came as the AFP asked the ABC to hand over material relating to its reports on the clandestine operation.

According to sources, the AFP was particularly keen on getting unedited footage of Mr Collaery's interviews with 7.30, Lateline and Four Corners. It might also want an extract of an affidavit from the former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent that reporter Conor Duffy claimed to have obtained.

In the interviews with the ABC and other media organisations, Mr Collaery -- who had acted for East Timor and the former ASIS agent – detailed how the former spy led the operation to insert listening devices into the wall cavity of East Timor's government offices under the cover of an aid project.

Attorney-General George Brandis and solicitor-general Justin Gleeson both said the former spy and Mr Collaery appeared to have breached laws preventing the public disclosure of classified information. The offence carried a prison term of up to two years.

When asked if it was investigating Mr Collaery and the former spy for breaching commonwealth laws, a spokesman for the AFP said: "The AFP can confirm it has received a referral in relation to this matter. As this investigation is ongoing, it is inappropriate to comment further."

The referral was understood to have come from Senator Brandis or his department, which includes ASIO.

In emailed comments, Mr Collaery said he understood ASIO referred the matter to the AFP because of a suspected breach of section 39 of the Intelligence Services Act. He noted that current ASIO boss David Irvine was head of ASIS at the time of the spying, which Mr Collaery said was illegal.

"This is the police knowingly or unknowingly trying to base a search warrant on an illegality. The AFP should be investigating [former foreign minister Alexander] Downer and Irvine."

The ABC was considering its response but was understood to be prepared to reject the request, despite intimations from the AFP that it would seek a warrant for the material if it failed to comply.

While it was happy to provide footage that went to air (it was available online anyway), it regarded the unedited footage as including off-the- record information that might reveal the identity of protected sources.

The AFP investigation was the latest twist in the extraordinary spying saga that ruptured relations between East Timor and Australia and drew the condemnation of the International Court of Justice.

ASIO agents raided the home of the former ASIS officer and the office of Mr Collaery in December, seizing documents and electronic data then cancelling the former spy's passport. Mr Collaery was acting for East Timor in international arbitration to nullify a treaty between Australia and the tiny nation governing oil and gas reserves worth more than $40 billion in the Timor Sea. The former ASIS agent was East Timor's star witness in the arbitration.

East Timor argued the spying meant the treaty was not negotiated in good faith, as required under the Vienna Convention.

East Timor slammed the raids as "unconscionable conduct" and the International Court of Justice condemned the behaviour and gave an unprecedented interim order for Australia to cease any intelligence monitoring of East Timor and seal the material it seized in the raids.

East Timor was especially outraged that ASIO seized much of the legal material it was using in the arbitration against Australia. Moreover, the raids occurred just before the planned trip of the former spy to the Hague to appear before the arbitration tribunal.

But the government maintained the raids were justified, arguing they were launched to protect national security, not to hamper East Timor's legal case.

Ever since the raids, Mr Collaery had remained in Europe working on the arbitration case. Counsel for the whistleblower also could not be reached.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/government-wants-east-timor-spy-charged-20140831-10aoad.html

Media & journalism

East Timor: IFJ launches petition protest against draconian 'press law'

Pacific Media Centre - August 29, 2014

Sydney (International Federation of Journalists/Pacific Media Watch) – The Sydney-based Asia-Pacific office of the International Federation of Journalists has launched a global petition protesting against a controversial 'press law' passed earlier this year by Parliament, partially rejected by the Appeal Court as "unconstitutional" and awaiting presidential approval.

The IFJ's online petition describes the law as "incompatible with the basic principles of freedom of expression, the practical workings of a free media and the needs of a modern democracy". The petition added: "Journalism should not be criminalised. Journalists should not be licensed at the whim of government appointed committees.

Thirty three international journalists, including SBS Dateline's Mark Davis, Crikey editor Marni Cordell, broadcaster George Negus, investigative journalist John Pilger, ABC Four Corners produce Peter Cronau and Pacific Media Centre director Dr David Robie, are among those who have signed the petition launch document.

The petition statement said:

"We, the undersigned journalists and media of Australia, respectfully urge the President, Government and Parliament of Timor Leste, to reject the current proposed Media Law. The laws are incompatible with the basic principles of freedom of expression, the practical workings of a free media and the needs of a modern democracy.

"Whatever the best intentions of the proposed legislation are, the potential for political abuse by future administrations is enormous.

"The proposed legislation will leave journalists open to an endless array of fines and criminal prosecutions. It will force journalists to work to a vague list of national and economic objectives. It will place the right of both citizens and journalists to write, publish and express themselves into the hands of a potentially politicised committee.

"Journalism should not be criminalised. Journalists should not be licensed at the whim of government appointed committees.

"We urge you to reconsider this legislation."

Signed:

Sign the East Timor media law petition: https://www.change.org/p/stop-east-timor-press-law

Source: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/east-timor-ifj-launches-petition-protest-against-draconian-press-law-8931

East Timor court media ruling sparks confusion, triggers global petition

Pacific Scoop - August 28, 2014

Lasse Underbjerg – Media freedom campaigners, civil rights activists and journalists in Timor-Leste are gearing up for a renewed struggle to try to block a controversial law that has been branded by opponents as draconian.

The campaign is being mounted in spite of a Court of Appeal ruling that found several articles of the media law to be violating country's constitution. The ruling was initially welcomed by local journalists, foreign correspondents, civil society advocates and democrats.

But since then there have been indications that the government plans to press ahead with the law and the International Federation of Journalists is launching a global petition against it.

The appeal initiative is led by SBS Dateline investigative journalist Mark Davis who says the "days of whispering the truth rather than speaking it may be returning". He was referring to 24 years of harsh Indonesian rule and tight controls on the media in Timor-Leste.

Leading investigative journalist Jose Belo, publisher of Tempo Semanal, applauded the Appeal Court decision after it was made public.

