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East Timor News Digest 15 - August 6-September 1, 2002

Transition & reconstruction

Land/rural issues West Timor/refugees Corruption/collusion/nepotism Justice & reconciliation Human rights trials Human rights/law International relations East Timor press reviews

 Transition & reconstruction

Gusmao urges grassroots democracy

Agence France Presse - August 30, 2002

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao took stock of his new nation on Friday in a speech marking 100 days of independence, calling for greater grassroots democracy to check potential abuse of power.

Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo marked another anniversary -- three years since the vote to break away from Indonesia -- with a plea for an international tribunal for offenders in the 1999 violence which surrounded the vote.

Gusmao, responding to recent anti-government protests, hit back at those who "want to create a crisis" and urged people to give the government time.

"We all accept the fact that we are only now beginning in everything: in politics, in development, in building the state, in the school system, in education, etc," the former anti- Indonesian guerrilla leader said. "Beginning with myself, we are all learning to serve the nation."

A public holiday commemorated the UN-organised referendum, in which almost 80 percent voted to break away from Indonesia despite a terror campaign by Indonesian-backed local militias.

After the vote revengeful militias burnt whole towns to the ground, leaving a UN transitional government with a massive rebuilding job. Some 1,000 people were murdered in 1999 before Indonesia pulled out and the UN moved in.

Gusmao urged parliament urgently to authorise an ombudsman to hear complaints of corruption.

He called for parliament, which is dominated by the Fretilin party, to take its responsibilities more seriously and stressed the need for greater grassroots democracy, with hamlet and village chiefs elected by the people in future.

The president, a former commander of Fretilin's armed wing, had become estranged from the party in recent months. But he announced he would meet weekly with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri in future.

Gusmao called on the new police force not to abuse its powers or act violently. "We should all remember that we have just come out of 25 years of a situation, where violence became part of our way of life [clearly, imposed on the Timorese]," he said in reference to the Indonesian occupation. "The state that we want to establish in Timor must be one that respects people."

East Timorese celebrated the holiday with soccer, volleyball and a motocross event. An open-air concert was to be held Friday evening.

Dili's Bishop Belo, writing in Friday's International Herald Tribune, said justice for the victims of 1999 had been elusive.

"Rapists, arsonists and murderers walk free, while the innocent live with their trauma. That trauma, and the people's sense of victimization, were revived with the recent acquittals in Jakarta of Indonesian police and military charged with allowing atrocities to take place," he wrote.

Indonesia's human rights court this month acquitted six army or police officers, sparking widespread international criticism.

Belo also called for action to address economic hardship in Asia's poorest country. "Much of the countryside remains in ruins, with approximately 70 to 80 percent of the population unemployed."

He urged Washington to be "mindful of the lessons of the past" as it makes initial steps towards re-establishing military relations with Indonesia.

"Will the Indonesian army, elements of which remain embittered by East Timor's independence, become emboldened by a renewal of US assistance and sponsor acts of subversion that could cause further suffering in our land?"

Belo urged the world to give maximum help for reconstruction, support a process leading to genuine justice, and guarantee protection for East Timor so that violence does not recur. "The souls of the victims demand no less," he wrote.

Gusmao pleads for time to solve problems

Associated Press - August 30, 2002

Dili -- East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Friday asked his critics for more time to solve the vast problems facing the newly independent nation.

Addressing the country to mark his first 100 days in office, Gusmao acknowledged grumblings about his administration, including charges of high-level corruption and nepotism, and unhappiness about the country's rampant poverty.

"These complaints are natural, human, but not reasonable," he said in a speech broadcast live across the territory on TV and radio.

"There may be failures, but these failures do not justify all such complaints. We all note that there is more to be done. Nevertheless, one must think that is impossible to do everything in three months."

East Timor was under Portuguese colonial rule for 400 years before Indonesia invaded the territory in 1974. After the August 1999 independence ballot, the UN took control of East Timor's administration until it achieved full independence on May 20.

During Indonesia's occupation, many educated East Timorese fled abroad. Some have since returned, but the country still lacks skilled administrators and civil servants.

Most of the country is desperately poor, despite the nation's substantial oil and gas reserves. Only the capital, Dili, has basic infrastructure. Analysts say it will depend on foreign aid for years to come.

In his speech, Gusmao said the parliament has so far passed 12 laws, but added that many more were needed, especially in the legal sector.

Gusmao, who led East Timor's resistance to Indonesian rule, didn't mention ongoing efforts by Jakarta to punish those responsible for his country's destruction after it voted for independence.

Up to 1,000 people were killed in a rampage by sections of the Indonesian military and pro-Jakarta gangs angry at losing the referendum.

Six Indonesian police and military officers were recently acquitted in Jakarta over the violence, sparking international criticism and renewing calls for a special tribunal to try the suspects.

Gusmao has said his government might consider asking the UN for such a tribunal. However, he has also said he trusted Indonesian courts to deliver justice in a bid to maintain cordial relations with Jakarta.

 Land/rural issues

Better future brewing for coffee farmers

Dow Jones Newswires - August 23, 2002

Tom Wright, Dili -- Try to find coffee from East Timor, barely three months old as a nation, and you'll probably come up empty- handed.

While coffee from neighboring Indonesia is gaining international recognition alongside time-tested Colombian and Kenyan beans, East Timor isn't a name which would register with most coffee lovers.

But a growing band of aficionados is starting to warm to the taste of the coffee grown in the highlands of this tropical southeast Asian country, and industry experts say East Timor coffee has the potential to challenge the world's best-known brews.

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) already buys from East Timor farmers to make its "Cafe Verona" blend. The East Timor coffee, an earthy- tasting organic arabica known locally as Hybrida da Timor, is mixed with lighter Latin American beans to make the Seattle-based company's popular expresso.

For East Timor, creating a cachet for its coffee is crucial to alleviate poverty among its 800,000 people, about a quarter of whom rely on the bean for a living.

At a time world coffee prices are near 30-year lows due to a huge overhang in supply -- with stockpiles even used for fuel in some cases -- carving out a niche market for East Timor coffee is crucial for farmers to sell their output at a premium to the market.

But most of East Timor's harvest this year, which will draw to a close in a few weeks, will end up in anonymous foreign instant coffee brands, raising little money for farmers.

Bad habits

East Timor's efforts to stand with the best coffees in the world are blocked by widespread ignorance among farmers about how to harvest, dry and process the bean, says Alistair Laird, an adviser to Cooperative Cafe Timor, the nation's largest coffee buyer. "To reach the niche market, we've got to improve the standard," he says.

