Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEWS & ISSUES
* East Timor shock as new UN chief changes his
mind
* Homeless family sent back to Dili
* UN says East Timor report should be ready next
month
* Community fears for Timorese group being sent
home
* Australia criticized for sending 42 East
Timorese home
POLITICAL/SOCIAL CRISIS
* Security forces arrest youths in East Timor
* East Timor police back on the beat
* Violence flares again in East Timor
* UN takes over policing in East Timor
* Youths attack Dili refugee camp
* Don’t treat me as a criminal, pleads East
Timorese rebel
* Reinado on the Line
* I’m willing to shoot Australian troops, Reinado
warns
* Australians know whereabouts of fugitive Timor
renegade
* Australia to maintain presence in Timor
* Refugee attacks raise tensions
* Bob Lowry speaks to Quentin Dempster on East
Timor
* Fragile peace may shatter if fugitive rebels
join forces
* Escaped Timor rebel chief says not planning
revolt
POLITICS/POLITICAL PARTIES
* Timor says credible elections are key to
reconciliation
* Heal splits or lose power, Ramos Horta warns
Fretilin
OPINION & ANALYSIS
* Editorial: Toeing the line on Timor
* East Timor drama had no hidden agenda
* Evidence mounts against Gusmao
* Claim that Gusmao ordered Dili’s days of rage
* Claim that President paid major’s hotel bill
* Normality far off for East Timor
* East Timor: The president’s man
* East Timor reality check
DAILY MEDIA REVIEWS
* East Timor daily media review - September 1-29
NEWS & ISSUES
East Timor shock as new UN chief changes his mind
Sydney Morning Herald - September 29, 2006
Lindsay Murdoch — The man appointed by the United
Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to head a
new mission in East Timor has decided not to take
the job, in a setback for plans to help the
country recover from months of violence.
Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, a former president
of Cape Verde, who originally accepted the job
earlier this month, has changed his mind, which
will leave the UN mission in East Timor leaderless
for weeks as international police and troops
struggle to curb gang violence in the capital,
Dili.
The mission is also under pressure to move quickly
to help organise national elections scheduled for
April.
The mission approved by the UN Security Council in
August has been without a leader since it formally
assumed responsibilities in East Timor almost a
month ago. Japan’s Sukehiro Hasegawa, who had led
the former UN mission since 2004, has already left
the country.
The new mission will consist of 1600 international
police, including 130 Australians, and about 500
UN civilian personnel. Hundreds of Australian
troops will also remain in the country.
Mr Monteiro told the UN this week that he decided
not to take the job because of opposition to his
appointment in Dili.
He told a news conference in Cape Verde, an island
state in the North Atlantic and former Portuguese
province, that he knew there were some
“reservations” about his appointment in East Timor
and “I was no longer interested in serving there”.
"The functions of a representative of the UN
Secretary-General in East Timor are very broad and
must be exercised with the goodwill of all parties
involved,“Mr Monteiro said.”It is better to stand down now than to create
problems later on, especially in view of the
complexity of the situation in East Timor."
Some of East Timor’s leaders are known to have
questioned Mr Monteiro’s appointment, partly
because of a perception that he would favour
interests aligned with “lusaphone” (Portuguese-
speaking) countries such as Portugal, Mozambique,
and Angola.
Critics of East Timor’s deposed prime minister,
Mari Alkatiri, have often accused him of pursuing
Mozambique-type Marxist policies; Mr Alkatiri
spent years in exile in Mozambique and Angola.
Another criticism of Mr Monteiro was that he was a
poor speaker of English and many of East Timor’s
young people cannot speak Portuguese, even though
it is one of the country’s formal languages.
Some leaders are known to be disappointed that Mr
Annan did not select an experienced UN
administrator for the job, as he did in 1999 when
he appointed the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello,
who served in the country until May 2002. Mr de
Mello was killed in a bomb blast in Iraq in late
2003.
A UN spokeswoman in Dili said last night that she
had not been told when a replacement for Mr
Hasegawa would be appointed.
In the meantime Finn Reske-Nielson, the UN’s
humanitarian co-ordinator in East Timor, would
stand in as Mr Annan’s special representative, she
said.
Homeless family sent back to Dili
Northern Territory News - September 22, 2006
Emma — There were emotional scenes as an East
Timorese family were deported from Darwin
yesterday. Epifano Faculto, 32, his wife Susette
and two children — Willy, 6, and two-year-old
Lelanlia — were flown home to Dili.
Their Dili house was burnt down in the political
violence and they will be forced to live in a
refugee camp. The family was told at 5pm on
Wednesday that they were being deported and were
put on an Airnorth flight at 7am yesterday.
Mr Faculto shook as he spoke of his fear at
returning home. "They do not have a solution to
the violence in East Timor,“he said.”We wanted
to stay in Australia until everything was resolved
and we could go back. We asked to stay temporarily
— we don’t want to stay forever."
Mr Faculto and his brother-in-law Louis Lobato,
31, were both admitted to the psychiatric war at
the Royal Darwin Hospital, suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder, hours before their
original return was scheduled.
"It’s fine for the Australian Government to say
it’s safe, but it’s not,“he said.”In some
places, there is still fighting. I am scared to go
back." Almost 40 friends and family were sent home
this month.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last
week warned of escalating violence in Dili and
surrounding areas. But Immigration spokesman Sandi
Logan said: "The security situation remains stable
and there is no need to be concerned for the
security of those returning."
UN says East Timor report should be ready next
month
Agence France Presse - September 13, 2006
Dili — A UN team probing the violence that
erupted in East Timor earlier this year is on
track to complete its report by next month, the
commissioners said Wednesday on their second visit
to the tiny nation.
The team had spent the past 10 days reviewing
information gathered by investigators as well as
interviewing key individuals ahead of their
departure this week, said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
one of the three commissioners.
At the request of East Timor’s government, the
commission is tasked with establishing facts
relating to violence that hit the impoverished
nation in April and May and clarifying who was
responsible. It will also recommend measures to
ensure accountability for crimes and rights
violations committed then.
"The report will be submitted to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations and the national
parliament of Timor-Leste within the three-month
timeframe foreseen for the work of the Commission,
that is, on or about 7 October," Pinheiro told a
press briefing.
The commission has an international team of 12
criminal and human rights investigators and legal
advisors working with it. Pinheiro said about 200
witnesses have been interviewed and more than
3,000 documents collected from various
institutions.
"We strongly hope and trust that the
representatives of the government and all relevant
institutions will give serious consideration to
our recommendations, and utilize the report as a
step towards reinforcing the institutions of the
country," he said. He added that the commission
hoped the report would be made available to the
public in a readily accessible form.
East Timor asked the UN to set up the inquiry
after the nation descended into chaos in April and
May, with at least 21 left dead in two waves of
violence that initially flared as sacked soldiers
held protests.
That mayhem descended into factional fighting
within the security forces and ethnic street
battles which led to at least 150,000 people
fleeing their homes. More than 3,000 foreign
peacekeepers had to be deployed to restore calm.
Community fears for Timorese group being sent home
ABC News Online - September 10, 2006
Australian East Timor activists say the Federal
Government’s decision to send a group of 42
refugees back to the country does not make sense
because East Timor is still unstable.
The 42 East Timorese have been living in Melbourne
and Darwin for the last three months on temporary
protection visas, after they fled their home to
escape civil unrest earlier this year.
The Immigration Department informed them on Friday
that their visas would run out on Monday.
Australians for a Free East Timor activist Rob
Wesley-Smith says it is bizarre for the Federal
Government to send the group back while the
security situation is still unpredictable.
"At the same time that John Howard is saying he’s
got to send extra troops to East Timor, another
arm of his Government is saying it is okay for
people who are utterly stressed out to rush back
with three days’ notice,“he said.”[We] don’t
even know if there will be an aircraft available
for them."
He says the decision to send the 42 East Timorese
people back is inconsiderate because some of them
are in a poor psychological state and the
situation in Dili is still unstable.
"A lot of them are very stressed out, I was with
one and some crackers [went off] up the street and
he was very disturbed,“he said.”You have to remember that there is still about
half of the Dili population is in refugee camps.
Some of these refugee camps are being attacked by
up to 150 people."
Jose Gusmao, a member of Darwin’s East Timorese
community, says many among the group of 42 are
scared to return home.
"I know that the Government have to make decision,
I agree,“he said.”But on the other hand, I mean
as human being I feel... we should have given them
more time."
Mr Gusmao says the families should have been given
more time to prepare for their return journey.
The Immigration Department says the 42 people were
given a two-week extension to their temporary
visas and have been notified of their departure
date.
The department says it is satisfied they will not
be targeted when they return home to East Timor
tomorrow.
But Epifano Faculto, who is among the group of 42
and has been living in Darwin for the last three
months, says he is scared to go home. "The
situation is today is better, but maybe tomorrow
is not better," he said.
He says he and his family respect the decision of
the Australian Government to send them back to
their homeland, but they are nervous about
returning.
Australia criticized for sending 42 East Timorese
home
Associated Press - September 9, 2006
Canberra — Lawmakers criticized the government
Saturday for forcing 42 East Timorese who fled
violence in the capital Dili in May to return to
their homeland.
The 42 men, women and children were told Friday
that they have until midnight Monday to go home,
an Immigration Department spokeswoman said
Saturday.
All of them, currently living in the Australian
cities of Melbourne and Darwin, had made failed
appeals to Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone
for extensions of their humanitarian visas.
Paul Henderson, a Darwin-based minister of the
Northern Territory Government, criticized the
federal government for ordering the East Timorese
out the day after announcing Thursday that an
extra 120 Australian soldiers were to be sent to
Dili because of escalating tensions.
"One arm of government is saying things aren’t too
good in East Timor and we need to send more troops
over there and another arm of government is saying
it’s safe for these 14 to go home," Henderson told
Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio, referring to
the 14 East Timorese who are residing in his home
town.
The group was among 54 East Timorese rescued from
Dili in May when Australia sent a battalion of
troops to quell violence that killed at least 30
people and drove 150,000 from their homes.
The violence had snowballed from clashes between
government security forces and soldiers dismissed
in March by former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.
A dozen of the 54 who were initially given three-
month Australian humanitarian visas had already
returned to their homes voluntarily, the
immigration spokeswoman said on condition of
anonymity, citing department policy. The remainder
were given two-week extensions on Aug. 24, the
spokeswoman said.
She declined to detail why the East Timorese were
brought to Australia, citing privacy
considerations. "Because of their personal
circumstances, they were particularly vulnerable
given the political and security situation in Dili
then," the spokeswoman said.
Vanstone had decided the remaining 42 should go
home after considering the latest government
report on security in East Timor, she said.
Prime Minister John Howard told Parliament on
Thursday the level of violence in Dili had fallen
in recent weeks. But Australia was immediately
sending an extra 120 troops because the escape of
57 inmates from Dili’s prison on Aug. 30 had
“escalated tensions,” he said.
At the time of Howard’s announcement, Australia
had 930 military personnel and 180 police in East
Timor.
POLITICAL/SOCIAL CRISIS
Security forces arrest youths in East Timor
Agence France Presse - September 28, 2006
Dili — International police in East Timor fired
tear gas to disperse groups of youths fighting on
the streets of the capital today and later
arrested some at a refugee camp, witnesses said.
Youths hurling rocks clashed with others from a
major refugee camp in Dili’s Colmera area until
the police working under UN authority intervened,
witness and camp resident Teresa do Carmo said.
The incident was the latest in a series involving
youth gangs on the streets of the seaside capital
since deadly unrest in May that led to some 3,200
peacekeepers being deployed to maintain calm.
"I saw myself the Australian police fire five
canisters of tear gas and none of us could see
anything," 42-year-old Ms do Carmo said.
She said the police entered the camp and arrested
about 30 young men living there and "wreaked havoc
among the tents and damaged kitchen utensils that
they found. Other people outside were the ones who
provoked and pelted us, and then the (people here)
responded. But police came and only arrested those
living at the camps,“she complained.”Police also
seized our kitchen knife and firewood that we used
to cook."
About 200 UN police and Australian troops
encircled the camp, an AFP correspondent reported,
while an Australian helicopter hovered overhead.
He saw about 20 men detained and police confiscate
knives and sticks. Police declined to immediately
comment.
May’s initial violence, which left at least 21
people dead, was triggered by the government’s
dismissal of some 600 soldiers who deserted the
army complaining of discrimination.
Tens of thousands of East Timorese remain in
refugee camps, still too afraid to return home
amid the uncertain security.
East Timor police back on the beat
Agence France Presse - September 27, 2006
East Timor’s police force has begun returning to
work in the capital Dili. It is the first time
this has happened since the city descended into
violence earlier this year.
Twenty-five officers resumed duties this week
under the command of United Nations (UN) police.
Up to 900 officers are expected to return to work
after completing a six-week training and mentoring
program run by the UN.
"The return to duty of these police in the capital
is a crucial step in restoring Timorese public
authority and ensuring law and order on the
streets of Dili and the whole country," acting UN
police commissioner Antero Lopes said in a
statement.
East Timorese police were taken off-duty after the
violence in April and May, which involved fighting
between rival police and military factions.
The officers are participants in an ongoing
screening process that began in early September
and has seen some 900 Dili-based police register
as a prerequisite for returning to work, the UN
says. The program is to be implemented outside the
capital later.
Officers found to have had complaints lodged
against them may be subject to investigation by
the UN police and the prosecutor’s office.
Cleared officers are eligible to begin a six-week
training and mentoring program, comprised of a
five-day intensive refresher course at the police
academy followed by five weeks of on-the-job
mentoring, the UN says. Officers are not permitted
to carry firearms during mentoring.