'Victory for Timorese'

"The courts today have upheld our constitution, which we fought so hard for. This is a victory for the East Timorese people. The government is trying to stop freedom of the media and freedom of expression," he told Ted McDonnell in Pacific Scoop.

Several Pacific media reported that the entire law had been deemed unconstitutional. But they were "jumping the gun big time", according to Bob Howarth, the country correspondent for Reporters Sans Frontieres in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. He has had close contact with a source in Dili, capital of East Timor, who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons. He now reveals, that the victory for the journalists and human rights activists may not be as big as they thought.

"The reports that the media law in East Timor had been ruled unconstitutional by the court are not correct," he says. "It now seems that only some clauses in the legislation were ruled unconstitutional, and that creates a great deal of uncertainty."

Lobby opportunity

The ruling now gives journalists and their supporters a chance to lobby their parliamentarians again to change some of the more contentious proposals, he says. "The biggest problem in my opinion is still the blurred definition on what it is to be a journalist."

The situation also worries Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre and editorial manager of the Pacific Media Watch freedom project.

"There is a great deal of uncertainty at the moment. On one side you have the journalist who has been fighting for abolishing the law, saying that it's a humiliating defeat for the Parliament in East-Timor," he says.

"But now there are more subtle voices that are telling us that in fact that's not true – and that dark forces are working in the country to get the law enforced. So it's very confusing at the moment."

The first draft of new media law was presented in hearings in February this year, but right from the start, journalists and freedom forums expressed their concerns with the content of the new law, pleading that it would de facto restrict them.

La'o Hamutuk (Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis) also stated that the law would bar foreign journalists. It established a public web-based media resource to monitor the law.

Key concerns:

After several weeks of revision, the National Parliament gave final approval to the Media Law on May 6. Fifty three deputies voted in favour, nobody voted against.

On May 29, La'o Hamutuk and other organisations wrote a letter urging the President to veto the media law. President Taur Matan Ruak received the proposed law on 25 June, 50 days after it was approved.

International petition

Three weeks later, he announced that he had submitted the media law to the Appeal Court, asking it to review the legislation's "constitutionality". While the law is supposed to be referred back to the Parliament for redrafting, the IFJ is moving on its international petition.

Anna Mavaju, contributing editor for Pacific Media Watch, says she has been covering media laws for five years, including the most recent media law in South Africa. She believes the law will be very hard to apply.

"The law is completely unworkable and unconstitutional in at least 10 different articles," she says. "There are so many people doing all sorts of journalism, so you would need a whole new police force to enforce it."

Howarth has had a long association with Timor-Leste after helping launch the Timor Post daily newspaper in 2000 and travelling to the country 22 times since. He sees a need for ongoing professional, up-to-date journalism training.

"A lot of people agree that we need a press council. The journalists in the country need more professional training because they basically started with nothing and even now the wages for the journalists are extremely low," he says.

Bad precedent

Dr Robie, who has signed the IFJ petition against the law and written about the issue on his blog Cafe Pacific, believes the legislation needs an overhaul and it would be a bad precedent for the Pacific region.

He says the law "is far harsher than the controversial Fiji Media Industry Development Decree imposed by the military-backed regime in Fiji in 2010".

"I definitely think East Timor needs a media law but one protecting media freedom. It seems like the people who wrote the current law draft have got no knowledge about journalism at all. The problem is that the draft goes back to the same people who wrote it in the first place," he says. "So I don't see how there's going to be much improvement."

[Lasse Underbjerg is an Inclusive Journalism Initiative (IJI) programme student journalist from Denmark on exchange at AUT University who is reporting on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course.]

Source: http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/08/east-timor-court-media-ruling-sparks-confusion-triggers-global-petition/

In 2015 Government to establish News Agency

Dili Weekly - August 22, 2014

Paulina Quintao – The Timorese government, through the State Secretariat for Social Communication (SEKOMS) will establish a national news agency in 2015 to contribute to the nation's development.

Secretary of State (SE) for Social Communication Nelio Isaac Sarmento said preparation for the news agency had begun, with SEKOMS looking to other similar institution in other nations, in particularly in Indonesia, for guidance on how to best implement and run the agency.

"We have started workshops and we have heard the experiences of Portugal and Indonesia in establishing their news agencies," he said at Dili's Hotel Timor.

SE Sarmento said Timor-Leste could learn from the problems encountered by those nations. He said the news agency would not only provide information to Timor-Leste residents but would also promote investment in the nation.

The news agency would allow the international community, including Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) member states, to see the reality of life in Timor-Leste.

Citizens of ASEAN nations as well as CPLP members Guinea-Bissau and Angola do not have much knowledge about Timor-Leste, SE Sarmento said.

Indonesia News Agency executive director Rahmat Nasution Dahlan said Timor-Leste deserved a national news agency.

"Soon, Timor-Leste will be admitted to ASEAN and will take its place in the international community, therefore all people in the world should be able to find out information about Timor-Leste's development in all sectors," he said.

He thanked the Timor-Leste government for inviting him to share the experiences of his nation and said Indonesia was ready to co-operate with its neighbour. Those who worked within the nation in newsgathering roles needed to be professional journalists, he said.

Timor Post proprietor and senior journalist Rosa Garcia said while Timor- Leste did need a national news agency, now was not the right time. "We need to have a meeting and discuss that agency's objectives and prepare human resources," she said.

She said the establishment of a national news agency may threaten the existence of other, independent news organizations as they will lose staff to the new entity. "The government has the budget to pay journalists a higher salary (than they would receive at a commercial outlet)," she said.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/news/12651-in-2015-government-to-establish-news-agency

Why is Timor-Leste trying to restrict the media?

Development Policy Centre - August 21, 2014

Ashlee Betteridge – Timor-Leste tends to largely stay out of the international spotlight these days, much to the relief of those who have seen it in the headlines for the wrong reasons in the past.

Yet Timor's proposed media law has turned into news itself, raising international ire among NGOs, activists and media organisations.