CCT, a cooperative of 18,000 farmers sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, hopes to sell just under half of its 1,700 tons this year to Starbucks, Laird says. After operating since the mid-1990s with the help of foreign experts, the cooperative is starting to produce coffee of international quality.

In a downtown Dili warehouse, East Timorese laborers working for CCT are busy sorting through thousands of green coffee beans, picking only the best to go into waiting containers for export.

The cooperative hopes to sell its coffee at a premium price of up to $1.40 per pound, compared to the September contract for arabica on the New York Coffee Sugar & Cocoa Exchange, which was trading Thursday at 46.70 cents/lb.

The remainder of East Timor's harvest, which is set to total about 6,500 tons, a tiny amount on a global scale, won't be able to command such a premium. Many farmers are still harvesting green coffee beans in a way which destroys the potential of the coffee, Laird says.

Even CCT has huge room to improve before it builds up brand recognition with consumers for its coffee, rather than having the coffee end up as a blend with other better-known names, he adds. But such a goal isn't out of reach, experts say.

East Timor's highlands offer a perfect environment for growing coffee, which the Portuguese imported here several decades ago. Guerilla activity in the mountains during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of the country actually added to the quality of coffee by keeping modern pesticides and fertilizers off the crop.

In a recent study, the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe found that about a third of East Timor's growing regions have the potential to produce coffee which could compete with the best in the world, given better training.

So watch out for East Timor coffee, which may be coming to stores near you soon.

 West Timor/refugees

Villagers who survived camps return home with their dead

Sydney Morning Herald - August 31, 2002

Jill Jolliffe, Gugleur -- Gugleur has little to recommend it. Its people are subsistence farmers and the maize crop has failed this year. The dust whips around the cluster of forlorn thatched huts that provide the bare necessity of shelter, no trimmings.

But it is the birthplace of Luzina Afonso, 27, who, with the help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has finally returned to its safety after a nightmare three years in a refugee camp in Lak Pehan, Indonesian West Timor.

Her manner of speaking suggests she is suffering from clinical depression. Her head is down; her mouth is a slit that barely moves to get the words out; her face is expressionless.

The tears welling in her soft brown eyes give the only clue that she and her husband, Bento de Jesus, have returned with three dead babies.

The tiny bodies of son Oviano Bi Kau, 2, and daughters Maria, seven months, and Anise, three months, accompanied them on their journey home with the UNHCR and are now buried in the humblest of graves in a jungle clearing opposite. Their two other children, born in the camp, have survived.

Ms Afonso had been trying to come home since late 2000, when her father, Americo, escaped and returned to Gugleur. "The first of my children died in November and I couldn't leave without his body," she says.

At that time Indonesian authorities did not permit refugees to bring their dead back; that came only in January last year, after long pressure by the UNHCR. Since then 721 bodies have been repatriated with 27,160 live refugees.

For the UNHCR's Jake Morland it was an important victory. Culturally it was important for the East Timorese. They could not leave their loved ones' remains in a foreign country.

The people of Gugleur did not travel to West Timor by choice: they were among a quarter of a million East Timorese deported in an operation co-ordinated by the Indonesian military during the militia terror of 1999.

The struggle to reach home has been hard, and after tomorrow it will be even harder. From September 1 the Indonesian Government will cut off the subsidy it pays refugees to return.

About 200 metres from Ms Afonso's house is another family group of 24 people. They brought back nine cadavers.

Three of Alberto Freitas's children died in the Kota Baru camp in Atambua: Alberto, 6, Tomas, 3, and Carlos, six months, died there in 2000. According to Alberto, the deaths in the camp occurred because people were weakened by malnutrition.

"People had pains in the gut, headaches, diarrhoea, and there were no medicines," he says. He claims official rations from Indonesian authorities were five kilograms of rice and $US1.50 a year for each person. (Ms Afonso says people in her camp received a kilo of rice a month.)

"We cut sago to add to our diet." The villagers' story is a grim epitaph to warnings issued since 1999 that conditions in Indonesian camps put babies and the elderly at risk. They reported malnutrition as the underlying factor in the deaths, but the main immediate causes as malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory illness.

The pattern continues at Kai Kasa, 17 kilometres away, with the difference that people here were in Berluli camp near coastal Atapupu, under the iron rule of the Besih Merah Putih militia group. More than 20 cadavers came back recently, says Moises de Carvalho, the head of a family. He links many deaths to Indonesia's cutting of welfare to refugees last January. "We had no food for seven months. Many people have died." Last month a Japanese Foreign Ministry official, Yasuhiro Sugata, visited West Timor to ask its Government why it had not disbursed a grant of $US6 million to help the refugees after the welfare cut. He received no satisfactory replies.

At 159 under-five deaths per 1000 live births, East Timor's infant mortality rate is extremely high, as it would be in poverty-stricken Gugleur.

 Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Gusmao warns of corruption taking root

Reuters - August 30, 2002

Jakarta -- East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao urged his people on Friday to focus on the task of nation-building as the territory marked its first 100 days of independence.

The former guerrilla leader said in an address to the nation the tiny country was suffering growing pains and warned against the threat of corruption.

Gusmao said there were still no laws on immigration and citizenship or public prosecution and there was no way to resolve the issue of overcrowded jails.

"If we continue to roam, with no strength to enforce the law right at the beginning of our independence, by the time corruption develops deep roots it will be most difficult to combat it," Gusmao said on a live television broadcast from the capital Dili.

Speaking in the nation's mother tongue of Tetum, he also urged the police against the use of violence to enforce the law.

"We should all remember that we have just come out of 25 years of a situation where violence became part of our way of being and that the reaction of the people is still pronouncedly aggressive." The half island territory was declared formally independent on May 20, nearly three years after a landslide vote to break away from 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

The result unleashed a fury of violence by gangs of pro-Jakarta militia backed by elements of the Indonesian military, in which the United Nations estimates more than 1,000 people were killed.

The UN ran East Timor during its transition to full nationhood, helping physically rebuild the territory and install institutions from scratch.

Gusmao said the hard work had only just begun and lamented the lack of laws and the need to strengthen democracy in the former Portuguese colony. Gusmao, a former teacher, also spoke of the lack of professionalism among schoolteachers, saying they often arrived late and spent their time in idle chatter. "And I appeal to the population not to destroy what we are painfully building," he said, referring to recent acts of vandalism on state property.