The East Timorese capital descended into chaos in
May, when rival factions from the military and
police waged bloody battles on the streets
alongside youth gangs, leaving at least 21 people
dead.
Some 3,200 international peacekeepers were
deployed to the tiny half-island nation to restore
calm, while the United Nations has extended its
mission.
Violence flares again in East Timor
Agence France Presse - September 24, 2006
Dili — Violence erupted on the streets of the
East Timorese capital today as two groups pelted
each other with stones, forcing residents in the
area to flee their homes.
The disturbance occurred between two groups of
youths from different regions of East Timor near
the Comoro market at about 2pm local time,
witnesses said.
They said the incident appeared to follow the
beating of a man the previous day in the Aimutin
da Lurumata area.
"This stone throwing is a follow up to yesterday’s
incident where several drunken youths beat up a
man called Joaoa at a party in Lurumata," said
Damiao Amaral, 26, a student who witnessed the
violence. Family and friends of the attacked man,
from the eastern part of the country, had sought
to avenge him, he said.
About 100 families mostly from the western part of
East Timor living in Lurumata fled the violence
and sought shelter at the Dom Bosco seminary or
with family elsewhere in Aimutin, he said. Police
disbanded the fighters, he said.
Meanwhile, the civil registry office next to the
Fatuhada police post in Dili was burned by
unidentified men today, witnesses said. At least
six international police had tried to douse the
flames with fire extinguishers, the witnesses
said. The police declined comment.
The incidents were the latest in a series that
have shaken the city and its surroundings after
then-prime minister Mari Alkatiri dismissed 600
soldiers in an army of 1400 early this year when
they protested suspected discrimination against
soldiers from the west of the tiny country.
The violence, which later degenerated into
conflicts pitting East Timorese from the western
and eastern parts, prompted the deployment of
international peace keeping forces in May to
restore security in the capital of the fledgling
nation.
UN takes over policing in East Timor
Agence France Presse - September 13, 2006
International police deployed to East Timor in the
wake of unrest in May have formally handed over
their authority to the United Nations during a
ceremony in the capital.
Some 554 police now fall under the control of the
new UN mission in East Timor which was set up by
the Security Council last month, according to a
mission spokeswoman.
Diplomats from Australia, Malaysia and Portugal
symbolically placed blue berets on the heads of
representatives of their respective police forces
serving in the tiny nation at the ceremony
attended by about 100 officials.
"You have a double responsibility and priority: to
serve the community and to serve your respective
countries," Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta told
the gathering.
Ramos-Horta praised the “outstanding” job done by
the foreign police force so far in East Timor,
which was plunged into months of political
uncertainty after violence among military and
police factions left some 21 people dead in May.
UNMIT, which has an initial six-month mandate, is
tasked with assisting in elections due next year
as well as strengthening the East Timorese police
and justice system. Some 1,608 police officers and
34 military liaison officers are to be part of the
mission.
The original violence, which saw an estimated
150,000 people in the nation of one million flee
their homes in fear for their lives, was triggered
by the dismissal of 600 deserting soldiers. Most
of the refugees remain in camps, lacking
confidence in the security situation.
One of the world’s youngest and poorest countries,
East Timor became independent in 2002 after voting
in 1999 to end 24 years of Indonesian rule. It was
administered by the United Nations during the
interim period, which quickly scaled down its
operations after independence.
Youths attack Dili refugee camp
Agence France Presse - September 9, 2006
Peacekeepers have fired tear gas to stop fighting
at a refugee camp in the East Timorese capital of
Dili, in the latest unrest to hit the tiny
territory.
Eye-witnesses say dozens of youths armed with
slingshots and stones have attacked a refugee camp
opposite the United Nations headquarters.
"The attack happened at 12.00 with tens of
youths," Americo Marcal, a guard at the Obrigado
Barracks camp, said. "They threw stones and used
catapults, and then the refugees fought back."
An AFP reporter says around 50 Australian,
Malaysian and Portuguese police are trying to stop
the brawl between the youths and the camp’s
inhabitants, who are also armed with rocks and
slingshots. "One canister of tear gas was thrown
into the camp," said the reporter.
The reporter says women and children have been
evacuated from the barracks to the United Nations
headquarters across the road.
A Portuguese policeman, who refused to give his
name, has confirmed youths have attacked the
refugee camp but says police have yet to arrest
anyone for the unrest. "We haven’t arrested anyone
from either the group of youths or from the
internally displaced people," he said.
East Timor has been plagued by sporadic violence
since May, when the desertion of 600 troops
sparked civil unrest that left 21 people dead and
forced thousands to flee their homes.
Some 3,200 Australian-led peacekeepers have been
deployed in Dili since the unrest started. The
United Nations has agreed to send more than 1,600
international police to the impoverished country.
Don’t treat me as a criminal, pleads East Timorese
rebel
The Australian - September 9, 2006
Mark Dodd, Dili — East Timor’s most wanted man,
Australian-trained army rebel Alfredo Reinado,
appealed yesterday for international forces in the
country not to treat him as a criminal.
Major Reinado, who is believed to be hiding
somewhere in the south of East Timor, said he was
continually on the move and had no immediate
intention of turning himself in.
"I hear the international police and Australian
forces are asking me to hand myself in. I cannot
do that — there is no justice in East Timor, laws
in the country don’t function, they don’t exist,"
he told The Weekend Australian by telephone.
Major Reinado, 39, who has been on the run since
breaking out of Becora jail in Dili with 56 other
inmates on August 30, accused the East Timor
Government of being disloyal to the people.
The UN-commanded police have rounded up about a
dozen of the escapees in the past few days.
If the Government implemented credible and
transparent justice, Major Reinado said, he would
return to Dili and turn himself in.
The former head of East Timor’s military police
faces charges of attempted murder and illegal
possession of weapons in connection with recent
political violence. The UN last Sunday promised
him a fair trial if he gave himself up.
"I’ve been moving around and I’ve been chased by
the international forces. Why is this? Am I an
enemy?“he asked.”Why are these guys after me?"
East Timor descended into chaos in May, when
fighting between factions within the security
forces spilled into widespread gang warfare, with
looting and arson attacks leaving at least 30
people dead and forcing 150,000 to flee from their
homes.
Calm returned with the installation of a new
government and the arrival of Australian
peacekeepers, but tens of thousands of East
Timorese still live in temporary camps, and
sporadic gang fights have continued.
Reinado on the Line
SBS Dateline - September 7, 2006
It has been a week now since East Timor’s most
wanted man, rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado
with 56 other prisoners somehow managed to just
walk out of Dili’s jail, it has to be said, under
extremely curious circumstances. As it happens,
Dateline’s David O’Shea was with Reinado and got
caught in the cross-fire when the rebel leader
fired the first shots of the violence. He was also
on hand when Reinado was arrested, three weeks
ago. And now, earlier today, still on the run,
Reinado out of the blue, called David by mobile
from wherever it is that he’s hiding in the hills
above Dili.
David O’Shea: Alfredo Reinado, where are you?
Major Alfredo Reinado: I’m somewhere in East
Timor.
David O’Shea: Yes can you be more specific?
Major Alfredo Reinado: How come I can tell you
that if there are Australian troops hunting me
around, chasing me around?
David O’Shea: They are saying that you are
destabilising the situation, increasing tensions.
Aren’t you going to give yourself up?
Major Alfredo Reinado: I’m never going to give
myself up. Because I’ve already given opportunity
for them, time to the process of the justice side
of it. I know myself that I am not a criminal.
David O’Shea: So can you just explain clearly,
what do you want?
Major Alfredo Reinado: What I want, to listen to
the majority of the people. Because these people
didn’t want this government any more. People want
justice, people want change.
David O’Shea: Are you still loyal to Xanana
Gusmao? And have you been in touch with him?
Major Alfredo Reinado: I always loyal with him,
I’m still in touch with him.
David O’Shea: If President Xanana Gusmao asks you
or orders you to hand yourself in, would you do
it?
Major Alfredo Reinado: No.
David O’Shea: So you’re not following orders from
Xanana Gusmao then?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Not all the orders you
should follow. What is the justification of the
order? You have to clarify. Not all the order if
the order comes to you, “You go and eat the shit”
you eat the shit? No way.
David O’Shea: There are reports here in the media
today that you have been in communication with the
Australian forces. Is that correct and, if it is,
what have you been talking about?
Major Alfredo Reinado: I do have communication,
been communicating with them, I just let them know
that "Don’t come after me because I am not a
problem of this nation. The government is the
problem of the nation and my people will not let
that happen." Because my people will never hand me
over. I’m willing to talk to anyone, to talk, to
do any dialogue, anything. But to hand over
myself, no way. When they after me, I will stop
them. If they shoot me, I will shoot them back
because I have a right to protect myself in my
country. And I know I don’t have anything to
against Australians.
David O’Shea: Are you armed? How many weapons do
you have with you? And how many men do you have
with you?
Major Alfredo Reinado: I have all the people in
this country who ever support me. They are armed
with machetes and spears, that’s a weapon also.
They are ready to defend themselves. With anything
they have, even rocks and wood.
David O’Shea: But how many heavy weapons do you
have?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Me?
David O’Shea: Yes.
Major Alfredo Reinado: All my weapons I already
hand over.
David O’Shea: But you told me that last time, when
I interviewed you, you told me that you’d handed
in all of your weapons and then when they found
you in the house that day, you had 4,000
ammunition, guns and magazines.
Major Alfredo Reinado: Look my friend, listen to
me, the order they gave me was to hand over all of
my weapons, not hand over all the equipment, all
the military equipment. So I had over all my
weapons, they ask for weapons, I gave them
weapons, they didn’t say it includes ammunition
and everything. I still have the pistol.
David O’Shea: Can I just ask you, how did you
escape from jail?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Somehow, under pressure I
have to escape and arrange all the power I had. I
knew that security of the jail was not that
strong. Only a few people there and during that
time I stayed with the visit time, so door is
open, people coming in an out. So I use that
opportunity to scare them with everything I have
— wood, rock or whatever — and they run away so
we come out. And by that time, already three or
four days, the prison has been left empty by
international group. Normally international group
give security there, and they left. That means it
was an opportunity for me to go.
David O’Shea: Prime Minister Ramos Horta has
blamed foreign forces for letting you out of jail,
for allowing you leave. Is that true?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Yes, because he’s in a
confusing... confusing situation. He says that
because he scared, he’s scared the truth will come
out.
David O’Shea: So what do you mean "the truth to
come out"?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Because Ramos Horta hide so
many things. Ramos Horta is not in favour with the
people any more. Because he’s part of the Mari
Alkatiri group.
David O’Shea: When I was with you in the hills in
May, you called for Australian intervention. Now
you’ve become public enemy number one. What’s
happened with that relationship?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Look, public enemy number
one, that word doesn’t suit me because my public
didn’t feel like I am the enemy. Ask everyone, but
the government thinks that I am the enemy.
David O’Shea: You obviously feel like you’ve been
betrayed, who has betrayed you do you think?
Major Alfredo Reinado: Ramos Horta of course has
betrayed me. You know, because Ramos Horta, since
he gained his power, everything has changed since
he got the power. He never did talk to me any
more. And he never implemented anything he talked
to me about it.
David O’Shea: It could appear that all of this is
just so you don’t have to stay in jail.
Major Alfredo Reinado: Look I’m staying in jail,
for what?
David O’Shea: Weapons possession.
Major Alfredo Reinado: If you go through what they
blame me for, you don’t have any basic legal side
to it.
David O’Shea: Are you going to be starting any
trouble? Are you going to be sitting waiting? What
is your plan?
Major Alfredo Reinado: My friend, as you know, I
never start any trouble all along. The trouble is
being start by somebody else. I stand up to stop
that until now. Why is everybody blame that I’m
the problem of this country? I’m not a problem of
this country. If I am a problem of this country,
the people didn’t stand for me. The government is
the problem of the country. I think I’m a
solution.
Without me, there’s already civil war. Without me,
all ready the people, many of them already dying,
been killing by the defence force themselves.
Without me, there would be big chaos today. I just
want Australian people not to think that I’m a
rebel or I’m a renegade, because if I’m a rebel or
a renegade my people, these people, didn’t stand
for me. And I want the Australian people to tell
their government that their troops come here to
stand for everybody, not to pick a fight.
David O’Shea: Alfredo Reinado, thank you for
speaking to us.
Major Alfredo Reinado: You’re welcome.
Reporter/Camera - David O’Shea
Cameraman - David Brill
Editor - Wayne Love
Producer - Amos Cohen
I’m willing to shoot Australian troops, Reinado
warns
Melbourne Age - September 7, 2006
Leo Shanahan — East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo
Reinado has vowed not to give himself up and says
he is willing to shoot at Australian troops.
Reinado was contacted at his jungle hide-out by
SBS program Dateline last night, but refused to
confirm his location because "there are Australian
troops hunting me around, chasing me around".
The fugitive escaped last week from Dili’s local
jail with 56 other men. He confirmed that he has
been in contact with Australian troops and
indicated he was willing to negotiate.
"I do have communication, been communicating with
them. I just let them know that, ’don’t come after
me, because I am not a problem of this nation’.
The Government is the problem of the nation and my
people will not let that happen. I’m willing to
talk to any one, to talk, to do any dialogue,
anything but to hand over myself, no way," Reinado
told SBS.
He said he was armed and willing to fire upon
Australian troops if necessary: "When they after
me, I will stop them. If they shoot me, I will
shoot them back, because I have a right to protect
myself in my country."