The law would require all journalists to be certified, including bloggers. Foreign journalists would require government permission to report in the country. It would also require the media to "promote the national culture, values and identity" and would create a five-member Press Council that could exercise disciplinary authority, among other tasks.

Human Rights Watch has labelled the law "repressive", while Time wrote of the threat in Timor that "if a government was able to influence broadcast content and put pressure on journalists, it would stand a good chance of disseminating its messages unchallenged".

Drafts and redrafts have left campaigners unsatisfied, yet Parliament approved the law in May. President Taur Matan Ruak sent the law to the country's top court to assess whether it was constitutional, and this week, the court found that it was not. The law now goes back to Parliament, giving activists another chance to push for changes.

In Timor, prominent journalist Jose Belo is leading the charge against the new law, along with think tank La'o Hamutuk (which is helpfully compiling developments and translations here).

Belo wrote on Crikey that the new media law is a "story of insiders versus outsiders, of the rich versus the poor" and that he would refuse to register as a journalist, no matter the consequences.

Belo is no stranger to controversy and has long been an outspoken activist. His Tempo Semanal newspaper has broken a number of large corruption stories and has had a major role in the state building process in Timor-Leste by pushing for transparency and accountability.

For a presentation to an international anti-corruption conference held in Dili in July last year, Belo wrote about the newspaper's history and the challenges it has faced in its work, lambasting those who were more interested in protecting their own interests instead of supporting independent journalism.

...This is no joke. We at Tempo Semanal are considering closing the newspaper because we receive little or no support from those that claim to stand against corruption... The government chokes us like a chicken's neck, the national and international business community here are too scared to advertise with us because they get all their contracts from the government, and the donor community is too scared to support us because they are afraid by doing so they will undermine their cosy relationship with Government.

But the problems with Timor's press run even deeper, despite the tenacity of individual reporters.

For starters, the media in Timor is not yet in a position to be profitable, hamstringing its independence. The tiny nation, with a population of around 1.17 million, represents an even tinier media market – radio has the highest audience penetration, but even its weekly reach is only around 55 percent (UNMIT, 2011 [pdf]). Low literacy levels combined with linguistic diversity, and high production costs leading to high cover prices for papers, mean that newspaper audiences represent just a sliver of the total population and are mostly limited to Dili. It's little wonder that there is limited advertising revenue for newsprint, especially for papers that may be annoying those in power.

So how do the papers and other media organisations survive? Well, one answer is that they simply run on the smell of an oily rag. Another answer is that UN agencies and NGOs operating in the country have set a precedent of paying to place press releases in newspapers and for the papers, television and radio stations to come out to cover their events, announcements, ceremonies and handshakes. While this may have subsided in line with the reduced presence of the international community in Dili in the last two years, actions by donors in the past have led to the business model of a number of media outlets becoming dependent on a steady stream of, what are essentially (often unidentified), advertorials. You can still get coverage without paying, but some agencies don't want to take the risk of missing out.

On the one hand, this practice can be seen as a financial stop-gap while other elements needed to support a free and properly functioning media continue to develop. On the other hand, it is pervasive. It allows donors to influence the news agenda and raises them above questioning, when there are a lot of questions that could be asked. The journalists covering these stories are under no inducement to ask interesting questions, making the content dull. It encourages a culture within the media of polite deference instead of inquiry and investigation. And it aids and abets a government that is sensitive to any critical coverage – when content is supplied by agencies and NGOs that are keen to maintain their relations with the government, it is hardly going to be critical, as Belo argues.

Consequently, it seems that there is even less scrutiny of the machinery of aid in much of Timor-Leste's media than there is of the government. But is heavy-handed regulation the only solution left after the media has failed to be capacity-built into professionalism through workshops?

Belo himself has criticised some of the media development initiatives run by donors, as have other organisations. For example, Freedom House writes that there is evidence to suggest that internationally funded media assistance "has contributed to what some Timorese journalists call a 'project mentality,' in which news organisations become dependent on grants from non-state actors and find it difficult to be independently sustainable".

Besides advertising from business and the international community, the government itself is the major financial backer of the Timor-Leste media, through advertising, through direct state support and through subsidies [in Tetum]. While our ABC shows that it is possible to have independent state- funded media, this is a more precarious proposition in Timor, given the sensitivity of the government to criticism. There are also problems in the relationships between government officials and journalists – there are reports of poorly-paid journalists receiving kick-backs from government officials for positive coverage, while other journalists and bloggers cannot access the information they need to accurately report.

On top of all this, the mobile revolution has been slow to take off due to a long-running telco monopoly (only broken by the entry of Telkomsel at the beginning of 2013). So unlike other countries in the region, where strong public momentum on social media and blogs has subsequently challenged the mainstream media to better perform, this counter voice is still subdued. The future development of online citizen journalism could also be threatened by the proposed law.

In a context of increasing concern around corruption and public spending, the arguments of the government about the law being necessary for quality ring hollow, as does the reasoning that the law will enshrine journalism as a profession with protections.

This law will not solve the quality challenge facing the Timor press. New voices, increased competition and stronger demands from audiences are probably the best hopes, and they cannot be legislated into existence.

Instead, there is a real threat of increasing self-censorship by publications and individual journalists to mitigate their financial and legal risk in the face of the new sanctions that can be imposed under the law, and a real threat to the freedom and diversity of the Timor-Leste media. As media ethicist Mark Pearson advised in a speech in Dili last year, "once media laws have been introduced it is hard to claw back eroded freedoms".

As the resources boom offers up a once in a lifetime opportunity for Timorese to climb out of extreme poverty, the country needs independent watch dogs and checks and balances on government spending and actions. In light of all the progress that has been made since the dark days before independence, a new law threatening press freedom would be a troubling backward step.

[Ashlee Betteridge is a Research Officer at the Development Policy Centre.]