Gusmao -- who had been reluctant to be president, saying he would prefer tending vegetables and taking photos to leading the world's newest nation -- won a thumping victory in elections in April and vowed to be a voice for the concerns of the people.

 Justice & reconciliation

Government may turn to UN after Jakarta war crimes fiasco

Sydney Morning Herald - August 29, 2002

Jill Joliffe, Dili -- East Timor's Government is likely to ask the United Nations to set up an international tribunal to hear war crimes cases after key suspects were acquitted by a Jakarta court.

The Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, said that after talks with President Xanana Gusmao he was confident the Government would ask the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to set up an international court to hear charges stemming from East Timor's 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia.

"Xanana knows the people want justice, and he wants to speak for them," Mr Alkatiri said. "His position has never been against justice but he believes we should start from the top, from the Indonesian generals -- not from the bottom to the top."

Mr Alkatiri said East Timor's cabinet would meet next week to discuss the issue. He believed a national consensus would be reached soon after, involving "the Government, the president, the parliament and civil society".

His comments follow widely criticised verdicts in Jakarta's special court, which recently acquitted six Indonesian officers, including five accused of involvement in one of the worst atrocities from 1999, the Suai church massacre.

East Timor's former governor was sentenced to just three years' jail for failing to stop the violence by Indonesian troops, police and army-backed militias.

Other trials are continuing in the special Indonesian court, which was set up after international pressure on Jakarta.

The verdicts were criticised at the weekend by the departing UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson.

Timor may push for UN panel to try Indonesian officers

Associated Press - August 23, 2002

Dili -- East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao on Friday said the government may consider pushing the United Nations to convene a special war crimes tribunal to try Indonesian officers allegedly responsible for the destruction of the territory in 1999.

Gusmao's comments came after he met with Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He also said he told Robinson that the need for an international tribunal is being assessed.

This marked the first time that the leadership of the new nation has hinted it may support a war crimes tribunal akin to those for Rwanda and ex-Yugoslavia.

In the past, Dili has always said it trusted Indonesian courts to deliver justice to those accused of inciting the violence that led to hundreds of deaths and the destruction of much of East Timor after its people voted for independence in a UN-organized referendum.

Last week, two Indonesian courts acquitted a general and five other senior officers standing trial on charges of having allowed their subordinates to take part in massacres in the former Indonesian province in 1999.

The verdicts outraged human rights groups, who have long feared that most of those who unleashed the bloody mayhem across the half-island state would go unpunished, despite Indonesia's promises to the international community that justice would be done. Foreign governments -- including the US -- accused Indonesia of failing to aggressively prosecute the cases.

Robinson criticized the verdicts, saying prosecutors failed to present a case that demonstrated the killings and other rights violations were part of a widespread pattern of violence.

She said she planned take the issue to the UN Security Council. "The verdicts did not bring justice and we're sorry about that," she said.

Robinson, on a three-day visit to East Timor, is meeting with her UN colleagues, top government officials and survivors of a 1999 church massacre in which nearly 100 people were killed by pro- Indonesian militias.

She will also attend a ceremony at the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili Sunday, remembering the 200 who were killed there in 1991 when Indonesian soldiers opened fire on protesters.

Dili Bishop wants international tribunal

Radio Australia - August 25, 2002

In East Timor, the Bishop of Dili has called for the creation of an international tribunal to try crimes committed during the independence vote three years ago.

The call by Bishop Carlos Belo comes after an Indonesian court acquitted six military and police officers of gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

Visiting UN human rights chief Mary Robinson has conceded that that trials did not satisfy international human rights standards. She says the prosecution was sloppy and the evidence brought to bear was minimal.

Meanwhile Mrs Robinson has laid a wreath at the Santa Cruz cemetery, where it's believed up to 200 people were killed when Indonesian troops fired on pro-independence demonstrators in 1991. Mrs Robinson has also met with President Xanana Gusmao and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta.

Robinson rides into storm over Suai massacre

Melbourne Age - August 26, 2002

Jill Jolliffe, Suai -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson rode into the eye of East Timor's human rights storm at the weekend when she visited the scene of the September, 1999, Suai church massacre.

Five Indonesian military officers were acquitted in a Jakarta court on August 15 of the killings of at least 27 civilians, including three priests, in this south-coast town, in what was a major test case for the credibility of the Indonesian court.

Before her arrival in East Timor, Mrs Robinson had publicly condemned the verdicts on behalf of the UN, but in Suai she faced the palpable anger of massacre survivors.

With the gentle, patient approach that has typified her term as commissioner, she listened well and referred frequently to the pain and anger of those present.

"I know ... that you are very unhappy about the ad hoc tribunal in Indonesia, and I am very unhappy," she told them. The former Irish president is on her last overseas trip as commissioner. The UN's former administrator in East Timor, Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, will be her replacement.

Her first stop in Suai was to lay wreaths for victims of the killings. She then went to a traditional roundhouse, built as a memorial, where community leaders gathered to question her and hear her explain the UN's position on the war crimes trials, which were set in motion by a Security Council resolution of January, 2000.

A small demonstration against the Jakarta verdicts met Mrs Robinson and she later listened to community leaders.

Alice Moniz Afonso spoke on behalf of a group of widows, saying that the UN's plan for a truth and reconciliation commission to heal divisions between lower-level militia perpetrators and the community was meaningless unless senior Indonesian officers involved were tried first by an international court.

"I lost 14 relatives in the massacre," she said. "And only punishment of the killers can relieve my pain." Mrs Robinson said that under the Security Council resolution, an international court could be established if the Jakarta court was deemed to have failed. However, she fell cautiously short of promising this measure, putting the ball back in East Timor's court.

"There is a new element," she said. "This country has a sovereign government and it must speak on behalf of East Timor. It will be stronger if there is one agreed view ... then we can see what the response of the international community, including the Security Council, may be."

The suggestion that the new East Timorese Government must formally request an international court introduces a new complication to the controversy. Although grassroots opinion here appears to be fiercely in favour of this course, some senior leaders, including President Jose "Xanana" Gusmao, have opposed war crimes trials.

But foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, who travelled with Mrs Robinson to Suai, said it was an evasion of UN responsibilities. "We are not going to allow any government, be it a member of the Security Council, be it Australia, to simply wash their hands and say this is a primary responsibility of the East Timorese."

UN's Robinson visits Timor massacre site

Reuters - August 24, 2002

Gde Anugrah Arka, Jakarta -- The UN's human rights chief visited an East Timor massacre site on Saturday and was told by victims' families an international tribunal was needed to examine human rights violations in the former Indonesia province.