His escape has once again put East Timor on the
edge, with international forces already struggling
to curb gang violence.
He also confirmed that he was in contact with East
Timorese President Xanana Gusmao and was "always
loyal" to the President.
Reinado and his rebel troops were blamed for the
outbreak of violence in May that eventually led
Australian troops to return to the fledging
nation.
He criticised new East Timor Prime Minister Jose
Ramos Horta, accusing him of siding with former
prime minister Mari Alkatiri. "Ramos Horta is not
in favour with the people any more. Because he’s
part of the Mari Alkatiri club... Ramos Horta, of
course, has betrayed me."
Prime Minister John Howard dismissed Reinado’s
threats as propaganda. "I think Australian
soldiers can handle that situation. I have every
confidence in (Australian commander) Brigadier
(Mick) Slater," Mr Howard said.
Australians know whereabouts of fugitive Timor
renegade
Sydney Morning Herald - September 6, 2006
Lindsay Murdoch — The East Timorese rebel leader
Alfredo Reinado has obtained weapons since he led
a mass escape from Dili’s main jail last week, his
lawyer said yesterday.
"I have information that he and his men have guns
and are in the hills not too far from Dili," Paulo
Remedios said by telephone from the East Timorese
capital. "I don’t know his location exactly, but a
lot of people are telling me that the Australian
police and military know where he is."
Mr Remedios said he understands the Australians
have made contact with the 39-year-old
Australian-trained Reinado, who within hours of
his escape circulated a letter in Dili calling for
Timorese to rise up in a “people power”
revolution. "Maybe the Australian police and
military think it is too dangerous to try to
arrest him and his men at this time," Mr Remedios
said.
Renaido is a former military policeman who left
his post in May because he objected to orders,
which he said the East Timorese Government gave,
to shoot civilian protesters.
The Australian Army’s commander in Dili, Brigadier
Mick Slater, earlier confirmed he had sent
messages to Reinado calling on him to surrender.
Several Australian Army officers developed a close
relationship with Reinado before he and 20 of his
men were arrested on July 26 on charges of
possessing nine handguns, ammunition and grenades.
For weeks Reinado had lived with a group of
Australian SAS soldiers at a walled, Portuguese-
era fort in the mountain village of Maubisse. He
had fled there after firing the first shots in
East Timor’s crisis in May.
Mr Remedios said that after he was arrested
Reinado made repeated statements that he believed
his life was in danger. Even while in Becora jail,
from which he and 56 other inmates escaped last
Wednesday, he had expressed concern about lack of
security at the jail, Mr Remedios said.
None of the escapees, many of whom are convicted
murderers, have been arrested. Two men who said
they were escapees presented themselves on Monday
to East Timorese police in the village of Alieu,
in the country’s western mountains, but they were
not detained. Police in Dili could not explain
why.
Almost 200 Australian and other international
police in Dili are struggling to contain gang
violence, which is breaking out in parts of the
city almost every day.
The commander of the Australian police, Steve
Lancaster, told ABC radio yesterday that boredom
was a major problem among the trouble-makers. "We
still have a lot of people out there who just join
in and have nothing much better to do than get
involved in a good rock fight."
He expects a 1600-strong United Nations police
force, including 130 Australians, will be fully
deployed in Dili by December, but the Foreign
Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, told ABC radio
the UN force would not be enough to handle
security. "I do think there should be military
back-up in case the worst happens," Mr Downer said
yesterday.
Australia to maintain presence in Timor
Reuters - September 4, 2006
Australia will continue providing military support
to help maintain security in East Timor, Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday, amid
renewed concerns about stability in the fledgling
nation.
Downer was speaking after holding three-country
talks with East Timor’s leaders and Indonesian
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.
"We obviously continue to be concerned about the
security situation, the outbreak of violence in
Dili, though the advice I’ve had is the situation
is somewhat better then it has been," Downer told
reporters in the capital, Dili.
The United Nations agreed last week on a new
mission to East Timor, comprising some 1,600
police, despite a dispute over whether
Australian-led troops already there should remain
independent or be integrated into the UN force.
Downer said Australia backed the UN deployment,
but that it needed to be backed up by a stronger
military force. "I explained the Australian
government’s position, which is that we give
consent that there should be military backup for
the police," Downer said.
He said that “substantially” bigger numbers would
be required to have a blue-helmet UN peacekeeping
force operating alone, but said the issue would be
discussed in New York in October. "Australia
always stands by East Timor and endeavours to help
it no matter what circumstances", Downer added.
Highlighting the fragile security situation in the
former Portuguese colony, more than 50 prisoners
escaped from Becora jail near Dili last week,
among them rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado.
Reinado was one of the figureheads of a revolt
that plunged East Timor into chaos in May,
prompting Australia to lead an international
peacekeeping force to restore order.
Indonesian troops have been put on alert to
prevent a possible border crossing by Reinado and
the other inmates who escaped, Jakarta’s military
said on Monday.
East Timor Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta thanked
Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal for
providing security help and said he was confident
about the situation. "As of yesterday, it is far
more stable and peaceful than two months ago," he
told reporters.
The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday
it was concerned about an escalation in violence
in Dili in recent days.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
spokesman Ron Redmond said there were signs of
increasing polarisation of communities in and
around Dili, where some displaced persons living
in camps feared night-time attacks.
There have been sporadic flare-ups in violence
involving gangs burning houses, or fighting one
another with stones and homemade weapons since
May.
Refugee attacks raise tensions
The Australian - September 2, 2006
Mark Dodd — Eight East Timorese refugees were
injured yesterday by thugs using police-issue
pistols and machetes in Dili, in an attack
diplomats fear was designed to trigger a new wave
of violence.
The attack, which left two of the wounded with
life-threatening injuries, occurred at 1.30pm in a
park just metres away from the five-star Dili
Hotel in the city centre.
Witnesses said up to four gunmen armed with
police-issue Glock 9mm pistols and an FNC assault
rifle opened fire without provocation. At least
one of the assailants was said to have attacked
the refugees, ethnic easterners, with a machete.
Other refugees said the attackers were police from
the western region of the country who supported
army rebel Alfredo Reinado.
Major Reinado, a central figure in the unrest that
racked East Timor three months ago, led an escape
by 57 prisoners from Dili’s Becora jail on
Wednesday.
“This ratchets up the tension,” said a Western
security analyst based in Dili. "It’s designed to
scare the population — it’s destabilising for the
Government. I’m concerned about the claims they
were police."
Several hundred UN and Australian police, backed
by an international military force, were last
night continuing the manhunt for the escapees, who
include pro-Jakarta militiamen jailed for 1999 war
crimes.
The Weekend Australian understands that East
Timorese police have not been engaged to help in
the search for the wanted men, ignoring a
potentially vital source of local knowledge.
Repeated requests for additional security to be
based around the Becora prison were ignored, East
Timorese interim Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta
said yesterday. "I presume the Australian forces
— as experts in security — thought it was not
necessary, although we had asked repeatedly," Mr
Ramos Horta said on ABC radio.
Justice Minister Chris Ellison said on Thursday
that prison security was the sole responsibility
of the East Timorese Government. But the UN
mission in Dili has challenged that, saying
“external security” around the jail was the
responsibility of the international force — a
veiled reference to the Australian Defence Force.
Under the security arrangements in East Timor, the
Becora prison falls within the New Zealand army’s
area of operations, although command
responsibility ultimately rests with Australia,
whose 1500-strong military force acts
independently of the UN.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, due to arrive
in Dili tomorrow for crisis talks, said yesterday
he hoped the escapees were rounded up quickly.
"Our concern is these people have been convicted
or in some cases perhaps they have been charged
and they’re awaiting trial, and it does concern me
they should escape in this way," Mr Downer said on
Adelaide radio.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd
has condemned the Howard Government for wanting to
cut back the military in Dili, saying the jail
break underscored the fragile security in the
country.
The AFP has taken a prominent role in the hunt for
the Becora escapees, with dozens of officers,
including detectives, working round the clock, but
they are handicapped by the lack of a radio room
and operations centre to co-ordinate the search.
Maj Reinado was in the Becora prison awaiting
trial. He was accused of attempted murder and
possession of illegal weapons, charges stemming
from his involvement in the unrest that led to the
downfall of former East Timorese prime minister
Mari Alkatiri.
Maj Reinado, a dual Australian-East Timorese
citizen, was arrested on July 25. He received
training in military leadership in Canberra and
his wife lives in Perth. A former military police
commander, Maj Reinado deserted from his unit on
May 4 with 20 armed followers in sympathy with 600
army rebels angered by regional discrimination in
the force.
Bob Lowry speaks to Quentin Dempster on East Timor
ABC Lateline - September 1, 2006
Quentin Dempster: Returning now to our earlier
story, the shootings this afternoon in an East
Timor refugee camp, and the so-far fruitless
search for 57 men who broke out of a Dili jail
earlier this week. Well, Bob Lowry is a military
and political consultant and has advised the East
Timorese government on national security issues. I
spoke to him earlier from our Canberra Studio.
Quentin Dempster: Bob Lowry, we’ve had the prison
walkout, open calls to rebellion by rebel leader
Alfredo Reinado, now there are reports of four
people in a refugee camp being shot by the East
Timor police. It looks like a country that is
ungovernable, impossible to secure, does it not?
Bob Lowry, Former security advisor to East Timor:
It might look like that superficially but these
are all relatively minor incidents in themselves.
And the main thing is that the government, or the
temporary government under Jose Ramos Horta, and
the UN police and the military act together to
overcome these minor things so they don’t have the
potential to escalate into something more serious.
But certainly there is the potential there unless
it’s handled effectively and quickly.
Quentin Dempster: You’re confident that they can
get the 57 escapees back in custody?
Bob Lowry: Well, not necessarily all of them but
these sort of people are not going to want to live
in the depths of the jungle for very long, so
eventually they will find out where they are. I
think the thing to bear in mind too at the moment
is that we’ve had the meltdown of the East
Timorese police force and the East Timorese
military, and the UN has just announced a new
mission for East Timor of 1,600 foreign police.
But at the moment there are only about 400 of them
on the ground, so they’re spread pretty thinly. As
a result of that, there is a little bit of a
vacuum at the moment which they have to fill in
the short term before the new mission actually
builds up and has a greater capability to enforce
the law in East Timor.
Quentin Dempster: So this build-up would still be
months away?
Bob Lowry: Well, to reach 1,600 police officers
they’re probably a few months away, not too many
hopefully. They should start adding to that force
relatively quickly. I am not sure exactly what the
timetable is but they’ve just put in a new
commissioner of police about a week or so ago and
he would obviously be pressing for the additional
police assistance as quickly as possible. But it
will take some time of course to prepare them. In
the meantime, they have to use the resources
they’ve got, backed up by the foreign military
forces that are there, to maintain the situation
in a relatively calm position.
Quentin Dempster: There’s been a complete breach
of command particularly at the jail, hasn’t there?
Bob Lowry: Yes, that’s an interesting case. I
notice that the special representative of the
Secretary-General of the UN, who is based in East
Timor, actually visited it about two or three
weeks ago and he commented at the time that the
basic needs of the prisoners were being met but
they needed to improve the facilities. But he
didn’t mention anything about a lack of security
or a need to boost security, although he may have
done that separately.
Quentin Dempster: Should international forces have
been there securing the jail, as PM Ramos Horta
has suggested?
Bob Lowry: We don’t know what arrangements had
been made between the government and the forces
and the police to do that. In the first instance,
it should have been the responsibility of the
prison guards. If they were not capable of
fulfilling their obligations, they should have
been reinforced by police, and only then should
you look to the military forces. But all of this
depends, of course, on what specific arrangements
had been made in East Timor between the various
parties involved and that we don’t know at the
moment.
Quentin Dempster: Alexander Downer is going to
East Timor on Sunday. What can he practically do?
Bob Lowry: He can just make sure that the various
elements of the Australian contribution at least
are sufficiently well equipped to do the job
they’ve got. Although there’s been an announcement
of a withdrawal, or with thinning out of the
forces there, that obviously won’t occur before
the new UN police mission is built up and until
the situation comes back under control and there’s
some understanding of what the escape of the 54
actually means. Of course, we’ve got to remember
that those 57 or so people who escaped are not
necessarily all going to join a specific team for
a specific purpose. Many of them will want to go
their own way and do their own thing, so we’re
still yet to see what the purpose of their escape
is and whether it will cause any real ructions.
Quentin Dempster: What’s your view of the likely
long-term outcome? Can East Timor survive as an
independent nation and overcome these seemingly
intractable internal security difficulties?
Bob Lowry: Yes, there’s no doubt about that. It
will take a little bit of time to get people back
into their houses and to get these institutions
like the military and the police reformed and
working effectively, the justice sector up and
going and get through the elections next year.
And, of course, in the whole process of that there
will be a lot of politics and there will be a lot
of effervescence but there’s no doubt that in the
longer term they can create a reasonably effective
democracy, but a lot of changes are going to have
to occur.
Quentin Dempster: You’re an expert on Australia’s
relations with Indonesia. How are the Indonesians
likely to be viewing and interpreting these events
in East Timor?
Bob Lowry: I don’t think they’ll be too concerned
about these particular events because in
themselves they’re fairly minor. As long as people
act with a little bit of purpose they can be
overcome reasonably quickly. I don’t think there’s
any chance of a widespread insurgency occurring on
a significant level. There will be gang violence,
as we’ve seen in Dili in recent times, there will
be undisciplined actions because of the weapons
that are out there in the community and the
various political tensions that exist and will
continue to exist in East Timor, but those are the
sorts of things that are were there before this
particular incident and they will continue for
some time to come. But getting the Parliament up,
getting the institutions of the justice sector
working, getting through the elections next year,
also the government has pumped another $200
million-odd into the next year’s budget to try and
get some people back into the work force, all of
these things will help to quieten it down a little
bit. Nevertheless, it is one of the poorest
countries in the world and certainly the poorest
in south-east Asia, and it will take a long time
before you actually establish a really viable and
robust democracy.