Source: http://devpolicy.org/why-is-timor-leste-trying-to-restrict-the-media-20140821/

Appeal Court rejects East Timor's media law as 'unconstitutional'

Pacific Scoop - August 21, 2014

Ted McDonnell – Timor-Leste's controversial media law has been declared unconstitutional by the country's Court of Appeal.

The fledgling nation's President Taur Matan Ruak refused to promulgate the restrictive laws last month and sent the media bill to the Court of Appeal questioning whether it was unconstitutional.

The Court of Appeal yesterday found that a number of articles within the media law were contrary to East Timor's Constitution. The law will now return to the National Parliament to be revised or abandoned. East Timor's leading investigative journalist, Jose Belo, applauded the court's decision.

"The courts today have upheld our constitution, which we fought so hard for. This is a victory for the East Timorese people," an elated Belo said today. "The government is trying to stop freedom of the media and freedom of expression."

Belo said that the decision by the Court of Appeal was no surprise. "From day one we said the media laws were unconstitutional. It would now seem our politicians need help from the lawmakers to understand what the constitution means," he added.

'Won the battle'

"It will now go back to the National Parliament, so we have won the battle but we are still to win the war."

Belo has no doubt the media law was created to restrict local and foreign journalist reporting on East Timor's plague of corruption, nepotism and financial mismanagement. The law would also restrict who could be called a journalist in East Timor and potentially prevent foreign journalists reporting within East Timor.

East Timor, an island nation 600 km from the northern tip of Australia, gained its freedom from 24 years of Indonesian rule in 1999 and its full independence in 2002. The country suffers from high unemployment, poverty and malnutrition.

One leading East Timor lawyer said the President could still promulgate the law, if the necessary changes were made by the Parliament. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who has been a key promoter of the media bill, is believed to be furious that the law has not been approved by the Courts.

Source: http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2014/08/appeal-court-rejects-east-timors-media-law-as-unconstitutional/#more-23340

Balibo's ghosts and East Timor's media law

ABC Radio Australia - August 5, 2014

Phelim Kine – Australia's stake in East Timor's media freedom is rooted in that country's hillside town of Balibo. It was there on October 16, 1975 that invading Indonesian military forces killed, execution-style, five journalists – Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, and Gary Cunningham from Melbourne's Channel Seven and Brian Raymond Peters and Malcolm Rennie from Sydney's Channel Nine – to prevent them from reporting on the invasion.

Indonesian troops on December 8, 1975 killed Roger East, an Australian reporter drawn to East Timor to determine the fate of the Balibo Five.

Four decades later, East Timor's journalists and foreign correspondents are again under threat. A new media law that East Timor's parliament passed on May 6 has the power to stifle the country's still-fragile media freedom. East Timor's Court of Appeal is reviewing the law's constitutionality in response to a July 14 request by president Taur Matan Ruak.

Although the Media Act explicitly enshrines "freedom of the press", "freedom of expression", and "prohibition of censorship", elements of the law will give the government a free hand to gag journalists and the organisations they work for.

Exhibit A of the Media Act's intrinsic hostility to media freedom is its creation of an official Press Council. While the law tries to describe the Press Council as a benign five-member "independent administrative entity", its key functions and reliance on state funding make it a potentially serious threat. The Press Council would have the power to "grant, renew, suspend and revoke" the journalists' credentials under a new licensing system.

That licensing system imposes minimum periods of work internship for prospective journalists of six to 18 months depending on their education level. It also would give the Press Council effective power over who media organisations can hire by prohibiting them from employing any journalists "not duly certified with their [Press Council] credentials".

The licensing system would apply equally to domestic and foreign media organisations and their staff, giving the Press Council the power to approve or deny foreign correspondents' access to the country. Many of the world's most respected journalists never went to journalism school, yet these requirements would make it impossible for independent journalists lacking formal journalistic training to work.

The law's narrow definition of a journalist also ignores the value of a new generation of citizen journalists and bloggers who constitute a growing source of news in global media markets. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the independent body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, agrees.

The committee has stated that, "journalism is a function shared by a wide range of actors, including professional full-time reporters and analysts, as well as bloggers and others who engage in forms of self-publication in print, on the internet or elsewhere, and general state systems of registration or licensing of journalists are incompatible" with the full realisation of freedom of expression "essential for the promotion and protection of human rights".

The Media Act does more than just dictate who can aspire to be a journalist in East Timor. It also imposes ambiguous "functions" and "duties" that could make journalists vulnerable to retaliation for reporting critical of the government.

Journalists would be obligated, along with reporting the news, to "promote the national culture", and "encourage and support high quality economic policies and services". Another provision requires journalists to "promote public interest and democratic order".

The danger for journalists lies in the law's omission of any specific explanation or clarification of what these obligations actually entail. As a result, the government has dangerously wide latitude in interpreting the law to the detriment of journalists' ability to report without fear of violating these ambiguous requirements.

The government could, for example, interpret reporting on corporate malfeasance or environmental pollution by a local factory as a violation of journalists' legal obligation to "support high quality economic policies and services". Media reporting exposing graft, corruption or threats to public health might prompt the government to respond with legal action on the basis that such reports were a threat to "public interest and democratic order".

Not surprisingly, Timorese human rights activists have raised serious concerns about the new law's impact on media freedom. Journalists and activists have criticised the drafting and passage of the Media Act for a lack of transparency and consultation, with little or no formal opportunity for the public to comment.

They have good reason to fear that elements of the government and security forces want to intimidate journalists. The national police commissioner, Longinhos Monteiro, in March 2012 warned that police would arrest journalists who published "inaccurate" news articles.

In October 2012, the public prosecutor in Dili, the capital, imposed house arrest on two journalists who had written critically about an investigation of a fatal traffic accident.

East Timor's journalists and foreign correspondents – who spent decades under the boot heel of an oppressive Indonesian military occupation – deserve better. Journalists, including freelancers, took great risks and made enormous sacrifices to report the truth during the darkest days of Indonesia's occupation.