On her second trip to East Timor since the territory voted to break from Jakarta's harsh rule in a UN-sponsored referendum in August 1999, Mary Robinson had on Friday condemned the trials Indonesia was holding over atrocities in East Timor in 1999 and said she would take her concerns to the UN Security Council.

A United Nations spokeswoman told Reuters on Saturday that Robinson, the UN high commissioner for human rights, had visited Ave Maria Church in the town of Suai near the Indonesian border, where 27 people were killed in a massacre just days after the independence vote.

Asked earlier about the aim of the visit, the spokeswoman said: "She has been following the situation here for quite a long time, for more than three years now, and she wants to get back here [to help decide] what she really wants to do."

Relatives angry

An East Timorese who was part of the delegation visiting the massacre site said Robinson, on a two-day visit to East Timor as part of a final trip to Asia before leaving office next month, spent about three hours in the border town holding meetings with relatives of the victims.

"The people expressed their anger, they expressed their concerns on the results of Jakarta's ad hoc tribunals and because in the people's views [that] justice has not been done, they [proposed] the possibility of setting up international tribunals," said the East Timorese, who declined to be named.

Jakarta's special human rights court last week delivered the first verdicts in a string of cases linked to the carnage, largely blamed on pro-Jakarta militia backed by elements of the Indonesian army. The UN estimates more than 1,000 people were killed in the violence.

The Jakarta court acquitted a former East Timor police chief and five other security officers of crimes against humanity, and gave an ex-governor a jail sentence far shorter than prosecutors requested. The results were criticised as a whitewash by human rights groups and also drew fire from the United States government.

First verdicts

Robinson also travelled to the coastal town of Liquica on Saturday to hear the first public confessions from perpetrators of the East Timor violence, part of events facilitated by the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"One of them, a former member of a militia gang, confessed he took part in the burning of a house and was carrying a gun everywhere he went. He just came back from West Timor in July," commission chairman Anisetto Guteres told Reuters by telephone from Dili. He quoted Robinson as saying she was "very impressed" with the reconciliation efforts.

Robinson's August 18-25 trip precedes her handing over her job to Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian veteran of the UN refugee agency and former head of the UN administration in East Timor. Before coming to East Timor, Robinson visited China and Cambodia.

Robinson had previously expressed concern over last week's verdict, saying prosecutors had presented the killings and rights violations "as the result of spontaneous conflict" between the armed East Timorese factions rather than as part of a "widespread or systematic pattern of violence".

The former Portuguese territory was declared formally independent in May this year when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan handed over power to former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao in an emotion-charged ceremony.

 Human rights trials

West turns blind eye as brutal military escapes justice

Guardian Weekly (UK) - August 29, 2002

John Aglionby -- For anyone who is not in Indonesia's military it must be hard to understand why Colonel Herman Sedyono is not in jail. There are many eye witnesses who can attest to his involvement in the reign of terror wrought by the Indonesian forces and locally recruited East Timorese militias in and around the town of Suai before and after the territory voted to separate from Jakarta in August 1999.

Col Sedyono, who was the chief administrator of the town and surrounding district at the time, is most specifically implicated in a massacre of about 30 people, including three priests, in the town's church after the result of the ballot was announced.

According to Ian Martin, who was head of the United Nations mission organising the East Timor referendum, his conviction should have been all but a formality. "That was the worst individual massacre in East Timor in 1999," he said. "If you were going to get convictions of Indonesian military officers systematically acting with the militias to murder East Timorese, that was the case par excellence."

Yet Indonesia's ad hoc human rights tribunal, created to prosecute the 18 soldiers, police officers, militia leaders and civilian officials indicted for alleged crimes in the destruction, decided to acquit Col Sedyono and four senior colleagues of all charges.

While the absurdity of the verdict can be dissected, it is highlighted by the fact that Col Sedyono's superior, the civilian governor Abilio Soares (an East Timorese), was convicted the previous day for not preventing his subordinates from participating in crimes against humanity.

Most observers believe that a deal has been done, and that while others are expendable the military, for the most part, will get off the hook thanks to its strong political clout. Thirteen trials are still ongoing, and no independent observers expect future verdicts to veer far from the path laid down by the first batch.

What is more worrying for human rights activists hoping to see the brutal Indonesian military end its decades-long ability to act with impunity is that the charades being played out in the sweltering Jakarta courtrooms are not the only indications that the armed forces are being rehabilitated without having to undergo the expected radical reform.

More than 3,000km northwest of Timor lies Aceh, the province on the northern tip of Sumatra where separatists have been fighting for the past 26 years. Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, mostly in the past decade, and many more have known torture, abuse and destruction of their property at the hands of the military -- all in the name of suppressing the rebels. Only a handful of perpetrators of crimes against humanity have been brought to justice, and few have received punishments fitting their crimes. That record is unlikely to change while the government is desperately beholden to the military to end the Aceh crisis.

This month the Indonesian cabinet gave the separatists until the end of the Islamic fasting month, or 15 weeks, to accept the wide-ranging autonomy given to the province last year as the final solution. If they refuse they face the imposition of martial law and an even more intensive military operation than that already in progress by the 30,000 troops in the area.

The government's apparent desire to go in with all guns blazing is perhaps best demonstrated by its reticence to attend peace talks organised by the Switzerland-based Henri Dunant Centre, which is mediating between the two sides. Considering the brutality of the last period of martial law in Aceh, from 1991 to 1998, such an apparently unstoppable rush to deliver more of the same should be ringing warning bells internationally. But it is not doing so, and for one important reason: the United States wants to keep Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, on side in its global war on terror.

For proof one only need turn to the opinion delivered by the US state department's senior lawyer in the case of 11 Acehnese who are suing the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil, for involvement in alleged human rights abuses in and around its massive gas plant in Aceh. When asked by the judge in the case -- which is being heard in the US -- to assess what implications it might have on US-Indonesian relations, the lawyer, William Taft, said the department was always concerned about allegations of human rights abuses.

But in what the Indonesian military can only view as a green light to go forth and oppress he added: "US counter-terrorist initiatives could be imperiled in numerous ways if Indonesia and its officials curtailed cooperation in response to perceived disrespect for its sovereign interests."

Without waiting for meaningful reform, Washington is also starting to roll back the almost complete curtailment of military-to-military relations, although, to be fair, full ties and arms sales are still far from being re-established. No other nation is sounding the alarm either, preferring to take a wait- and-see approach. Such appeasement is likely to play right into the Indonesian military's hands; it is masterful at doing just enough to avoid international opprobrium while having a virtual free rein on the ground.