Quentin Dempster: Bob Lowry, thanks very much for
talking to Lateline.
Bob Lowry: My pleasure.
Fragile peace may shatter if fugitive rebels join
forces
Sydney Morning Herald - September 2, 2006
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili — Australian security
forces hunting Alfredo Reinado, who led a mass
escape from Dili’s jail this week, should know he
has XXX tattooed on the back of his neck.
Reinado likens himself to Xander Cage, the extreme
athlete and fearless adrenaline junkie in the 2002
movie XXX. “I don’t care if I die tomorrow,”
Reinado said after he fired the first shots in a
bloody revolt that plunged East Timor into crisis
in May.
Three months after those shots rang out on the
hillside above the jail from which Reinado escaped
on Wednesday, East Timor’s political factions are
plotting their next moves in a bitter power
struggle that could erupt again into violence, a
number of well-informed figures said in Dili this
week.
The Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, concedes
wearily that the political problems that plunged
the country into crisis in April, May and June are
unsolved.
Speaking in his thatched villa overlooking Dili’s
harbour, he says it is still possible for the
country to hold violence-free elections, due in
April next year, but only through "strong
international assistance and the role of the
church and other leaders“.”Obviously, there is no
guarantee," Mr Ramos Horta says.
Reinado’s escape with 56 others came only days
after Vincente da Concecao, a former guerilla
fighter who likes to be called “Commander Railos”,
fled to the western mountains as the Office of
Prosecutor-General was about to issue a warrant
for his arrest for possession of illegal weapons.
Railos’s allegation that he set up a hit squad to
eliminate political opponents of the then prime
minister, Mari Alkatiri, led to the latter being
forced from office. The Opposition Leader, Mario
Carrascalao, said the case of Railos, whom he
knows well, had been mishandled by the Government:
"Railos feels frustrated. He provided information
to help solve the problem but they were going to
arrest him."
The possibility that Reinado and Railos and their
men could combine to form a renegade force is a
nightmare for the commanders of foreign troops and
police in Dili, who are struggling to control
violence but cannot convince 70,000 people in
makeshift refugee camps that is safe for them to
return to their homes.
Like Xander Cage, whose mission was to save the
world, Reinado apparently wants to save East
Timor. Within hours of his escape he was
circulating a letter urging East Timorese to rise
up in a people-power revolution.
His escape shattered the illusion that hundreds of
foreign police and troops in Dili have brought
peace to the tiny half-island nation of just over
a million mostly impoverished people.
The UN Security Council has agreed to send to Dili
1608 international police, 34 military liaison
officers and about 500 civilian personnel, who
will complement foreign troops already in Dili,
including 1500 Australians.
But a Western analyst in Dili said the "foreigners
are just keeping protagonists apart". The analyst
added: "The bad blood, grudges and dirty politics
are still there, just below the surface."
Fretilin, the ruling party, which has 55 of the 86
seats in the parliament, appears to be fracturing
as the combative and unpopular Mr Alkatiri vows
publicly to lead it to an “unimaginable” election
victory.
Security forces fear a violent backlash from Mr
Alkatiri’s enemies if the Office of Prosecutor-
General fails to charge him over Railos’s
allegations. They also fear a backlash from
elements within Fretilin if Mr Alkatiri is
charged. "It’s a no-win situation regarding
Alkatiri," the analyst said.
A youth worker, Jose Sousa-Santos, said gangs of
unemployed youths responsible for sporadic
violence were being manipulated for political and
criminal purposes. "The kids are a very buyable
commodity," said Mr Sousa-Santos, who has worked
with Dili’s youths for six years. Two rival
martial-arts gangs each have more than 30,000
members spread throughout the country.
Some former police, said to be manipulating the
gangs, are believed to have high-powered weapons
looted from the armoury of the 3200-strong police
force that disintegrated during the violence in
May.
An American doctor who has worked in Dili since
1998, Dan Murphy, warns that the health of people
in the refugee camps is deteriorating. "The people
tell me that this is their most worrying and
depressing time since they gained their
independence," Dr Murphy said.
Celestinho da Costa-Alves manages a refugee camp
near Dili’s main wharf, whose 2682 residents from
the east of the country are often attacked by
gangs from the west. "Every time our people leave
and try to return to their homes they are
attacked,“Mr da Costa-Alves said.”The Government
has told us to leave here because there has been
trouble, but where are we to go?"
Since Mr Ramos Horta took office two months ago,
he has shaken up the country’s lethargic
bureaucracy, telling officials that heads will
roll unless they improve efficiency. Business
people say that permits are suddenly being issued
in hours, rather than days, containers are moving
quickly off the wharf and corruption appears to
have been curbed.
Mr Ramos Horta makes surprise visits to government
offices, refugee camps, charities, UN and non-
government-organisations. He has steered a $US315
million ($412 million) budget through parliament,
a record in a country where the annual income per
capita is $US370 and 40 per cent of the population
live in poverty.
He has emerged as the person many East Timorese
see as their saviour at another terrible moment in
their history, but he plays down a push from the
US and some other countries for him to be the UN’s
next secretary-general, saying he feels committed
to helping solve East Timor’s problems.
"I would rather retire and take it easy on a beach
somewhere,“he says.”But it might be important
for me to be here ... I’m not saying that I am the
best person, but I am one of the very, very few
with the trust of the people."
Escaped Timor rebel chief says not planning revolt
Reuters - September 1, 2006
International police and troops in East Timor were
searching for rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado
after a mass jailbreak raised serious concern
about fragile security in the fledgling nation.
Reinado, one of the figureheads of a revolt that
plunged the former Portuguese colony into chaos in
May, was among more than 50 prisoners who walked
out of the Becora jail near the capital Dili on
Wednesday.
The rebel leader said on a video tape obtained by
Reuters Television that he did not want to stage a
new revolt. "I have escaped from Dili not to
revolt but because the judicial system in Dili is
not good enough. But I will account for my action
and answer any charges against me when the system
has been improved."
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will
fly to Dili on Sunday for meetings with Indonesian
counterpart Hassan Wirajuda, as well as East Timor
Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and President
Xanana Gusmao.
"It’s obviously a matter of deep regret that this
has happened,“Mr Downer said.”It is going to be
an important visit and in the light of the escape
of these 56 prisoners, which is of very great
concern to us, an opportunity for us to reinforce
our support to the East Timorese."
Brigadier Mick Slater, the head of Australian
troops in East Timor, said the prisoners walked
out the jail’s front gate during visiting hours.
Joao Domingos, head of Becora jail’s
administration, said grass cutters were used to
intimidate guards during the breakout, in which he
said all of Alfredo’s men being held had escaped.
He said he was not aware whether guards helped in
the escape. Another 148 prisoners remain in
confinement. "They threatened us with grass
shears. They said ’open the doors or you will
die’. We opened the doors and 57 got away," Mr
Domingos said.
The United Nations agreed last week on a new
mission to East Timor, comprising some 1,600
police, despite a dispute over whether
Australian-led international troops already there
should remain independent or be part of a UN
force. Mr Downer said the implementation of the
new UN mission would be discussed at the
trilateral talks, to be held on Monday.
City sealed off
Brigadier Slater said it was likely the escapees
were now armed, although Dili remained quiet and
calm after his troops quickly sealed off the city.
Dili suffered a series of protests that evolved
into widespread violence in May after 600 members
of East Timor’s 1,400-strong army were sacked.
In late May, former military police commander
Reinado led his followers into the mountains
behind Dili and refused to give up weapons until
then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri resigned.
An estimated 100,000 people were displaced and at
least 20 killed in the violence, which led to
deployment of a 2,500-strong international
peacekeeping force.
The revolt stemmed from divisions between troops
from the east and those from the west of the
country, which was ruled by Jakarta from 1976
until an independence referendum in 1999.
POLITICS/POLITICAL PARTIES
Timor says credible elections are key to
reconciliation
Associated Press - September 27, 2006
Paul Alexander, United Nations — East Timor needs
fair elections, reconciliation and a big injection
of international aid to overcome the recent
violence that battered the fledgling nation,
Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres said
Wednesday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Guterres
bemoaned the fighting between rival factions of
the armed forces, which gave way to gang warfare,
arson and looting, as the consequence of an
inexperienced government feeling its way along the
path of democracy.
"As a post-conflict country, we have recently
experienced a relapse of violence, due to
institutional failures of our defense and police
force, high-level unemployment and wrong political
decisions that we took as leaders of a new
country," Guterres said. Then-Prime Minister Mari
Alkatiri dismissed 591 soldiers from the 1,400-
member army in March after they waged a strike for
months to protest alleged discrimination in the
military.
Guterres said nearly 100 people were killed and
almost 150,000 others were driven from their homes
in fighting that followed the dismissal, but eased
with the arrival of thousands of international
peacekeepers and the installation of a new
government headed by Prime Minister Jose Ramos-
Horta.
The foreign minister said East Timor welcomes an
international commission of inquiry "to study the
events surrounding the crisis and the allegations
of human rights abuses." A major UN-led
international presence will be needed for the
foreseeable future to keep the peace and organize
and supervise the country’s first legislative and
presidential elections next year, Guterres said.
"A free, transparent and fair election will
definitely pave the way for a stable political and
social environment," he said.
Also crucial are fostering reconciliation,
investigating the causes of the violence and
pumping in development funds to create jobs, both
in towns and the rural countryside, Guterres said.
"The government is fully aware that reconciliation
and justice need to be hand in hand with
development," he said.
The national budget has been increased by 122
percent this fiscal year, focusing on job
creation, he said, calling it “a pro-poor budget.”
"We hope that this new economic policy, combined
with policies of reconciliation and dialogue will
help defuse the tension and will bring common
understanding and will reinvigorate the trust and
confidence in our common and shared future,"
Guterres said.
Heal splits or lose power, Ramos Horta warns
Fretilin
Sydney Morning Herald - September 4, 2006
Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and agencies — East
Timor’s Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has
warned that voters’ hostility towards the ruling
Fretilin party could make his country difficult to
govern after next year’s election.
Mr Ramos Horta says that Fretilin, which he helped
to form two decades ago, needs to quickly heal
deep divisions and find new leadership.
He told the Herald in an exclusive interview there
was a “very, very good chance” Fretilin could lose
its majority and that smaller parties would almost
certainly refuse to support it in government.
The comments will intensify political tension in
Dili, where Fretilin’s deposed prime minister,
Mari Alkatiri, is still the party’s secretary-
general. He maintains he will lead the party to
victory at the election, which is due in April.
Mr Ramos Horta took office in June after Mr
Alkatiri was forced to quit over allegations that
he had knowledge of a so-called “hit squad” that
was allegedly armed to eliminate political rivals.
Fretilin holds 56 of the parliament’s 88 seats.
More political destabilisation in Dili would make
it difficult for Canberra to keep withdrawing
personnel from the almost 2000 Australian troops
and police still deployed in the country.
Mr Ramos Horta said Fretilin members need to
overcome factionalism and divisions and "reform
and project themselves as a modern, all-inclusive,
tolerant party" with a new leader, such as the
former ambassador to the United Nations and now
Foreign Minister, Jose Luis Guterres.
The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer,
told reporters yesterday that East Timor must
accept responsibility for its own affairs and find
solutions to its problems.
"We have been, as a people, enormously generous to
the East Timorese and will continue to provide
them with support, but the East Timorese have to
accept responsibility now, because they’re an
independent country, for their own affairs," Mr
Downer said in Adelaide.
Speaking before trilateral talks between East
Timor, Indonesia and Australia to be held in Dili
today, Mr Ramos Horta said he was determined that
an agreement with Australia to develop oil and gas
reserves worth $50 billion in the Timor Sea’s
Greater Sunrise field would be ratified by the
East Timor parliament this year, declaring it an
“issue of our credibility as a nation.”
Referring to opposition among MPs who say they
will refuse to ratify the agreement, Mr Ramos
Horta said that "as long as I am Prime Minister, I
intend to bring this to the parliament and defend
it".
Mr Ramos Horta said he strongly believed that
Indonesians responsible for committing atrocities
in 1999, when the East Timorese voted
overwhelmingly to reject Jakarta’s rule, should
not be pursued by the UN.
President Xanana Gusmao and Indonesia’s Foreign
Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, are also attending the
talks, at which Mr Ramos Horta said he would
provide a briefing on the security situation in
the country after a mass break-out from a Dili
jail last week led by the rebel leader Alfredo
Reinado.
Major Reinado released video footage at the
weekend showing that he has reached East Timor’s
mountains, where it will be difficult for
international security forces to recapture him.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Editorial: Toeing the line on Timor
New Matilda - September 27, 2006
This week The Australian published an opinion
piece by Mark Aarons attacking journalist John
Martinkus, and New Matilda, for articles we have
published on the recent violence in East Timor.
Aarons argues that we are waging an "extraordinary
campaign" against East Timorese President Xanana
Gusmao to implicate him in the downfall of former
East Timorese Prime Minister Marm Alkatiri.
Aarons makes a number of personal attacks on
Martinkus which we need not dignify with a
response, but what we can address directly is his
questioning of two pieces of evidence presented by
Martinkus in New Matilda.