The government should recognise that the Media Act in its current form would betray those sacrifices.

The Australian Government has stated its "strong interest in a prosperous and stable Timor-Leste" and has budgeted $112.3 million in development aid in 2013-2014. The Australian Government should make it clear that media freedom is an indispensable component of a prosperous and stable society and demand that East Timor nurture a free media, not undermine it.

In a moving final broadcast three days before his death in October 1975, the Australian journalist Greg Shackleton recounted the desperation of East Timorese at the apparent lack of concern of the international community to their country's plight.

"Why, they asked, are the Australians not helping us?" an emotional Shackleton said into the camera. East Timor's journalists shouldn't have to ask that same question in 2014.

Australian Government silence on the threat posed by East Timor's Media Act would be a betrayal of those journalists and a disservice to the memory of the Balibo Five.

[Phelim Kine is deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.]

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-05/kine-balibos-ghosts-and-east-timors-media-law/5648650

Labour & migrant workers

Child labour still a major problem

Dili Weekly - August 5, 2014

Paulina Quintao – Member of Parliament Deputy Eladio Faculto has recommended the government focus its attention on children's issues, particularly on the problem of child labor, a practice which is thriving in Dili.

Deputy Faculto said celebrations such as International Children's Day, held June 1, highlighted that people are required to promote the rights of children. "It is very important to prevent children working in street; forcing them to work," he said.

"They have no opportunity to access formal education and they become the victims of violence crimes, including sexual violation and incest. They must be treated in a way that is worthy and fair in society," Deputy Faculto said in the plenary session at National Parliament.

He said in many places, children do not enjoy the full extent of their rights. It was difficult for children to access good quality education, with many students required to travel a far distance to attend schools without basic facilities such as books, chairs and desks and basic sanitation.

Student Aida Soares asked the Minister for Education to share information about the education department's zero tolerance policy regarding violence in schools. "The violence still occurs today," the 15-year-old said.

Secretary of State for Vocational Training Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) General Director Jacinto Barros Gusmao said SEPFOPE was making continued efforts to fight against the practice of forced child labor in Timor-Leste. SEPFOPE has put some efforts to fight against the children job and forced working in Timor-Leste.

Last month the council of ministers approved a law to regulate child labor and established a national commission which will work to prevent children being forced into work.

The commission will conduct a survey about the prevalence of child labor in Timor-Leste. "SEPFOPE is training the child labor inspectors because children are supposed to go to school, not have jobs," Gusmao said.

He said the purpose of the law was to provide direction to the national commission as well as non-custodial penalties to parents and companies which provide children with jobs.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/children-youth/12616-child-labour-still-a-major-problem

Health & education

Maternal nutrition program ceased

Dili Weekly - August 27, 2014

Paulina Quintao – Member of Parliament (MP) Ilda Maria da Conceicao has called on the Ministry of Health to explain why a program which provides corn flour to expectant mothers has been on hold for two months.

The Member of Commission F (health, education, culture, veterans' and gender equality affairs) said the program helped to reduce rates of malnutrition in Timor-Leste.

MP da Conceicao said Commission F monitoring had revealed that the program, which is jointly run by Timor Global and the Ministry of Health, no longer operated in almost all health centers.

"We went to the Ermera Health center they said every month they would distribute corn flour for children and pregnant women but no there is no longer any corn flour," she said in parliament.

MP da Conceicao said inquiries she made after receiving this information showed that corn flour production at Timor Global's Gleno base had stopped for two months.

Resident Manuela Soares said the program was operating last year at public health facilities across the country including at the Bairo-Pite clinic but operations had now halted.

"Last year corn flour and mosquito nets were distributed to all health facilities in Dili and the districts for them to give to the pregnant women and their children but this has stopped," she said.

Ministry of Health department of nutrition chief Joao Bosco da Costa said the program had temporarily stopped due to a lack of staff and failure to have program funding extended.

He said the department would work with its partners on awareness raising activities and other programs to help combat malnutrition in districts at particular risk.

"The plan will be implemented in five districts; Ainaro, Covalima, Maliana, Ermera, Oe-cusse and Dili because research from 2013 shows that rates of malnutrition are higher there in comparison to other districts," he said.

Da Costa said the corn flour program had stalled as Timor Global was unable to keep up with production demand from the health ministry.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/gender/12674-maternal-nutrition-program-ceased

Health woes swamp East Timor medics

New Zealand Herald - August 23, 2014

Greg Ansley – A major health crisis is emerging in East Timor as the impoverished nation's few doctors, hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed by endemic diseases, malnutrition, and serious illnesses they have no hope of treating.

Specialist services for conditions routinely treated in Australia and New Zealand, such as heart disease, do not exist. For many the only hope of survival lies abroad, at exorbitant – and impossible – cost.

Western Governments advise their nationals to arrive armed with comprehensive travel insurance policies that include the cost of medical evacuation by air to Australia or Singapore.

They are also warned that there is only limited emergency medical care in Dili, the nation's capital. Options for even routine medical care throughout the rest of the country are extremely limited.

"Medical facilities are extremely limited and evacuation, at significant expense, is often the only option in cases of serious illness or accident," Australia's Foreign Affairs department says. For the bulk of East Timor's 1 million people there is no escape.

The World Health Organisation (Who) says the nation has one of Asia's highest rates of deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.

About three-quarters of deliveries are home births, without midwives or other skilled attendants. Most women do not receive follow-up visits to monitor their health or the well-being of their child.

Malnutrition is endemic. More than 45 per cent of children are underweight, especially in rural areas.

Malaria, dengue fever, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases afflict the nation, claiming most of their victims among the young. Tuberculosis remains a curse, with about 8000 cases a year. Leprosy is endemic. High rates of sexually transmitted diseases also take a heavy toll.

East Timor has little to fight back with. It remains one of the poorest nations in the Asia Pacific region, with few resources outside the large oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, making the economy one of the most oil-dependent in the world.