The lone dissenting voice is that of the UN's human rights chief, Mary Robinson, who said last weekend while in East Timor that she was dissatisfied by the tribunal verdicts in Jakarta and would probably be calling for an international tribunal.

How far her campaign gets in the next few months will speak volumes about how necessary the generals in Jakarta feel it is to change their ways.

No justice in Jakarta

Washington Post - August 27, 2002

Ian Martin -- The trials before an ad hoc human rights tribunal in Jakarta of officials implicated in the 1999 crimes in East Timor are not only failing to do justice: They have turned truth on its head and added insult to injury.

In February 2000 the UN Security Council, receiving the report of an international commission of inquiry into these crimes, agreed to put off other action in order to give Indonesia the chance to bring those responsible to justice. The Security Council expressed the hope that legal proceedings in Indonesia would be "swift, comprehensive, effective and transparent," and in conformity with international standards of justice. Now, 2 1/2 years later, that hope is dead.

This leaves the United Nations with a special test of its determination to ensure justice for international crimes -- special because the crimes were an attack not only on the great majority of the East Timorese people but also on the United Nations itself: Ten of the East Timorese staff of the UN mission in East Timor, which I headed, were among those killed.

The prosecution, and now the court in its first verdict, have bought into the mythical version of the events of 1999 that the Indonesian army has long sought to propagate. According to this view, the violence was between two Timorese factions, with the pro-Indonesian faction indignant at pro-independence bias on the part of the United Nations. The worst Indonesian offense supposedly amounted to a failure to do enough to intervene to check this violence.

That these allegations against the United Nations have no credibility anywhere outside Indonesia should not allow the damaging consequences of their going unchallenged in Indonesia to be underestimated. The killings, rape and extreme physical destruction perpetrated after the overwhelming vote for independence were not an emotional response of the East Timorese losers in the UN-conducted ballot. They were a planned and coordinated operation under the direction of the Indonesian army. The army had created the East Timorese militias, and they had begun their campaign of terror and coercion against pro- independence leaders and supporters well before the agreement among Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations led to the establishment of the UN mission to conduct the ballot.

When the worst violence began after the ballot, journalists and international observers were chased out of East Timor and the UN mission was besieged in its Dili compound as the massacres were committed. After the Australian-led military intervention restored security, separate investigations, one by the UN commission of inquiry headed by a distinguished Costa Rican jurist and one by Indonesia's own national human rights commission, left no doubt regarding the Indonesian army's responsibility for crimes against humanity.

The Jakarta prosecutions of some -- but not all -- of those named by the Indonesian commission have been fatally flawed. The jurisdiction of the ad hoc human rights tribunal was limited in such a way that the full pattern of the Indonesian army's operation in East Timor, a necessary element of crimes against humanity, could not have been laid out before it -- even if the prosecution had genuinely wished to do this.

The first prosecutions were of the East Timorese governor and the Indonesian police chief. The local administration was closely involved with the militia, and the police had responsibility for security during the ballot. But the reality was that the militias operated under the direction of the army; this meant the police could never have dared to act against them, even if they had wanted to. The prosecutors had available to them mounds of evidence of the army's responsibility from the commissions of inquiry, and from the international investigators and prosecutors of the UN transitional administration in East Timor. Yet they failed to put a serious case before the court, even as regards the worst single massacre -- of priests and those they were sheltering in a church at Suai.

The accounts given at the trials by military commanders as witnesses or defendants have been founded on the most blatant falsehoods yet seem to have gone unchallenged by the prosecution. At their most ludicrous, they claimed that the security responsibility before, during and after the ballot lay with the UN civilian police. Yet Indonesia had insisted on retaining responsibility for security at all stages, and was adamant in restricting the 270 unarmed UN police to an advisory role.

What is to be done now? The international commission's recommendation of an international tribunal is still on the Security Council table -- action on it having been deferred to allow Indonesia to act. It is generally right that national prosecutions should be the first option, although it was never likely that they could be credible in this instance.

Now an international tribunal has the best prospect of obtaining the strongest evidence of the Indonesian military chain of command that was operating during the violence, which exists in Australian intelligence intercepts. The case for an international tribunal is unanswerable. It may also appear to be politically inconceivable -- but then, so was statehood for East Timor, which next month will be admitted to the United Nations as an independent country.

[The writer is vice president of the International Center for Transitional Justice and was special representative of the UN secretary general for the East Timor popular consultation in 1999.]

Gusmao angry with verdict

Tempo - August 27, 2002

Alexandre Assis, Dili -- East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao was very angry when he heard the verdict of the Central Jakarta Ad Hoc Human Rights Court that set free the main suspects -- Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen and other middle-rank Indonesian Military (TNI) and police officers -- in the East Timor human rights violation following the 1999 referendum.

Gusmao said that this decision has been considered as a joke by several people in Indonesia.

The East Timorese President made this statement at a press conference together with East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri at the Palacio de Governo of the Timor Leste Democratic Republic in Dili on Tuesday.

Alkatiri himself said that his government would discuss the settlement of this case through an international court.

"I can not accept this condition. Moreover, the Indonesian trial only sought a scapegoat in this matter. As an East Timorese, I can not accept the fact that my fellow citizens have been used as scapegoats for all incidents that took place before and after the 1999 referendum," said Gusmao.

According to Gusmao, this is the official stance of the East Timorese government in regards to the recent ruling.

The judges did however sentence former East Timorese governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares to three years in prison.

Gusmao mentioned the tri-partite agreement between Indonesian government, United Nations and Portuguese government made on May 5, 1999 in New York, stating that the TNI and National Police officers were to be held responsible for security in East Timor during the 1999 referendum.

"How could the Indonesian government come to the conclusion that the violence in East Timor during the referendum was due to a dispute between East Timorese? I can not accept this," said Gusmao.

The East Timorese President went on to say the East Timorese could not accept the argument made by Indonesian government that all the violence and human rights violations following the 1999 referendum resulted from disputes between East Timorese.

"The violence that took place was systematic and the Indonesian military was behind it at that time," he stated.

East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said that he would particularly discuss the option of an International Trial for the East Timor case with National Parliament and Gusmao.

"In this matter, all parties in East Timor have agreed to propose the establishment of and International Tribunal on the main suspects of human rights violation in East Timor to the UN," said Alkatiri.