Aarons rightly argues that a note written by
Gusmao to rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado (available
in full on our website) is not evidence enough to
claim that the two "were in league to violently
overthrow Alkatiri." We would agree. But that does
not make it un-newsworthy.
In fact, Martinkus and New Matilda, presented the
letter for what it is: proof of a close
relationship between Gusmao and Reinado at the
height of the East Timorese crisis —
extraordinary if you consider the facts in an
Australian context. If John Howard dropped a
friendly note to a renegade Australian soldier who
had fired on the Australian Defence Force or the
Australian Federal Police using stolen weapons,
would Aarons suggest journalists ignore it?
There has been no refutation by Gusmao of this
close relationship with Reinado.
In a follow-up article for New Matilda last week,
Martinkus cited a statement by former police
commander Abilio ’Mausoko’ Mesquita, who is in
jail for his role in the violence. In the document
— which was leaked without Mesquita’s knowledge
or permission — Mesquita claims that Gusmao
himself ordered him to attack the house of the
Commander of East Timor’s military, Brigadier Taur
Matan Ruak, on 24 and 25 May.
Martinkus stresses that if legitimate, Mesquita’s
leaked statement implicates Gusmao in the armed
violence in East Timor.
Aarons dismisses the document as ’absurd’ but
offers no evidence as to how he has come to this
conclusion. He cites Australian journalist and
East Timor correspondent Jill Jolliffe’s claims on
our website that the document is "demonstrably
false." But Jolliffe has not demonstrated the
falsity of the document or its contents.
Aarons also suggests that because other
journalists ignored the story, Martinkus — and
New Matilda — should have too. Sounds like pack
journalism to us.
What Aarons conveniently ignores in his article —
and fails to explain — are facts uncovered by The
Australian’s own Mark Dodd: that Gusmao paid at
least a share of Reinado’s hotel bill during the
crisis.
John Martinkus and New Matilda have reported some
inconvenient stories about the situation in East
Timor, without fear or favour. Where appropriate,
we have made available the documents that
substantiate those stories.
Like Aarons, we eagerly await the report of the
International Special Inquiry Commission on the
causes of the recent violence in East Timor. We
will continue to present the facts as we uncover
them. We would invite our critics to do the same.
East Timor drama had no hidden agenda
The Australian - September 26, 2006
Mark Aarons — East Timor remains unstable,
although much calmer than in May and June when it
was racked with civil strife. Non-aligned Prime
Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has begun to put the
Government on a stable course, given the shambles
he inherited from Fretilin’s Mari Alkatiri.
He has started to streamline the cumbersome
bureaucracy that clogs daily life and commerce. He
is trying to get money and services to the rural
poor but is caught between unforgiving forces
which crave victory in next year’s election.
Former military police commander and prison
escapee Alfredo Reinado has attacked Ramos-Horta
as a stooge of Alkatiri’s Fretilin faction.
Reinado has been supported by the leader of the
dissident soldiers, whose sacking caused the
upheaval. The opposition parties, who support
Ramos-Horta as Prime Minister, have also
undermined him because he depends on Fretilin to
govern.
The hardline Fretilin faction wants to be rid of
Ramos-Horta so it can return to business as usual.
Its likely candidate is Deputy Prime Minister
Estanislau da Silva, a capable administrator who
shares Alkatiri’s politics.
This leaves Ramos-Horta without a party and
dependent on his alliance with the President,
former guerilla commander Xanana Gusmao. These two
represent the best chance of thwarting the narrow,
self-interested ambitions of the competing forces
and forming a national unity government that puts
the country’s long-term interests ahead of
factional and personal ambitions.
As if Timorese politics were not fragile enough,
an extraordinary campaign is being waged against
Gusmao by journalist John Martinkus in the web
journal New Matilda and The Age in Melbourne.
Martinkus made his reputation reporting the bloody
events before and after the August 1999
independence plebiscite.
Martinkus has been the main propagandist
supporting the conspiracy theory that Alkatiri was
removed by a coup. After months of failing to name
names, he now insinuates that Gusmao was behind
this supposed coup. In earlier articles he claimed
to have confirmed Alkatiri’s allegations of
repeated coup attempts, supposedly involving
approaches to senior army commanders by opposition
and Catholic Church leaders and two foreigners
whose nationalities could not be revealed due to
“the sensitivity of the information”.
These unsubstantiated claims were recently
repeated on SBS’s Dateline. In a lollipop
interview, Martinkus allowed Alkatiri to repeat
the allegation, although it was noticeable that he
could not say whether the foreigners were
Australians or Americans. Alkatiri and Martinkus
cannot even name the Timorese “traitors” or the
foreigners who supposedly suborned them.
More to the point, in an ABC TV interview last
May, Alkatiri insisted that a coup conspiracy
existed but pointedly said he did not know who was
involved. However, he was sure that Gusmao was
not.
Yet Martinkus now indicts Gusmao. In recent
articles he has claimed that a letter written by
the President to Reinado last May suggests they
were in league to violently overthrow Alkatiri.
Furthermore, Martinkus has used an unsigned
statement attributed to imprisoned former police
commander Abilio Mesquita to allege that Gusmao
ordered attacks against the army commander-in-
chief. Mesquita alleges the President was behind
the violence that led to Alkatiri’s demise.
The facts do not support these fantastic claims
that the man who led the resistance to Indonesia
has become a traitor. It is Martinkus’s journalism
that should be questioned, not Gusmao’s
patriotism. For example, Martinkus has claimed
that Gusmao’s “letter” to Reinado indicates that
the President supported Reinado’s violence.
On the evidence available to me, Gusmao’s three
notes to Reinado in late May (written on "with
compliments" slips) ordered him and his supporters
into cantons, consistent with agreements reached
with the Australian forces sent to help restore
order.
Martinkus has selectively quoted from one note
while ignoring two others, one of which explicitly
ordered Reinado to the town of Gleno, a designated
canton for the dissidents. He has also ignored
Gusmao’s written orders insisting that Reinado and
other dissidents surrender their weapons. It seems
that Martinkus had access to all these documents
but chose to use only the parts that fitted his
fanciful theories.
While we must await the report of the
international Special Inquiry Commission on the
causes of the violence, there seems no reason to
doubt that Gusmao was simply carrying out his
duties as President to calm the situation, not
using the rebels against Alkatiri, as implied by
Martinkus.
Finally, there is Martinkus’s reliance on the
absurd “statement” of Mesquita that Gusmao was
behind the violence, which also implicates Ramos-
Horta and the bishop of Baucau by placing them at
a meeting at which Gusmao allegedly discussed the
need to overthrow Alkatiri. Reliable commentators
have dismissed Mesquita as a liar who wants
immunity for his own crimes.
Australian journalist Jill Jolliffe has labelled
Mesquita’s statement as demonstrably false and
pointed out that it was doing the rounds in Dili
for quite some time before Martinkus reported it
in The Age and New Matilda. Every other journalist
ignored Mesquita’s claims as lacking veracity.
Martinkus is supported by some Australian leftists
who believe that Alkatiri was the victim of malign
Western forces (the Australian-American defence
intelligence cabal) which linked up with Timorese
“reactionaries” hoping for an anti-Fretilin
government that would do the bidding of Canberra
and Washington.
No such case exists, and Martinkus and his
supporters are actually damaging the future
stability and development of the nation they claim
passionately to support. Martinkus’s journalistic
credibility has, however, been undermined by these
unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.
In the end, his articles will be seen for what
they are: propaganda for Alkatiri and his clique,
who have thoroughly failed their people and now
wish to make a comeback by concocting a conspiracy
theory blaming Western imperialism for their
political self-demise and by defaming the hero of
Timor’s independence as a traitor to the cause he
led for so long against almost impossible odds.
[Mark Aarons is the co-author of East Timor: A
Western Made Tragedy.]
Evidence mounts against Gusmao
New Matilda - September 20, 2006
John Martinkus — Two weeks ago we revealed
written orders from East Timorese President Xanana
Gusmao to the rebel commander Alfredo Reinado that
showed a close relationship between the two at the
height of the crisis in Dili in May this year.
That was followed by front-page revelations in The
Australian that Gusmao paid at least a share of
Reinado’s hotel bill during the crisis.
Now, former East Timorese police commander, Abilio
Mausoko Mesquita, who is in jail for his role in
the violence, has claimed in a leaked statement
that Gusmao himself ordered him to attack the
house of the Commander of East Timor’s military,
Brigadier Taur Matan Ruak, on 24 and 25 May.
The statement is believed to have been written in
Becora prison, where Mesquita is being held, and
delivered to the US Embassy in Dili in order to
help secure his release. If legitimate, it
implicates the President in what was effectively
an armed coup to create the conditions for the
resignation of the legally elected Prime Minister
of East Timor, Marm Alkatiri. Until now, Gusmao
has either remained silent about his role in the
violence or dismissed his close contact with
opposition figures as attempts to bring the
situation under control.
Some Australian commentators maintain the
simplistic line that somehow Alkatiri and his
Interior Minister, Rogerio Lobato, engineered the
recent crisis in East Timor. This view simply does
not correlate with the facts on the ground, and
does not take into account the details of who was
actually shooting at whom. Now those commentators
are either reduced to an embarrassed silence, or
are making accusations of partiality about
reporters who are simply uncovering uncomfortable
facts.
Abilio Mesquita was arrested by the Australian
Federal Police on 19 June with several Steyr
automatic rifles in his possession. He was filmed
at the scene of the third major incident of the
crisis, the attack on Taur Matan Ruak’s house, and
is alleged to have led it.
According to the statement, Mesquita told the head
of the UN mission in East Timor, Sukehiro
Hasegawa, when Hasegawa visited him in prison
shortly after his arrest that: "during the
confrontations between PNTL [the police] and F-
FDTL [the army] and the shooting at the
Brigadier’s house, the Supreme Commander Mr Xanana
gave the command and ordered the shooting."
Mesquita said he then carried out the attack, but
not until he had notified Taur Matan Ruak himself
and four of the most senior commanders in the
army, of his orders from the President. He
repeatedly told Hasegawa that it was Gusmao who
was the author of the crisis in East Timor.
Mesquita says he repeated these claims to Prime
Minister Jose Ramos Horta when Ramos Horta
allegedly visited him in jail on 13 August.
The statement also details the visit of two
Australian army Majors, who questioned Mesquita on
his role in the violence and where his political
allegiances lay.
(This line of questioning from the Australian
Forces, which basically consists of are you with
Alkatiri or Gusmao? is common in Dili. Countless
individuals who had been questioned by the
Australians, both police and military, told me
that this was the first things the Australians
always wanted to know. The implication was that if
the person being questioned answered Gusmao, they
were considered to be on the right side.)
Mesquita’s statement also makes reference to a
meeting held at the President’s office before the
crisis where, in the presence of local leaders
including Chief of Police Paulo Martins, Jose
Ramos Horta and the Bishop of Baucau, it is
alleged the President discussed the need to get
rid of the Government of Mari Alkatiri.
Other sources, from within the veterans’
organisation for former independence fighters,
independently confirm that in March this year they
were invited to a meeting with the President at
his residence in Dare, in the hills above Dili, in
which the plan to remove Alkatiri was discussed.
Although the meeting involved some serving
officers in the F-FDTL, the commander, Taur Matan
Ruak, was not invited. At this meeting it was
discussed that it was necessary to remove Alkatiri
and his Government because of their perceived
communist sympathies.
This latest development only confirms to many East
Timorese what they already knew. It is widely
accepted in East Timor that the President threw
his weight behind the push to get rid of Alkatiri
— but what is only spoken of in whispers is the
level of his involvement.
The attempts by the President to intervene in the
arrest of Reinado on 26 July — and what was
perceived as the Australian Forces reluctance to
carry out the arrest — have only added to the
rumours. Now, with Reinado and co’s escape from
prison being blamed on the Australians by Ramos
Horta himself, and the seeming inability of the
Australians to catch a man who appears on local
television clearly on the outskirts of Dili, many
East Timorese are highly skeptical of the motives
of the Australian police and military.
The release of Abilio Mesquita’s statement amounts
to a trifecta for Gusmao: the leaders of the three
main attacks on the F-FDTL in May have now
publicly acknowledged their allegiance to the
President. Those who led the other two major
attacks Reinado, in Fatu Ahi on 23 May, and
Vicente Rai Los da Conceicao, in Tacitolu on 24
May
have both publicly and repeatedly declared
their support for and loyalty to Gusmao.
And as I wrote in New Matilda in June, senior
sources within the command of the F-FDTL have also
confirmed that in the 18 months leading up to the
crisis they were approached on three occasions by
foreign nationals to lead a coup against Alkatiri.
They refused.
The facts are mounting and they paint a disturbing
picture of the breakdown of constitutional
democracy in East Timor.
Even more disturbing for East Timor’s future is
information given to me this week by a senior
figure in the East Timorese Government that
weapons are being sought from across the border in
Indonesian West Timor by Reinado and his gang of
escaped criminals, and that they are being sold by
former Indonesian-backed militia in the border
town of Atambua. The current price is US$800 each
for AR-15 automatic rifles and, according to the
same source, Australian authorities are aware of
the trade.
The question remains: if these allegations are
true and the President is directly involved in the
violence, then what was Australia’s role in the
alleged coup? Did Australia encourage Gusmao to
remove Alkatiri, and if so, why?
Claim that Gusmao ordered Dili’s days of rage
Melbourne Age - September 16, 2006
John Martinkus — Violence that ran over four days
in May in East Timor and led to the resignation of
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was part of a plan
instigated by the President Xanana Gusmao,
according to new claims in Dili.