Although gaining significant revenues since winning independence from Indonesia, East Timor remains locked in a battle with Australia for a more equitable share of the reserves.

In the meantime its overwhelmingly poor and youthful population – more than 40 per cent is aged under 15 – is living with a growing health crisis beyond the resources of scant health services.

There is one major hospital, Dili's Guido Valadares National Hospital. It has emergency room services and radiology facilities. These are mostly x- rays and ultrasounds, with only one CT scan that is frequently out of service.

Throughout the nation there are 67 community health centres with limited inpatient facilities, 114 health posts, mobile clinics and five district hospitals providing only basic services.

The most recent available estimate, made by Who a decade ago, put medical staffing levels at just one doctor, 18 nurses, four midwives and 20 community health workers for every 10,000 people. In Australia there are 25 doctors per 10,000 population; in New Zealand there are 22.

Doctors are now appealing for help. Dan Murphy, an American doctor who has lived in East Timor for 16 years, faces a daily round of wards packed to overflowing with cases of malnutrition, tuberculosis, and other serious conditions.

"There is really no access to anything near adequate healthcare," he told the ABC's Foreign Correspondent programme. "In every category in health, their numbers are worse than most of Southeast Asia. "We don't have very many medications.

"We don't have very many diagnostic tools, so mostly we're going by smoke and mirrors. You can't do as well as you could if you had all the right tests."

This year Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said foreign aid in the immediate region would be a top priority. Australia is East Timor's largest aid donor.

"We are focusing on alleviating poverty, we are focusing on economic growth and empowering women and girls, better educational outcomes and better health outcomes in our region," she said.

But aid to East Timor has been slashed by A$15 million ($16.6 million), to about A$96 million. New Zealand will this year spend $7 million on aid to the country.

World Vision had planned to launch a new nutrition and child health programme there next year. After the Australian Government cut its funding for the organisation by A$7 million, the plan was shelved.

"When we are cutting funds in a place like East Timor it's a very bad message," chief executive Tim Costello told Foreign Correspondent. "After all, Australia is still the second wealthiest country in the world on a per capita media basis."

Other agencies have stepped in, sending seriously ill patients to Australia for treatment for heart conditions and other problems that would otherwise have killed them.

Toll Remote Logistics, a major corporate sponsor of the East Timor Heart fund that sends patients to Melbourne, has flown 15 patients to Victorian specialists in the past four years. All have recovered and returned home. But they remain a drop in an overflowing bucket.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11313128&ref=rss

Breastfeeding rates rise

Dili Weekly - August 22, 2014

Paulina Quintao – More mothers chose to breastfeed their babies in 2013 than in 2010, Ministry of Health data shows.

Alola Foundation executive director Alzira Reis said the research showed significant progress as a result of Alola's efforts to promote breastfeeding in the districts.

Speaking at Alola Foundation's 13 anniversary celebrations, Reis said the data showed that in 2013, 63.3 per cent of mothers exclusively breastfed their babies under the age of six months, up from 52 per cent in 2010.

In 2010, Alola Foundation started a campaign to raise awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding for babies.

Reis said exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life lowered risk of malnutrition. Formula could cause stomach aches for some children, she said.

Alola worked in conjunction with the Ministry of Health on the awareness campaign, passing on information about breastfeeding to mothers in maternity wards.

Reis said the Alola Foundation had made great progress in health, education and advocacy sectors and had helped to strengthen the economy, though securing funding to implement programs was an ongoing struggle.

Mother Emelita Guterres da Cruz urged government institutions to offer creches for use by nursing mothers to allow staff to breastfeed their children at work.

She said creches could help mothers exclusively breastfeed their children under six months and would help combat infant malnutrition. Da Cruz said such facilities would allow women to participate better in the workforce in careers in everything from policing to business

Dr Aniceto Barreto warned parents of potential health risks including diarrhea to babies fed formula. Parents should try to avoid feeding formula to children under four months, he said.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/capital/12660-breastfeeding-rates-rise

East Timor health crisis causing hundreds of preventable deaths

ABC Foreign Correspondent - August 12, 2014

Sophie McNeill – Doctors say a worsening health crisis in East Timor is causing hundreds of preventable deaths, including those of many children.

Their call for assistance coincides with the Federal Government's decision to cut the aid budget to East Timor by $15 million this financial year.

It is early morning at the Bairo Pite Clinic in the capital Dili and there are already hundreds of patients waiting to see Dr Dan Murphy.

The former general practitioner from America's Midwest came to the country 16 years ago with just one little bag, and has been here ever since. During that time he has managed to do an awful lot with very few resources.

"There is really no access to anything near adequate healthcare. In every category in health, their numbers are worse than most of South East Asia," Dr Murphy said.

"We don't have very many meds [medications]. We don't have very many diagnostic tools, so mostly we're going by smoke and mirrors. You can't do as well as you could if you had all the right tests."

After Indonesia relinquished its control of East Timor in 1999 substantial aid began to flow. In recent years, proceeds from oil and gas means there is more money in East Timor, but according to the United Nations, two- thirds of the population still lives in poverty and a third in severe poverty.

There are still billions of dollars worth of unexplored resources sitting in the Timor Sea. But as Australia and East Timor continue to wrangle over who owns the Greater Sunrise oilfield, these extra billions remain in the seabed and the living standard remains dire.

Dr Murphy and his team have become experts in diseases that most Australians may think have been consigned to history. When five-year-old Paulo walks in with strange marks on his arms and face, Dr Murphy knows leprosy might be on the cards. He has already seen several cases recently.

"In the last month I think I've seen seven cases... though the district of Oecusse has over 500 registered cases," Dr Murphy said.

Meanwhile, there is a ward full of tuberculosis patients and another packed with malnourished children. We meet Ozmenia, who is four years old, but weighs just 6.7 kilograms.

"Certain times of the year there's just not much to eat. Approximately half of the people are stunted which means they're not as big as they should be for their age," Dr Murphy said.