Alkatiri admitted that this would not be easy, but added: "However, the support of international community, victims' families, Catholic church and all East Timorese could be considered by the UN Security Council as a good reason to establish an International Tribunal."

Gusmao was also convinced that the recent verdict on the East Timor case would not affect the relationship between Indonesia and East Timor.

One problem should not affect both countries' relationship in other aspects, he said.

 Human rights/law

UN document suggests preference for Indonesian-speaking judges

Lusa - August 26, 2002

A document drawn up by the United Nations Mission in East Timor says that the training of judges and support to courts and Timorese jurists should be undertaken in Indonesian, a policy that the UN mission denied last week.

The paper, "A Strategic Action Plan for the East Timor Judicial System", was written by the No. 2. administrator of UNMISET.

Lusa has seen the document, which suggests that training of judges should be carried out for a three-year period "in a language of which legal officials have a good working knowledge".

The document points to Bahasa Indonesia as the most widely -- known by Timorese judges and jurists, adding weight to a Timorese government source`s allegations last week that some sections of the UN mission were pressing for recruitment of officials who were "fluent in Indonesian".

However, UNMISET denied Thursday that any such favoritism existed towards Indonesian speakers, adding that the final decision on the matter rested solely with the Dili government. A UNMISET spokesman contacted Monday by Lusa echoed Thursday`s denial of any preference towards Indonesian-speakers, saying that the document only contained recommendations and any final decision was the responsibility of Timor`s executive.

Judges will be trained in Portuguese, says PM

Lusa - August 27, 2002

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Tuesday that East Timor`s judges and court officials are to be trained in Portuguese and rejected a reported preference by the UN for the use of Indonesian by the judiciary.

"UNMISET [the current UN mission in Timor] is not the administration and UNAMET has finished. They can make the proposals they like, but I said to Mary Robinson that the Portuguese instruction will not only be in the language, but in technical matters too", said Alkatiri in reference to his meeting Sunday with the UN`s human rights chief.

"All legislation currently being prepared by the government is in Portuguese. I don`t see how, two or three years henceforth, judges can take decisions based on this legislation without knowing Portuguese", said Alkatiri.

Alkatiri said his government was "looking to the future" and it was vital to improve training in Portuguese to ensure the viability of judicial projects .

If the UN insisted on recruiting Indonesian-speaking judges, who would then instruct Timorese colleagues, the Timorese government would not accept this, said Alkatiri, who added that this didn't mean Dili was "against the Indonesian language".

East Timor`s head of government blamed the UNTAET administration, which oversaw the 1999 independence ballot, for opting for Indonesian in Timor`s legal system. The result of this, said Alkatiri, was "a completely disastrous justice system".

"It is UNTAET`s fault that we have inherited this collapse in the justice system", said Alkatiri.

A document recently drawn up by the current UN mission in Dili identifies many shortcomings with Timor`s justice sector but does not directly blame the former UN administration for the situation, pointing instead to a "lack of time and resources".

 International relations

Rights group 'deeply disturbed' granting of immunity

ETAN Statement - August 27, 2002

East Timor Action Network/US (ETAN) said today that it was "deeply disturbed" by East Timor's decision to give US troops in the new nation immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"We are deeply disturbed and angered that the US government pressured East Timor to exempt US troops from the ICC. The East Timorese suffered greatly during the US-supported illegal occupation of their homeland when the Indonesian military committed the very crimes that the ICC is designed to discourage," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN.

East Timor's parliament ratified the Treaty of Rome establishing a permanent ICC on August 12. East Timor is the third country to sign an Article 98 agreement with the US granting immunity. The others are Romania and Israel. The ICC can hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity committed after July 1, 2002.

"When joining the court, East Timor affirmed its commitment to human rights and universal justice. Now, with the stroke of a pen, the East Timorese government has undermined these principles," said Miller.

Recently, the US has used the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor as a bargaining chip in its campaign to undermine the ICC. Last May, the Security Council rejected a US proposal to exempt from ICC jurisdiction peacekeepers with the post-independence UN Mission in East Timor (UNMISET). Although the US voted to establish the mission, it refused to replace three unarmed military observers assigned to UNMISET, apparently to send a warning during the contentious debate over renewal of the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

ETAN also urged East Timor not to sign additional agreements renouncing jurisdiction over US soldiers. "There are reports the US government has proposed that East Timor sign a Status of Forces Agreement with the US which would exempt US military personnel in East Timor from any criminal prosecution. Although such agreements have provided exemptions for US personnel in the past, many now allow host countries to retain the right of jurisdiction in cases of overriding national interest or of widespread public concern," said Miller.

"The history of East Timor demonstrates why a single standard of justice and strong enforcement mechanisms are vital. The ICC is designed to deter and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of the nature committed during decades of Indonesian occupation. We are concerned that East Timor, which struggled so valiantly for many years to achieve independence and rule-of-law, is being asked to abandon these principles," said Miller.

"Recent acquittals by the Indonesian ad hoc court on East Timor of Indonesian security officers accused of crimes against humanity have strengthened calls for genuine justice for East Timor. This dramatically illustrates the need for international mechanisms to address serious crimes including an ad hoc international tribunal for past crimes in East Timor and an uncompromised permanent international court for current and future crimes," he added.

East Timor grants ICC exemption to US soldiers

Reuters - August 26, 2002

Washington -- The newly independent state of East Timor has signed an agreement exempting US military personnel from prosecution in the International Criminal Court, the US State Department said on Monday.

The small east Asian country is only the third government to sign such a pact, known as an Article 98 agreement after part of the treaty that set up the court to try genocide and crimes against humanity. The others are Romania and Israel.

The United States has refused to cooperate with the new court on the grounds that its troops might face frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions. It is trying to persuade every country in the world, including its closest allies, to sign one of the Article 98 agreements.

The United States had two US soldiers in a UN force in East Timor but decided to withdraw them in July at the same time as the UN Security Council was debating the future of a UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. The gesture was widely interpreted as a US warning but US officials said it was not connected with the debate.

A State Department official said he was not sure if any US personnel were now part of the East Timor force. The government signed the agreement on Friday with US diplomats based in the capital Dili, he added.

The United States is now in conflict with the European Union over whether the 15-nation bloc should make a joint decision on Article 98 agreements or should leave it to each country to take up the US request.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote to European governments on August 16 urging them to make up their own minds rather than wait for a European Union meeting this week.

A US official said last week that without Article 98 agreements with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United States might have to reconsider how it takes part in joint exercises or military operations.