A statement by the former vice-commander of Dili
district police, Abilio “Mausoko” Mesquita,
alleges that Mr Gusmao ordered him to carry out an
attack on the house belonging to army Brigadier
Taur Matan Ruak.
Mesquita was arrested by the Australian Federal
Police on June 19 with several automatic rifles.
He was filmed at the scene of the attack on the
brigadier’s house on May 25, which he was alleged
to have led.
In his statement taken from Dili’s Becora prison,
Mesquita says: "During the confrontations between
PNTL (the police) and FDTL (the army) and the
shooting at the brigadier’s house, the Supreme
Commander, Mr Xanana, gave the command and ordered
the shooting."
Mesquita says in the statement that he told his
story to the UN head of mission in East Timor,
Sukehiro Hasegawa, who visited him in the prison
after his arrest.
He says that before carrying out the attack, he
had notified Taur Matan Ruak and four senior
commanders in the army of his orders from the
President.
He repeatedly told Mr Hasegawa that Xanana was the
author of the crisis. Mesquita says he repeated
these claims to Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta
when he allegedly visited Mesquita in jail on
August 13.
If true, the statement implicates the President in
what was effectively an armed coup to create the
conditions for the resignation of the legally
elected Prime Minister. Mr Gusmao could not be
contacted last night for comment.
The statement also details the visit of two
Australian army majors who questioned Mesquita on
his role in the violence and about his political
allegiances.
Mesquita is still in the Becora jail, from which
rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado and 56 others
walked out on August 30.
The statement was said to have been written in the
prison and delivered to the US embassy in Dili as
a means for Mesquita to secure his release.
The statement refers to a meeting at the
President’s office before the crisis, where, in
the presence of local leaders, including chief of
police Paulo Martins, Mr Ramos Horta and the
Bishop of Baucau, it is alleged that the President
discussed the need to get rid of the government of
Mr Alkatiri because of its perceived “communist”
sympathies.
Other sources within the veterans’ organisation
independently confirm that they were invited to a
meeting with the President at his residence in the
hills above Dili in March, where a plan to remove
Mr Alkatiri was discussed.
Investigation of the individuals involved in the
three main attacks on the East Timor Defence Force
in May shows that every one of them was led by
leaders who have since publicly acknowledged their
allegiance to the President.
Those who led the other two major attacks on the
army, namely Major Reinado and Vicente de
Conceicao, have repeatedly declared their support
for Mr Gusmao.
Claim that President paid major’s hotel bill
The Australian - September 12, 2006
Mark Dodd — Alfredo Reinado, the East Timorese
army deserter whose actions ultimately led to the
ousting of prime minister Mari Alkatiri, has
allegedly received financial help from the
country’s President.
There are claims that the office of President
Xanana Gusmao, a long-term rival of Dr Alkatiri,
paid an outstanding hotel bill on behalf of Major
Reinado while the rebel leader was on the run
earlier this year. The bill covered the six weeks
Major Reinado spent at an isolated, colonial-era
mountaintop lodge called the Poussada, outside the
coffee-growing town of Maubisse, 75km southeast of
Dili.
Staff at the hotel, including assistant manager
Julio da Costa, claim the bill was paid by the
office of the President.
And Major Reinado, although sceptical of claims
the bill was paid by Mr Gusmao, said he could not
meet the entire account and he had heard reports
it was picked up by the President or his
Australian-born wife, Kirsty Sword Gusmao.
The claims, denied by Mr Gusmao’s office, raise
further questions about the coup-like strike by
army officers that ultimately helped the President
drive Dr Alkatiri out of office in late June this
year. Angered by what he believed was heavy-handed
treatment by Dr Alkatiri and his former interior
minister, Rogerio Lobato, in quelling a political
protest that left six killed, Major Reinado and 20
other supporters, mostly military police under his
command, deserted for the hills.
While a deserter, Major Reinado remained loyal to
his commander-in-chief, with Mr Gusmao issuing an
order, seen by The Australian, for him and his
group to initially base themselves in Aileu, 50km
southeast of the capital. But following escalating
violence in Dili, Major Reinado moved deeper into
the sanctuary of East Timor’s mountains,
establishing a base at the Poussada.
During the peak of the political crisis in June,
Major Reinado’s staunch anti-government rhetoric
and actions provided a rallying point for anti-
Alkatiri forces. When Australian troops were
deployed to the troubled nation, Special Air
Service operatives went to the hotel to watch him.
Major Reinado spent six weeks at the Poussada but
he moved out without settling his account,
accumulating at a rate of $US16.80 per day per
room. There was also a modest food and beverage
bill, although Major Reinado had a preference for
fresh fish from a hatchery pond about 20km away.
According to Poussada staff, Major Reinado’s bill
was paid by by the President. Mr da Costa, the
32-year-old assistant manager, was clear about
this when questioned by The Australian last
Tuesday. But within 24 hours, he was less certain.
During that time, he had also been spoken to by
his boss, lodge manager Maria-Isabel Benevides,
whose suspicions had been aroused by the probing
questions of her only two guests that night.
The presidential payment is not confirmed by a
receipt, although on Tuesday night, the hotel’s
accounting records, comprising several tatty
invoice books scattered loosely on the office
desk, had been rearranged and tidied up as if
suddenly inspected.
Asked whether the payment claims were true, Mr
Gusmao’s chief-of-staff, Agio Pereira, said: "No,
I don’t think so. The President does not have
enough money to pay his own police."
Mr Pereira said Mr Gusmao was unhappy about Major
Reinado staying at the Poussada because "it was a
private business". Major Reinado said he paid some
of the bill but not enough to settle the entire
account for himself and his armed colleagues.
The theory that Gusmao supports Reinado doesn’t
wash
[Comment by Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury,
Director, Masters of International and Community
Development School of International and Political
Studies at Deakin University.]
A report that East Timor’s President Xanana Gusmao
paid the hotel bill for escaped rebel Major
Alfredo Reinado is consistent with Gusmao’s
attempts to rein in the conflict the had
threatened civil war in East Timor earlier this
year.
Gusmao paid the hotel bill as part of his request
to Reinado that Reinado stay in one location, to
ensure there was no further conflict. In the
circumstances of that time, that arrangement was
key to limiting the then escalating conflict
between factions in the military and police.
The inference that Gusmao supported or otherwise
had links with Reinado remain unsubstantiated and
inconsistent with Gusmao’s public position on the
conflict at that time. Such allegations, though,
continue to be beaten up by misguided activists
and journalists who appear to believe that support
for East Timor means support for Fretilin means
support for Alkatiri. This logic, though, does not
follow.
Similarly, the inference that there was a link
between the leader of the Democratic Party,
Fernando de Araujo, and former pro-Indonesia
militia leaders also remains unsubstantiated, and
strongly denied by de Araujo, who spent eight
years in Indonesian jails for his leading role in
opposing the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
It appears that, as with allegations against
Gusmao, Alkatiri supporters are having difficulty
with coming to terms with the fact that he was
genuinely, widely and increasingly unpopular, even
in his own party, Fretilin, made a number of poor
decisions, and was ultimately encouraged to resign
from office on that basis.
It is a pity that journalists who have otherwise
reported honestly and fearlessly in the past have
so transparently allowed their personal
preferences and prejudices to color their
reporting on East Timor’s recent troubles,
confirming the old adage that one should never let
the facts stand in the way of a good story.
Normality far off for East Timor
Canberra Times - September 9, 2006
George Quinn — It is hard to describe the air of
lassitude that lies like a twilight over Dili.
Pigs rifle through piles of rubbish. Grass runs
wild in gardens and sprouts in wiry tufts through
cracks in the pavements. A haze of smoke rises
from cooking fires in the squalid camps where tens
of thousands of people now shelter. Everywhere
there are hundreds of blackened shells of houses
and other buildings.
As night falls the ubiquitous taxis disappear,
people hurry off the streets and an uneasy
emptiness grips the city.
Dili has fragmented into ethnic ghettos. Many
residents from the eastern end of the country have
fled to their home regions or are living rough in
the jumble of tents and plastic sheeting that fill
the precincts of churches and spread like
rubbish-filled pools under trees in parks. Less
than half the city’s population remain in their
houses.
A few enclaves of easterners are holding out in
the suburbs but for the most part a kind of ethnic
cleansing has occurred and westerners dominate.
Schools and universities are reopening, but here
too there is creeping division. Because most state
schools are in western- dominated areas, the
children of easterners are afraid to enrol in
them. They are flooding into the Catholic school
system which they see as more tolerant and secure.
The National University stands on neutral ground
in the centre of the city and is admitting both
easterners and westerners, but the minor
universities are losing their eastern students, a
few of whom are even choosing to head for campuses
in Indonesia. According to one young university
student I met hawking bananas in the street, the
situation is complex and seems to be getting more
so by the day. Three factors stand out: ethnic
divisions, urban unemployment and contempt for the
Fretilin-dominated Government.
The Timorese have always recognised the idea of
“westness” and “eastness”. In East Timor loromonu
westerners have often spoken disparagingly of
those from the lorosae east, especially the
Fataluku-speaking people whom some describe as
crude and stroppy savages. Conversely easterners
have tended to regard westerners as lazy and
lacking backbone.
In colonial times these prejudices were kept in
check — the Portuguese didn’t allow their
subjects to move around a lot and the two ends of
the island didn’t see much of each other. Under
Indonesian rule ethnic prejudices were submerged
in the suffering that all endured. The euphoria of
independence too was dazzling enough to hide
divisions for a few years. But freedom and the
passage of time have removed the old constraints
and prejudice is back.
Since East Timor’s secession from Indonesia,
villagers have flooded into Dili looking for work
in the cash economy, with the Government or one of
the host of NGOs that seem to dominate city’s
economy. The commercial sector is very small. The
Alkatiri Government was fiscally conservative and
declined to sponsor a fat public service. Brutal
competition broke out for the few jobs available.
In the alienating environment of the city, far
from the certainties and moral constraints of
village culture, primordial stereotypes came back
to life. The city became a tinderbox waiting for a
spark.
The Alkatiri Government lost its hold on public
popularity. Although new Prime Minister Jose
Ramos-Horta is widely respected, many in Dili see
his Government as a clone of Alkatiri’s. He will
have to perform if he wants to survive, and many
doubt that he has the discipline and attention to
detail the job demands. There is now a powerful
disconnect between ordinary people and government.
It is not just dissatisfaction with certain
policies or with the Government’s handling of the
military rebellion.
There is a smouldering sense of outrage that the
bright promise of independence has proved a
mirage.
In Indonesia the perpetrators of serious crimes
and human-rights abuses are thumbing their noses
at the law, and many in East Timor see their
Government as complicit in this. The Government’s
wacky insistence on the use of Portuguese in
education is a millstone around the neck of those
who want a good education quickly. Worst of all,
the Government is perceived as less than
interested in job-creation.
Ramos-Horta is taking steps to address these
problems but he may be too late. It is clear that
Fretilin is riding for a fall in next year’s
election. The campaign will be rough and, when the
results are known, Fretilin hardliners will
probably be unable to accept the loss of
parliamentary power that will be inflicted on
them. A move towards more authoritarian government
is possible and could be popular.
Already many are disillusioned with the idea of
parliamentary democracy, believing that cliques of
unscrupulous politicians are stage managing and
funding the current tension. People are asking why
Xanana Gusmao doesn’t take over from the
parliamentarians and run the country himself
backed by the military that still reveres him.
The big winner from the current turmoil is
renegade soldier Alfredo Reinardo. He has the
status of a Scarlet Pimpernel among the
disaffected “western” youth who rule Dili’s
streets. But we can expect no political or policy
solutions from him, only a spoiling role and
possible armed insurgency driven by personal
ambition.
Most of the people I have spoken to are resigned,
many are angry, all are bewildered about the
causes of the violence. But all agree that there
will be no quick return to normality. For the
foreseeable future we are looking at a more-or-
less permanent state of tension. This does not
bode well for next year’s general election.
[George Quinn heads the Southeast Asia Centre in
the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU.]
East Timor: The president’s man
New Matilda - September 6, 2006
John Martinkus — What appear to be written orders
from East Timor’s President Xanana Gusmao to rebel
former soldier Alfredo Reinado confirm the close
relationship the now escaped criminal — who is
wanted for murder and weapons offences — had with
the President.
The hand-written note, seen by New Matilda and
available here (in Portuguese), on the letterhead
of the President and signed by him, sets the tone
of the relationship between the two.
“Major Alfredo, Good Morning!” It begins. "We have
already combined with the Australian forces and
you have to station yourselves in Aileu," writes
the President, referring to the inland hill town
an hour south of Dili where Alfredo did go with
his rebel soldiers. The letter continues "I am
also going to write to Lieutenant [Gastao]
Salsinha [the leader of the dismissed East
Timorese soldiers who, unlike Reinado’s men, left
their barracks without their weapons] to implement
this order. Abracos a todos [Embraces to all],
Xanana".
Gusmao’s office could not be contacted for comment
on the document.
The letter is dated 29 May this year — only three
days after the first Australian forces had landed
in Dili and seven days after Reinado had led his
men in an attack against the East Timorese
national army, the F-FDTL, in the hills to the
east of the capital.
The letter confirms the close relationship between
the President and the breakaway officer at the
time — a relationship Reinado himself has never
tried to hide. When David O’Shea from SBS TV’s
Dateline program interviewed him in Dili just days
before he was arrested on 26 July, Reinado said:
Until 22 May I [was] still bound to my General,
Taur Matan Ruak [F-FDTL Commander]. After I [was]
attacked and I am defending myself I think I
should only follow orders from my Supreme
Commander, the President. Until today, anywhere I
go, I always notice him and I always take order
from him. Whatever I am going to do, whatever
order is being [given], as long as it is clarified
and justified, I’ll do it.