Malnutrition rates in East Timor are some of the worst in the world outside Africa. Around 45 per cent of children under five here are underweight for their age.

High rate of maternal mortality

Up in the mountains of the Ermera District, women have walked for hours to see Dr Aida Goncalves and her team of midwives. Every second day a woman in East Timor dies in childbirth – one of the highest maternal death rates in Asia.

Dr Goncalves does her best to convince women to seek out help when giving birth. Her motivation to make a difference to these people's lives is driven by tragedy close to home – the loss of three brothers to preventable illness.

"Two of my brothers died of diarrhoea, something in your country that doesn't kill people, but here in East Timor it kills a lot of people," Dr Goncalves said.

Back in Dili, 34-year-old father of three Tomas Pinto is seriously ill and could die at any moment. Like many East Timorese, he had rheumatic fever when he was younger, a common illness here that can lead to lifelong heart trouble.

In Australia, a simple operation would fix the valve in his heart that has become dangerously narrow; however this is just one of the many operations not available in East Timor. He cannot believe his luck when a lifeline from Australia is suddenly extended to him.

"I am so very grateful," said Tomas. "I was the one person out of so many that God chose, from so many people. I'm just from a poor family."

Foreign aid cuts hamper progress

Despite these dismal figures and their lack of facilities, the foreign aid budget to East Timor was reduced from around $112 million last financial year to around $96 million this year, a $15 million cut.

It comes in the wake of promises by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that foreign aid in Australia's region would be a priority.

Earlier this year, she said: "We are focusing on alleviating poverty; we are focusing on economic growth and empowering women and girls, better educational outcomes and better health outcomes in our region."

World Vision CEO Tim Costello says his organisation had planned to begin a new million-dollar nutrition and child health program in East Timor in January next year.

"We had a project that is right in the zone of nutrition. It was with expectant mothers and mothers of child birth age and children under five, really attending to their nutrition," he said. However, after the NGO had $7 million cut from its funding in the May budget this program had to be shelved.

"When we are cutting [funds] in a place like East Timor it's a very bad message. After all, Australia is still the second wealthiest country in the world on a per capita median basis," Mr Costello said.

[Watch Sophie McNeill's Foreign Correspondent report on iView: http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/foreign-correspondent/NC1402H021S00.]

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-12/health-workers-in-east-timor-battle-to-treat-preventable-disease/5663508

The faces of East Timor's unfolding health crisis

ABC Foreign Correspondent - August 12, 2014

Sophie McNeill – Doctors and healthcare workers in East Timor are battling to save people from diseases that most Australians may think have been consigned to history.

A worsening health crisis in East Timor is causing hundreds of preventable deaths, including those of many children.

Diseases such as leprosy, tuberculosis, heart failure, severe malnutrition and infant diarrhoea are common and widespread, and more than 50 per cent of children under the age of five are said to be underweight and stunted for their age.

Meet some of the patients being treated at the Bairo Pite Clinic in the capital Dili, where an inspiring medical team provides free healthcare services to thousands of people.

Ozmenia

Four-year-old Ozmenia has been in Bairo Pite Clinic for the past month. She arrived there weighing just 6.7 kilograms.

One of five children, Ozmenia and her brothers and sisters live in the mountains overlooking Dili. They have no running water at their house and Ozmenia keeps getting diarrhoea.

She is just one of the 45 per cent of children under five in East Timor who are underweight for their age, a rate almost double that of their neighbour, Indonesia.

Sergio

Sergio loves playing soccer but has been bedridden for the past few months. The eight-year-old came home from school with a nose bleed eight months ago and despite the best efforts of Bairo Pite Clinic and Dili's national hospital they have been unable treat him.

He is suspected of having nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but so far in East Timor they have been unable to perform a biopsy on Sergio. There is no access to radiation or chemotherapy there for Sergio and his prognosis is very poor.

Tomas

Father of three Tomas Pinto, 34, is dangerously ill and could die at any moment. Like many East Timorese, he had rheumatic fever when he was younger, a common illness here that can lead to lifelong heart trouble.

In Australia, a simple operation would fix the valve in his heart that has become dangerously narrow; however this is just one of the many operations not available in East Timor.

He cannot believe his luck when a lifeline from Australia is suddenly extended to him. "I am so very grateful," said Tomas. "I was the one person out of so many that God chose, from so many people. I'm just from a poor family."

Jekka

Jekka Pereira and his family are from the remote district of Los Palos. They drove eight hours to get to Bairo Pite Clinic after Jekka collapsed while playing one afternoon.

He is suspected of having a mitral valve problem and is hoping to come to Australia for urgent heart surgery.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-12/the-faces-of-east-timors-unfolding-health-crisis/5662916

School meals program halted as government money stops

Dili Weekly - August 6, 2014

Martinha Gusmao – The Schools Meals Program has not run for four months as the budget for the program has not been transferred.

President of Commission F (education, health, culture, veterans' affairs and gender equality) Deputy Virgilio da Costa Hornai said that the program had not run since March.

"The budget used for the School Meals Program in January and February is from last year state budget," Deputy Faculto said in the National Parliament.

He said reports, required to be submitted by each school to the Ministry of Education, were late, which contributed to the delay.

General Director of Cooperative Work Antoninho Pires said the government had not provided the money for the problem, which was the cause of the stoppage.

"We will exert every effort to make sure the school meals program goes on this week since the Ministry of Finance has allocated the budget for basic education and high schools," he said.

Pires said the budget had now been allocated though he was unsure of the exact figure as it was dependent on the number of children in each school.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/education/12620-school-meals-program-halted-as-government-money-stops

Foreign affairs & trade

SBY visits Timor Leste for bilateral cooperation

Jakarta Post - August 25, 2014

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is visiting Timor Leste to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27.

Presidential spokesman for foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah said that Yudhoyono, accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, would conduct a meeting with Timor Leste President Jose Maria Vasconcelos, popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak, and Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao.