But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Monday: "The United States' commitment to NATO is very strong. It's a cornerstone of our security. There's no question of our commitment to NATO in terms of its role in enhancing our security and the security of all its members." He also denied that the United States would judge candidates for NATO membership on whether they sign agreements exempting US troops from prosecution in the court.

"But these things are important to us, Article 98 agreements, and we'll continue to pursue them strongly," the spokesman added.

 East Timor press reviews

East Timor Press Review

UNMISET

August 22

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Ramos-Horta invited yesterday's protesters, including former Falintil members, militants of Democratic Popular Commission of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (CPD-RDTL) for a dialogue and clarification session at the university Gymnasium in Dili today. President Xanana Gusmco, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo participated in the event, reports Timor Post.

TP reported National Parliament President, Francisco "Lu'olo" Guterres, as saying, "I am not accepting a national dialog with street groups people."

Director of Dili National Hospital, Rogerio Pedro Sam stated that the National Hospital staff are prepared to accept a Police investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by a patient on a on-duty nurse.

MP Jose Manuel Fernando says an enquiry is needed into the shootings at Becora prisoner in Dili last Friday jailbreak out.

An Environment and Sustainable Development Specialist, Naori Nakamoto announced that Dili district and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) would work together in the general clean up of Dili town on Sunday.

Head of East Timor lawyers, Aniceto Neves said that East Timor government is not serious taking the decision of Jakarta Ad Hoc tribunal. TP reported that the police mounted tight security at the National Parliament building yesterday during the protest held by CPD-RDTL members.

Suara Timor Lorosa'e reported that National Parliament President, Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres was disappointed that he was invited as an individual and not as representative of the Parliament to the dialogue between CPD-RDTL members.

Yesterday's protest coordinator and former Falintil, Jacob Correia said the government should replace Falintil with FDTL because Falintil has been the people's army.

It is reported that the two Timorese bishops met with President Xanana Gusmco to discuss about the national political situation and how to neutralize it.

STL also reported on the demonstration held by CPD-RDTL members yesterday demanding a national dialog between members of the National Parliament and former resistant members as well as Falintil.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jose Ramos-Horta stated that Timorese people should appreciate the International community because they are helping the Timorese and not colonizing this country.

STL has reported that a local NGO together with ILO provided a 2-days workshop about the rights and capability of works for women in the future.

It is reported that 20th August commemoration of was sad but at the same time a happy one.

August 26, 2002

Timor post front page reported on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visit to Suai war victim's families who have requested the head of Human Rights, Mary Robinson for an International Tribunal.

The United Nations Commissioner for Humans Rights has been quoted as saying that United Nations has been following the Ad Hoc tribunal in Jakarta, and if Indonesia fails then UN will look for alternative. She said, "I have been meeting with Timorese people and it is clear that they want an International Tribunal established in East Timor" reported TP.

Mary Robinson the United Nations Heads of Commission for Humans Rights quoted as saying that the court is an independent institution, and it should not be intervened by the Government.

Rumors that former militias' members had handed 11 guns to the Colimau Group 2000 in the border between East and West Timor has not been proven.

A final year economic and political science Timorese student at the Australian National University Dionisio Babo Soares said the government must have a short, middle and long term economic plan in order to combat the social problems in the country.

NGO Forum Director, Cecilio Caminha Freitas stressed that the role of NGO's is important in the society, especially for communities. In relation to tackling the cases of the worst human rights violations in East Timor, there is a need to create a good relationship between Government and NGOs.

The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation will soon introduce its commissioners and programs to Suai district communities.

The Bishop of Dili Diocese, Carlos Ximenes Belo, said the establishment of an International Tribunal depends on the willingness of East Timorese.

Suara Timor Lorosa'e front page reported on the head of UN Human Rights, Mary Robinson visit to Santa Cruz cemetery where she laid a wreath of flowers at the big cross in memory of those Timorese killed in a 1991 massacre.

Upon her arrival in East Timor, Mary Robinson was quoted as saying she is disappointed with the Jakarta Ad Hoc Tribunal. Her first official visit was with a group of families of the disappeared.

German Ambassador, Gerhard Fulde stated that the German government would maintain its bilateral support for East Timor.

It has been reported that the European Union is reviewing the Jakarta Ad Hoc tribunal regarding crimes against humanity committed in East Timor since from 1975 to 1999.

Nine people have been treated in hospital after a minibus accident in Atabae, Maliana district on Thursday.

The Project Manager of ITC, IDSS, Moh. Joao Martires says that at least 0.64% people infected Virus HIV/AIDS. He was speaking at a Workshop organized by the department of health in Dili on Friday.

Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri on Friday in the presence of Finance Minister and many other members of the government and military officially declared the tax office in Baucau open.

STL reports that in a short meeting with Mary Robinson, the head of Fokupers, Maria Domingas Alves presented cases of violence committed in East Timor. In reply to her, the High Commissioner said, "I know many things are still missing in East Timor. But Sergio Vieira de Mello and I will go to New York to discuss the establishment of an International Tribunal in East Timor." Maria Domingas said the High Commissioner's visit is to listen to each individual's concerns and suffering.

MP Joaquim dos Santos (FRETILIN) says National Parliament, President, and the Government are sovereign bodies with the legitimacy from the people, and they should not have with CPD- RDTL. He noticed that this could create precedent to other groups. Mr. Dos Santos does not consider CPD-RDTL as an opposition group because since UNTAET period they have abstained from the political process. Their request has been met such as the restoration of the East Timor flag, and the date of independence 28 November and there is no need to have dialogue, he said.

Members of Parliament from all political parties in the Parliament appealed to the UN High Commissioner to pressure the international community for the establishment of an international tribunal for East Timor.

Mary Robinson signed an agreement with the government and civil society on the defense and promotion of Human Rights in East Timor. The communiqui signed at the end of her first day official visit explains 11 aims in the promotion of human rights in East Timor, reports STL.

August 27, 2002

Timor Post reported today that President Xanana Gusmco stated that all the Timorese people must come together as one for the establishment of an international tribunal.

TP also reported that President Gusmco and Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri have rejected the request of a people's tribunal because it would be to denounce democracy, human rights, the constitution and the state itself.

Young Timorese must start learning to speak Portuguese because it is the official language. The Bishop of Dili Diocese and the Portuguese Ambassador on Monday signed an agreement for the establishment of a Portuguese school in Dili. Bishop Belo said that, according to the Constitution, Portuguese is the official language.