Reinado also revealed that he had been in close
contact with the President from 14 May, before the
violence started. The exchange was as follows: ’On
14 May on the Sunday I heard that you met with the
President,’ says O’Shea.
“Yes” replies Reinado.
“What did you discus then?” "I’m going to tell him
why I left Dili. Because as the Supreme Commander
he has to call me to ask me that. Why I left Dili
on 3 May. I am going there to explain why I left
Dili," says Reinado, referring to the day he left
the army barracks in Dili with 20 of his men and
two ute-loads of weapons and ammunition.
“And [Gusmao ] accepted your explanation?” asks
O’Shea. “Of course,” replies Reinado.
When I interviewed Reinado on 11 June he was still
in the hill town of Maubisse. He was there with
his heavily armed men and eight Australian SAS
guards. He said the guards were there for his
security, but Head of the Australian forces,
Brigadier Mick Slater, said the detachment was
there to monitor him.
Reinado was his usual arrogant self — loudly
proclaiming that he was fighting for the justice
of his people and referring to so-called
“atrocities” by the F-FDTL, which he greatly
exaggerated. When pressed on his plans to disarm,
he grinned and told me to talk to the President
about that. He proclaimed he was not a rebel and
that he was still a member of the army and had a
right to carry weapons as he was still under the
orders of the Supreme Commander of the armed
forces, the President Xanana Gusmao.
The circumstances of Reinado’s arrest also require
examination. I was in Dili that day, 26 July, and
the incident started in the late morning. Reinado
claimed that he had been offered the use of a
house by the President himself. The house was
situated directly across the road from the main
gate of the Australian military base at Dili’s
heliport in the suburb of Bairo Pite. As he was
moving in, the Portuguese police (GNR), acted on a
tip they had received, and came and searched the
house. They found nine handguns, thousands of
rounds of ammunition and grenades.
The day before had been the well publicised
deadline for the handing in of weapons, and
Reinado and his men were clearly in violation of
that. The GNR wanted to arrest him. The Australian
Federal Police were soon at the scene as well as
several Australian armoured personnel carriers. It
was a stand-off that lasted all day with the local
and Portuguese press outside, and Reinado
occasionally sauntering on to the verandah and
issuing statements such as "I am a free man in a
free country," much to the amusement of reporters.
(Meanwhile, at the President’s office across town,
a series of meetings were being held between
officials and military and police representatives.
No press access was allowed.)
Finally, after dark, the press were told to leave,
the Portuguese police loaded the weapons in a
vehicle and the Australian army moved across the
road and cordoned off the house. I waited in the
dark and filmed as the Australians led Reinado’s
men out, one by one, bound in plastic cuffs, and
photographed them before marching them across the
road to their base. However, the Australians must
have led Reinado out the back, as he was not with
his men.
The sequence of the day’s events and the way the
Australians actively tried to play down the event,
gave me the impression that they had only
reluctantly arrested Reinado and his men, and that
they had been forced to by the GNR’s discovery of
the weapons. The crisis meetings at the
President’s office also suggested Gusmao’s close
involvement in the case.
The fact that Reinado was not arrested earlier
raised many questions among observers in Dili.
Why, people were asking, was this man who was
filmed shooting at the army, and even declaring on
film that he had “got one,” still remaining free?
As one member of the UN investigation team said,
“this guy has some serious political top cover.”
The links between Reinado and the President are
even more relevant now, following his “escape”
from Dili’s Becora prison last week, when he and
56 others simply walked out the door. He has since
recorded a half-hour interview with local Timorese
television. Those who watched it placed the
interview as having taken place at Daralau, in the
hills above Dili. Incidentally, the President’s
house is also in the hills above Dili.
It is inconceivable that the Australian military
and Federal Police cannot place the backdrop to
the interview — as so many people in Dili have —
and locate and arrest Reinado.
But perhaps that is not a high priority. Perhaps
they are taking the position of the President’s
Australian-born wife, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, who
told ABC Radio this week that Reinado "has been
portrayed somewhat incorrectly in the Australian
media as being a renegade, a rebel." She added
that "when he defected from the military police,
it was a protest action against what he saw as
terrible violations committed by our armed
forces."
There is still little evidence that the armed
forces committed violations. Claims of massacres
and mass graves have never been backed up with
facts, and appear to be politically motivated
allegations designed to discredit the F-FDTL.
One of the most prominent opposition figures to
repeatedly accuse the F-FDTL of massacres is
Fernando De Araujo from the Democratic Party. When
I interviewed him for Dateline in August he told
me that, even though former Prime Minister Marm
Alkatiri had resigned, the “plan” had failed: "My
plan was to have a transitional government that
the President controls and in six months have a
general election," he said.
It is similar to what Alfredo Reinado is now
calling for, and from what one can divine from the
supporters of East Timor’s now famously silent
President, it is what he is positioning himself
for as well.
East Timor reality check
Sydney Morning Herald Editorial - September 6,
2006
A quick visit to Dili has sobered the Foreign
Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer. Before setting
off there, Mr Downer was jawboning the East
Timorese about acting as an independent country
which should take responsibility for its problems,
"not just expect the international community
indefinitely to solve all those problems for
them".
By the time he left, Mr Downer was accepting that
Australia would have to leave nearly double the
number of troops it had been expecting to keep in
Timor and maintain the force well into next year,
past the elections due towards mid-year.
As the April riots in the Solomon Islands showed,
elections are not always the solution to political
tensions, but sometimes the precursor to new
conflicts. Still, there is no better mechanism for
connecting government and the popular will, and
East Timor actually has more of the political
party formation seen as remedy for the leader-
voter disconnect elsewhere in the arc of
Melanesia.
Mr Downer is wisely telling us that our security
contribution is going to be substantial and likely
to be measured in years, not months.
His earlier remarks were partly a reaction to
observations by East Timor’s Prime Minister, Jose
Ramos Horta, that the Australian-led international
military force was partly to blame for the escape
of Alfredo Reinado and 56 other prisoners from
Dili’s Becora jail. This is arguable, but
fortunately neither Mr Ramos Horta nor Mr Downer
lingered on the question, looking more at looming
challenges, including those posed by Reinado’s
escape.
As the Herald has argued before, Australia’s
retention of a military command separate from the
new United Nations police mission is neither
helpful nor necessary. The tightest possible co-
ordination is needed to close up the sort of
loopholes that allowed the Becora escape.
Mr Ramos Horta also needs whatever help the
outside world can give to restore calm and trust.
Reinado — a former major in the East Timorese
army — is a contradictory character, of mixed-up
motives, but he has enough leadership ability,
weapons, and familiarity with Timor’s mountainous
terrain to become a serious threat. His escape has
already been followed by an upsurge in Dili’s gang
violence. The first emphasis has to be on
persuading Reinado to surrender again, with the
promise that his and other political cases will be
speedily addressed.
For Australia the continuing fragility of security
in Dili shows up our limited army manpower. The
next year in our region is going to be
extraordinarily demanding. In the Solomons, new
violence could be sparked if its Prime Minister,
Manasseh Sogavare, is successful in his apparent
attempts to get political allies charged with
instigating the April violence off the hook. Papua
New Guinea is heading to elections next July with
a run-down, understrength police force and
downsizing army, both lacking transport. As much
as its leaders would like to take responsibility
for their problems, the region needs us standing
by.
DAILY MEDIA REVIEWS
East Timor daily media review
[Compiled by the information office of the UN
Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT).]
September 29, 2006
New legislation on compulsory military service
A press communique issued yesterday from the
Council of Minister states that if a proposed
legislation from the second constitutional
government is approved, military service would be
compulsory for all Timorese between the ages of
18-30. (TP, STL)
Women facing political discrimination
Impoverished education and experience are some of
the key factors of discrimination against women in
their political participation, said Milena Pires,
Director of UNIFEM in Timor-Leste. Pires stressed
that time, change of mindset and establishment of
institutions would help in the eradication of
discrimination against women. She said UNIFEM is
supporting greater women participation in the 2007
elections and the women’s program in the political
parties. The launch of the book on the conventions
on the elimination of discrimination against women
in four languages, Tetum, Indonesia Bahasa,
Portuguese and English, according to Milena, is a
first step for everybody to understand the
importance of the convention. The book was
launched in Dili on Thursday. (STL)
Australian satellite detects Alfredo
According to the Prime Minister, Australian Forces
have identified, through the use of their
satellite, Alfredo Reinado’s location and the men
who are with him as being in Same near the sub-
district of Alas. He further said the Australians
forces, some of whom are nearby the location, the
President of the Republic and himself are happy
that Alfredo has not committed any violence,
adding that the forces have had direct contact
with Alfredo. In relation to their arrest, Prime
Minister Ramos-Horta said the troops have a
dialogue and will allow him to surrender
voluntarily. Ramos-Horta stressed that even though
Alfredo is wrong he hopes dialogue is the solution
to avoid further bloodshed. He said he did not
order the arrest of Major Alfredo and he will not
interfere in the justice process. (STL, DN)
Horta request bush visit East Timor
Speaking during a farewell gathering for outgoing
US Ambassador, Grover Joseph Rees, Prime Minister
Ramos-Horta requested Rees to extend his
invitation to President Bush to visit Timor-Leste.
In response, Ambassador Rees said he would
transmit the message to his superior. Gary Gray is
the new US Ambassador to Timor-Leste. (STL, TP,
DN)
Annan decision on new SRSG
Acting SRSG Finn Rieske-Nielsen said the UN
Secretary-General is still searching for a new
candidate to replace former SRSG Sukehiro
Hasegawa, following the decline of Mascarenhas
Monteiro of Cape Verde. Speaking to the media
following his meeting with Prime Minister Ramos-
Horta, Nielsen sad he discussed with the head of
the government the important areas that need
attention following the approval of the UN
Security Council recently. The areas UNMIT will
provide assistance to, said the acting SRSG, are
in security, national reconciliation, justice and
the election process for 2007 as well as establish
good relations with the government, political
parties and civil society. (TP)
Police detain 29 youths
United Nations police have detained 29 youth from
the IDP camp in Kolmera together with some light
weapons following allegations that they have been
involved in rock throwing with an unknown group in
that area. In the meantime, Timor Posts reports
that the Timor-Leste Youth Organization from all
the districts will hold a dialogue with youth from
the west and east of the country. Francisco Amaral
said that before jumping into national dialogue it
is imperative that youth from both parts of the
country participate in the dialogue. The event is
scheduled to take place in Oecusse, Baucau,
Lospalos and other districts, which have not yet
been determined. Diario Nacional reported the
Chefe Suco of Comoro, Eurico da Silva as saying
the recent rock throwing, burning of houses,
killings in Lurumata and Lafatik [Airport
roundabout, Comoro] are not derived from the issue
of east and west but it is a problem between
martial arts groups from Lurumutu Fatu-Hada and
Suco Comoro. Da Silva said he already requested
the Minister of Interior to set up a permanent
police post in Comoro but it is not possible due
to the small number of international police in the
country. (TP, DN)
Big obstacle to regain PNTL credibility: Antero
Lopes
Acting Police Commissioner, Antero Lopes said one
of the obstacles for PNTL is to regain the trust
of the population and the credibility of the
police especially in Dili, reported Timor Post
Friday. Lopes said some of the population have
lost their trust in PNTL individual officers and
not in the institution following the crisis,
adding he believes not all the police were
involved in the crisis that emerged therefore
UNPOL has to be careful with the screening process
for Timorese police officers. The Acting Police
Commissioner said for those PNTL officers not
involved in the crisis, their cases will be
expedited in order for them to engage in
operations together with the UN Police and be
stationed throughout the country. He added that 25
PNTL officers have reactivated their duties
following the screening process, another 900 have
been registered and slowly they will receive
training and resume their duties. On the issue of
security, he said it has been calm and is certain
there are still some problems but that it is a
normal process, which is related to politics. In a
separate article, Julio Tomas, Political and
Military analyzer said the International Forces
must make the effort to learn the root of the
problem the country is facing as well as its
culture in order for their work to be effective.
(TP)
New judges to provide assistance
Two international judges, from Portugal and Brazil
were sworn-in on Thursday (28/9) by the President
of the Court of Appeal, Claudio Ximenes. Ivo
Nelson de Camres Batista Rosa from Portugal and
Telma Angelica Figueiredo from Brazil will work in
Dili District Court and were recruited by UNDP. A
group of one judge, two prosecutors and one
defender arrived in Dili under the bilateral
cooperation program between the government of
Timor-Leste and Brazil to help with the judiciary
system. (TP)
September 28, 2006
Return of F-FDTL must be thoroughly analyzed
MPs and President of the National Parliament have
asked CPR-RDTL to thoroughly analyze the
conditions of the National Armed Forces, F-FDTL,
before they act in response to the current crisis.
According to the MPs the mission of F-FDTL has
been clearly defined in the Constitution and the
demands of CPD-RDTL could lead to other major
problems. CPD-RDTL has demanded that F-FDTL
conduct special operations to stop the crisis.