"Topics which they will discuss during the meeting relate to bilateral cooperation on economy, education, and connectivity. They will also discuss regional and global issues of concern," he said on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He added that that the two leaders would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on various issues, including maritime and fisheries; culture and education; information and technology; and regional economic development.

"The Indonesian president will also conduct a groundbreaking ceremony at the Indonesia Cultural Center in Dili [Timor Leste's capital city]," he said.

Last year, Ruak conducted his first official visit to Indonesia after taking office in 2012 and met with President Yudhoyono at the State Palace. After the meeting, Yudhoyono said that the two countries would continue to improve their partnership in the future. (alz)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/25/sby-visits-timor-leste-bilateral-cooperation.html

Mining & energy

Pertamina to cooperate with Timor Leste for oil, gas exploration

Natural Gas Asia - August 30, 2014

Indonesia's state owned energy firm Pertamina will establish a joint venture company with Timor Leste's state company to develop oil and gas sector in the nation, according to a Pertamina official.

The cooperation would give an opportunity for the Petamina to expand its business in both upstream and downstream of oil and gas sector in Timor Leste, Xinhua said citing the official.

Director for Marketing and Trading of Pertamina Hanung Budya revealed that an agreement on the cooperation in developing upstream and downstream sector of oil and gas had been signed by the company and top officials of foreign ministry of Timor Leste and the country's ministry of economic cooperation.

"We (will) make a joint venture firm with the state firm of Timor Leste, focusing on developing oil and gas sector in Timor Leste," Xinhua quoted Budya as saying. We know that the potential of oil and gas reserve in Timor Leste is huge, he added.

Source: http://www.naturalgasasia.com/indonesias-pertamina-to-cooperate-with-timor-leste-for-oil-gas-exploration-13387

Analysis & opinion

East Timor yearns for real independence 15 years after the UN referendum

Sydney Morning Herald - August 15, 2014

Shannon Gillies, Dili – After decades of Indonesian occupation, East Timor is touted as a success story for the United Nations.

But 15 years after more than 80 per cent of the population voted for independence in a referendum on August 30, 1999, and the country's first free parliamentary elections on the same day two years later, East Timor's former president Jose Ramos-Horta warns that there are no short cuts to peace, to nation-building and state-building.

"No one should have illusions that we can consolidate peace, transform lives from violence and extreme poverty into long-lasting peace, peace as a culture, as a way of life, and free from the shackles of poverty in a single generation," Dr Ramos-Horta says.

Manuel Monteiro Fernandes, executive director of human rights group the HAK Association, says that in the early days of independence the World Bank, the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank tried to implement an economic culture that had a devastating effect on the developing nation. Programs were introduced where workers were told if they produced items such as food or took part in road-building that they would get paid.

"It made society become quite dependent," he says. "Without money people don't want to do work."

Differences over economic policy led to the downfall of the country's first prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, in the 2007 elections, he says. The development policy jarred with government thinking at the time and they were rolled.

"The problem at the time was the World Bank was very strong and it also had the support of the church, so together they were working together to bring down the leadership of Fretilin in 2002 to 2004. Then Mari Alkatiri, [elected] the first prime minister of Timor in 2002, [was] forced to resign in 2006." Since Alkatiri's resignation Timor has become more resource- dependent on other nations, he says.

Dan Murphy, a doctor at the Bairo Pite Clinic in Dili, which provides free healthcare to East Timorese, says the one positive thing the UN achieved in its time in the country was getting the Indonesians out.

"East Timorese don't really have much of a role in their own economy," Dr Murphy says. "What's really interesting is how the Chinese are moving in. That's competing with the East Timorese people, but the East Timorese don't have [China's] back-ups.

"The country's still new. If it can change, it can still do things. It can become the place we dream about."

Charlie Scheiner, a spokesman for the East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis, also known as La'o Hamutuk, says there are a number of elements affecting the country's rebuilding. Many East Timorese have post-traumatic stress disorder and have never lived in a country where rule of law applied, he says, pointing out that no one has ever really answered for the war crimes committed during the Indonesian occupation.

"People here think 'Why should I follow the law? Why shouldn't I beat my wife? Why should I ride my bicycle on the right side of the road?' It's not an easy thing."

It takes a range of skills to be able to build resistance and overthrow an occupation, but it takes a different skills base to govern, Mr Scheiner says.

"If you're building a guerrilla movement, you don't hold public consultations. You make decisions on the spot. That's not the way things are supposed to work in a peacetime constitutional democracy. So hopefully the leaders here won't hold on to power as long as Zimbabwe's [Robert] MugabEast Timor Leste's in that phase of its history. It's not anybody's fault. It's just the way things are."

The HAK Association's advocacy co-ordinator, Sisto dos Santos, says the 2012 UN withdrawal has made no difference in people's day-to-day lives. "We have a flag, we have a president, we have a parliament, but how [do we] make people feel they've got a different life? Timor Leste people know they have their own institutions, but they don't have ownership. [They] have independence, but they're not independently governing for themselves."

Dr Ramos-Horta talks of the role aid played in East Timor's rebuilding. Australia was a friend in that endeavour, he says, but its aid was not always well directed.

"Australia could have done much, much more in setting up vocational schools, like TAFE [colleges], around the country. Australia could have provided far more scholarships for higher education in Australia, particularly in [the] Northern Territory. It could have established high- quality English language training centres around the country," Dr Ramos- Horta says.

The aid that did arrive was almost entirely in the hands of aid donors such as Australia and Japan, and it was they who decided on priorities and implementation when people and agencies operating on the ground should have had more input, he says.

"Of course, there have been changes and improvement, with aid now better allocated and implemented," Dr Ramos-Horta says. "We all make mistakes and learn from them."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/east-timor-yearns-for-real-independence-15-years-after-the-un-referendum-20140829-zt9to.html

Home | Site Map | Calendar & Events | News Services | Links & Resources | Contact Us