Becora Prison Manager, Carlos Freitas Sarmento stated that at least two-hundred and two prisoners have returned to the prison. It was reported that out of the thirty- three, five were former militia members.

TP reported that UN-PKF Force Commander, General Winai Pattiyakul and six members of Thaibat presented a farewell gift to President Gusmco yesterday.

Mozambique Ambassador, Geraldo Antonio Crisna, sent a letter of apology to President Xanana Gusmco for not being able to attend East Timor's accession to the United Nations on the 27th of September.

Residents of Hatobuilico have rejected the request of a martial arts teacher to provide martial art lessons in that area by stating that since East Timor freed itself from Indonesia in 1999, the people of that area are living in peace and do not want any more violence.

ETPS Commissioner, Paulo Martins says the police have increased security at Becora Prison after the jailbreak out two weeks ago.

TP reports that United Nations Head, Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson has promised 'the establishment of an International Tribunal for human rights violations.'

Suara Timor Lorosa'e's front page reports Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri as saying that the government executives will meet President Gusmao and members of Parliament to discuss the creation of an international tribunal for serious human rights violations in East Timor. Mr. Alkatiri said the international community would establish the International Tribunal after a United Nations decision.

Referring to Jakarta's Ad'Hoc Tribunal, President Gusmco said that the Timorese people should not be used as scapegoats on human rights violations committed in East Timor during September 1999.

STL reported that the new UN-PKF Force Commander from Singapore, General Major Tan Huck Gim arrived last Sunday. PKF Spokesperson Captain, Sarah Hawke stated that August 30th Major General, Tan Huck Gim would officially take over from Lieutenant General Winay Pattiyakul.

UNICEF and Forum Communication Oratorio (FKO) Salesian Don Bosco, in Balide, Dili, launched a seminar focusing on Street Children this week.

It is claimed that Dili District Court sessions have been going off and on, unlike the hearing process, which has been operating consistenly.

Minister of Internal Administration, Rogerio Tiago Lobato, stressed that former Falintil members have to be patient because the RDTL Government is just three months old and can not solve all problems.

Antonio Ai Tahan Matak stated that leaders of that group did not participate at last Wednesda's meeting because the aspirations of CPD-RDTL presented to the government have not been met for the past 3 years. Ai Tahan Matak added 'the dialogue was requested by the people to present their feelings and concerns to the government.' In response to the National Parliament President's comments, Ai Tahan Matak said, "Mr. Lu'olo stated that CPD-RDTL are a bunch of rubbish and illegal. Therefore we didn't have to be present at the meeting. If they are the leaders, the government are the ones to solve the problems, not us."

It is reported that residents of Semedo suco in Maubara sub- district do not have drinking water up to date because the water pipes were destroyed and looted during September 1999 violence.

Water canals in Dili city has been covered with dirt, reports STL.

August 29, 2002

Suara Timor Lorosa'e front page reported on the Chief staff of FDTL, Colonel Lere Anan Timor quoted as saying that the decision of Captain Domingos "Amico" da Camara to resign from East Timor Military service was a big loss for the big family of FDTL because his merit could not be valued by words only.

Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri explained that East Timor's national development is the responsibility of all components in the society and not only of the Government. In the same article Mr. Alkatiri said that FDTL, as one of the pillars in national development, should contribute to the development itself because the success of it depends on national stability.

Spokesperson of Boat People, Ajante said that the 58-Srilankan refugees had been moved to the former transport service building and soon they would be sent back to their country, reported STL.

Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jorge Teme stated that East Timor has established diplomatic ties with five Pacific island countries; Fiji, Palau, Vanuatu, Marchal Island and Cook Island.

It is reported that the national campaign of immunization will be conducted in two steps: on 28 September and 26 October.

STL reported that a UN car in Hera hit a nine-year old boy yesterday.

President of the Association of East Timor Lawyers, Benevides Barros stated that the International Tribunal would not be established without the active effort by East Timorese themselves.

Minister of Education, Armindo Maia said that during the "100 days" of the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, the Government focused on the reconstruction of infrastructure, rebuilding of schools, recruitment and training for new teachers. In the same article Mr. Maia also said that Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri would soon report on all programs prepared by the Ministry of Education.

Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri said that the Government pays attention to all people and not to certain groups only.

MP Joao Gongalves, during a debate at the Parliament, did not accept the political statement presented by KOTA party.

The company, Sinilever Co. Ltd began its activities of road construction in Oecusse.

It is reported that Association of East Timorese Veterans had sent four of its members to Java-Indonesia for a rattan handicrafts training yesterday.

Faulata village residents of Ainaro district complained about the absence of schools in that village.

For almost 20 years working as the Head of Dili Diocese, Mgr. Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo decided to take a three-month leave and also to do some medical check-ups overseas.

Timor Post reported on Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri as saying that MP Manuel Tilman " does not really understand East Timor Constitution, and he needs to learn more about it"

President Xanana Gusmco will ask MP Manuel Tilman for an explanation about the political statement issued by KOTA party on national dialog conducted between the Government and the CPD-RDTL members last week.

Brigadier General of FDTL Taur Matan Ruak announced that next year some FDTL officials will be trained in Australia, China, Brazil and New Zealand.

Vice Minister of Communication, Cesar Morreira said that he was also disappointed with the actions of foreign companies due to their unwillingness to work with the national ones.

East Timor Fuel staff, Fransisco reported that he discovered some corruption done by the Government official by misusing the free of charge coupon when filling the gas for the government-owned cars.

MP Jose Manuel Fernandes stated that the integration of East Timor into Pacific Forum Countries would have a benefit in political and economic sectors.

Primer Minister Mari Alkatiri stated that the Government would find ways to resolve the problems of former Falintil members as a whole and not on the individual cases.

Dili sub-district coordinator, Joaquim Saldanha said that as one of the cities of this country, Dili would regain its title as "the cleanest city" in South East Asia.

PNT President, Abilio Araujo was quoted as saying that the foreign business community should work together with the national ones.

Vice-Minister of Health, Luis Lobato reported that from the budget of 2002/2003, Health Department would rehabilitate 109 health service centers in all districts. All health centers will be equipped with water supply and solar power facilities as well as radio.

The paper also reported that the three big parties: PSD, PD and Fretilin supported the idea of CPD-RDTL being as a political party.

MP Antonio Machado Cardoso said that we couldn't consider the work of the Government of Democratic Republic of East Timor as a failure because it scratched from zero.

[Drafted by the UNMISET Spokespersons Office]


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