Their request has been presented to the President
of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the
Commander of F-FDTL. (TP, DN)
Former Latvia PM to moderate national dialogue
A team of Clube Madrid headed by former Latvia
Prime Minister, Valdis Bircavs, will facilitate a
national dialogue. The team arrived in Timor-Leste
on Wednesday and will remain in the country until
October 4. (TP)
Petitioners’ concentrate to participate in meeting
Around 300 members of the 591 petitioners’ group
have been concentrating in two areas namely Gleno
and Aileu to participate in the next meeting with
the Notable Commission. Interim spokesperson of
the Commission, Pedro da Costa said as soon as the
petitioners are gathered in the designated areas,
the commission will start working on the calendar
for the meetings. Da Costa also said F-FDTL
Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak is ready to
participate in the investigation. Still in
relation to the petitioners’ case, Franciscou
Lu’Olo Guterres, President of the National
Parliament, said allowances for the petitioners
would not be the solution; the solution, said
Guterres, would be the result of the investigation
of the Notables Commission. (DN, TP)
Portuguese minister pledges continued support
The Portuguese Minister for State and Interior
Administration, Antonio Costa arrived in Dili on
Wednesday for a three day official visit amidst
disturbances by some youth groups in the streets
of Dili. A GNR source told Lusa news agency that
the recurrent incidents in various parts of Dili
are related to the visit of the Portuguese
Minister. Upon his arrival on Wednesday, the
Minister said Portugal will continue to support
Timor-Leste in the area of security. (DN)
September 27, 2006
Petitioners solution depends on commission
The meeting between Prime Minister Ramos-Horta and
the petitioners group in Gleno, Ermera District on
Tuesday is reported in the three major dailies
today (27/09). Ramos-Horta told journalists
following the meeting that he is happy with the
maturity shown by the petitioners, their
willingness to cooperate in resolving the problem
and their refusal to get involved in politics. He
said the government is waiting for the results of
the Notables Commission before making any
decisions, adding he will not interfere in the
work of the Commission. (TP, STL, DN)
STAE must be under IEC
MP Vicente Guterres (UDC) said the opposition
party has proposed that Secretaridu Tekniku
Administrasaun Estatal (STAE) be under the
Komisaun Eleitoral Independent to prevent
bureaucracy should any problems arise. Guterres
said there were many problems during the 2005 suco
elections, and STAE was not independent and did
not show professionalism. On the other hand, MP
Cipriana Pereira (Fretilin) said the question of
independence depends on STAE staff. (TP, STL)
Fretilin will not expel Lobato
Fretilin Central Committee will not expel its
Vice-President until the court process is
complete, said MP Francisco Branco, adding that
the Prosecutor General has only just decided to
process Lobato’s case. He said his party has been
following the case closely and will not make a
decision until the case process is concluded.
(STL)
Some people using security for political interest
Minister of Interior, Alcino Barris said some
international people are trying to impede
activation of PNTL due to their political
interests, and are using the security issues as a
joke, reported DN. Barris said it is important for
PNTL to resume their duties in order to help
restore law and order and be placed in permanent
posts as planned. He said the population has been
complaining about the lack of security and the
return of PNTL is important, as there are only a
small number of United Nations Police (UNpol) in
the country. In the meantime UNpol Acting Police
Commissioner, Antero Lopes did not want to comment
on the Minister of Interior’s remarks. He did say,
however, that UNpol is working in implementing the
Council of Ministers’ resolution with the aim for
PNTL to resume their duties which has the support
of the Prime Minister and the Minister of
Interior. (DN)
September 26, 2006
Horta meets petitioners
Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta is scheduled to
meet the petitioners’ group in Railako, Ermera
District today. According to the media, the
purpose of the meeting is to assess the
humanitarian conditions and to discuss ways to
resolve the problem. The media also report that
the petitioners would also like to discuss the
subsidy assigned to them, which has not been paid
in the past months. On the same occasion, the
Prime Minister will also visit and speak to the
population about their economic conditions.
Salsinha Gastao, the petitioner’s spokesperson,
stated that the group is willing to work with the
Notable Commission to try and resolve the current
crisis. The statement has been confirmed by a
member of the Commission, Pedro da Costa, who said
there is a will from the petitioner’s side to put
an end to the problem in the country. (TP, DN,
STL)
MPS praises Hasegawa’s work
MP Mariano Sabino (PD) has praised the work of
former SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa describing that
there were many successes under his leadership
that the people of Timor-Leste benefited from.
Sabino said this must be acknowledged with
gratitude stressing that the UN should not be
solely blamed for the various crises. He said some
institutions are still weak and the Timorese are
partly to blame. The MP said that the role of the
UN in Timor-Leste at present is to provide
support, and different from UNTAET where it had
full responsibility of the administration. Another
MP, Alexandre Corte-Real (UDT) said the former
SRSG worked hard to strengthen the democratic
institutions, the judiciary system and security,
adding that the work performed by Hasegawa also
boosted the image of the UN in Timor-Leste. In a
separate article, MP and President of ASDT Xavier
do Amaral said the new UN mission (UNMIT) must
help resolve the national crisis of the nation.
(DN, STL)
September 23, 2006
Veterans willing to support return of IDPs
Veterans from 13 districts are voluntarily meeting
to coordinate and assist the return of IDPs to
their homes, said MP Riak Leman. According to
Leman, NGOs and the government have created
programs to help the crisis but in reality
violence continues and it is not getting any
better as people are still living in fear. He said
many rumours including a ’clean up and rebuild of
capital Dili’ [violence] caused panic among the
population when FJNP planned to stage a peaceful
protest for further government changes.
In light of the fear instilled in the people, the
MP contacted Major Tara and asked him to cancel
the protest as the people are living in a
traumatized and divided situation Leman said his
main concern is that President Xanana Gusmao and
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta might give up their
duties and no longer concern themselves with the
well-being of the people as their appeals are
ignored and Timor-Leste’s struggle for
independence would be in vain. The MP has
presented the proposals of the veterans to
Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak and President
Xanana Gusmao who have all welcomed the plan to
help overcome the crisis. (STL)
Horta wants to meet Alfredo
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta has expressed
willingness to meet Alfredo Reinado and listen to
his group demands, adding his door is open to all
and he’s ready to talk to Alfredo. Ramos-Horta
stressed that the duty of the Prime-Minister is to
speak to everybody but at times it is not possible
due to work overload. On the issue of justice, he
would like the people to understand that the
government cannot comment or interfere in the
justice process. Both are separate issues.
The Prime Minister said the arrest of Major
Alfredo by the Australian troops, and not
Portuguese police, came as a surprise to him and
that he would guarantee security during his
meeting with Alfredo. Ramos-Horta plans to meet
the petitioners next week in Gleno to oversee
their humanitarian assistance.
On the demands by Frente Nasional Justisa no Paz
(FNJP), according to Vital dos Santos, the Prime
Minister has received the documents and totally
agrees with the demand for the establishment of a
special panel to assess those responsible for the
crimes that led to the crisis. The demands for
government restructuring, he said, would not be
possible as he is not affiliated with any party,
and was elected by Fretilin’s political
commission, President Gusmao, and the two bishops.
(STL, TP)
Investigation results will make certain people
cry: Hasegawa
Speaking at his last press conference in Dili,
SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa said the result of the
special Independent Commission of Inquiry which
would be released soon, would not be welcomed by
some people and for some it would bring tears.
But Hasegawa said the leaders must be responsible
because the result of the investigation of the
incidents in April and May is based on facts and
truth. He added that the result of the conflict
that started in April until June was the
culmination of many factors and he appealled to
the leaders to be patient and wait a little longer
for the results of the investigation, as it is
very complex. SRSG stressed that despite the
complexity of the whole situation there is an
opportunity for Timor-Leste not to fall again into
the trap of conflict. He is also of the opinion
that the Timorese leaders must listen to the
population and hold regular dialogue with them,
noting that the open governance forum led by the
former Prime Minister was a success.
In Saturday’s edition, STL reported SRSG Hasegawa
encouraged the national media to continue working
closely with the new UN mission, UNMIT, in
supporting the dissemination of information to all
the districts. According to his point of view,
communities in Timor-Leste require information on
the developments and problems the country is
facing, adding that during his time in Timor-Leste
he noticed the lack of information disseminated in
the districts. SRSG Hasegawa said although he was
leaving the country, he would continue to follow
Timor-Leste media through the Internet and he
stressed that the role of media is crucial for
democracy in a new country.
During the press conference SRSG told the media
the UN Secretary General is carefully selecting
the new SRSG because his representative must be
someone with capacity and of top calibre, adding
that Kofi Annan had not yet nominated a new SRSG.
Before departing Timor-Leste he officially visited
the population in the districts of Baucau,
Lospalos, Viqueque, Suai, Maliana and Ainaro and
they all expressed the need to get information
such as the newspapers as the information they
receive from third parties is not reliable.
In a separate article in TP, MP Francisco Branco
(Fretilin) said the decision of the UN Secretary
General to replace Hasegawa was good because
during the crisis Hasegawa did not maximize his
contribution to resolve the recent conflict. He
hopes the new SRSG will do his work better in
order for the people of Timor-Lest to benefit from
it and help resolve the crisis the Timorese are
facing. (STL, TP, DN)
ASDT Congress
Associacao Social Democrata Timorense (ASDT)
concluded its three-day congress on Sunday
resulting in Francisco Xavier do Amaral and Gil da
Costa Alves being re-elected as President and
Secretary-General of the party. According to a
communique to the media, four candidates
participated in the election with a low number of
votes. According to Gil Alves the priority of the
party now is to concentrate and focus on the
program as already agreed upon by the party for
the 2007 elections. (STL, TP, DN)
Lobato’s case processed in court
President of the Court of Appeal Claudio Ximenes
said the Court of Appeal had received the process
of Rogerio Lobato alleging the distribution of
guns to civilians groups. Ximnes said the court
has been waiting for the case adding such a case
would determine the judicial system currently in
process. He said the judges would be independent
and impartial to carry out the process and would
make a decision without any influence or based on
the person’s profession, group or institutional
affiliations, but rather the court’s decision
would be based on law and facts. Aderito de Jesus,
Human Rights advocate said the process of Rogerio
Lobato’s case by the court is providing hope for
the public, but it must be a just and quick
process.
In a separate article in Timor Post Saturday, the
President of the Court of Appeal, Claudio Ximenes
said more international judges and public
prosecutors are required to respond to the
increase in cases during the crisis. Ximenes said
the internationals likely to come from CPLP
countries, Portugal and Brazil, would work
together with their Timorese counterparts. A total
of 8 judges, 8 public prosecutor and 8 defenders
would be recruited by UNDP to continue to assist
in the judicial system. (STL, TP)
Court rules in favour of Alkatiri
A Washington District Court has ruled in favour of
former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri for
allegations of embezzlement. Oceanic Exploration
Company accused the former Prime Minister of
receiving US$2.5 million of bribery from Conoco
Phillips for the exploration of Timor Sea. The
decision was made by the Washington Court on
Friday afternoon, Fretilin deputy-secretary
general, Manuel Fernandes told the media Sunday,
adding that Alkatiri won the case due to
unsubstantiated evidence. (STL, TP, DN)
September 22, 2006
Youth group commemorates peace day
The International Day of Peace has been
commemorated in Timor-Leste with messages from
Members of Parliament appealing for peace,
especially now that that the country is going
through a crisis. Youth for Unity, Transparency
and Justice (UJTJ) commemorated the day
distributing white flowers as a sign of peace, to
passers-by in various areas in Dili. According to
the coordinator, Joao ’Choque" da Silva, over one
hundred people wearing white t-shirts with the
message “Peace World” participated in the event by
walking, cycling and driving very slowly to
Lecidere, the venue where the event started. The
theme for the event was "Love yourself, Love
others and Love your country". On this day, the
International Day of Peace, Da Silva appealed to
all the youth to stop the violence and make peace
adding if people choose to be quiet and refuse to
speak up and make peace it would be impossible for
the Timorese to find peace. He says as per the
group’s banner "We Must Make Up And Make Peace?,
that means people must stop the violence, stop
provoking each other, and stop throwing stones at
each other and peace would slowly return. (STL,
TP)
President establishes traditional structure
President Xanana Gusmao has nominated the Vice-
President of the National Parliament, Francisco
Amaral, Dili Administrator, Ruben Braz and
President of National Unity Forum, Marito Reis to
be part of the traditional structure. The aim of
the mandate of the traditional structure is to
coordinate with the "keepers of the sacred
customs" to discuss the sacred custom in order to
minimize the political crisis Timor-Leste is
facing. The thee nominees would be responsible for
different zones of the territory with Marito Reis
in charge of the Eastern part, Francisco Amaral
for the Central part and Ruben Braz for the
western part of the country. The establishment of
the structure has been consulted with the Bishop
of Baucau Diocese, Don Basilio do Nascimento who
said all Timorese must make every effort to
stabilize the country rather than having other
people doing it. (STL)
Ramos-Horta not allowed to form cabinet
Despite demands from various civil society groups
that Prime Minister Ramos-Horta cannot make
changes to his government cabinet because Fretilin
does not allow it, MP Joao Goncalves (PSD) is
reported as saying that Fretilin is stopping the
changes because they want the cabinet of the
former Prime Minister to remain the same to show
they were not to blame for the crisis. But in
reality, added the MP, those that continue to work
lack maximum capacity to carry their work. On the
other hand, he also said, Prime Minister Ramos-
Horta must govern according to Fretilin, because
he was selected for the job by this party. In a
separate article, Jose Luis de Oliveira, the
Director of Fundasaun Hak, said the demands by
FNJP for government reshuffle is rational as the
structure of the first constitutional government
and then the second, shows that many ministries
are un-functional due to impoverished capacity.
But he said it is the responsibility of the
National Parliament to look into it and act rather
than be MPs with focus on only one political
interest. De Oliveira said the MPs must reflect
that groups like FNJP emerged as a result the
Parliament are not doing its work correctly. He
said he disagrees with the demands of FNJP to
dissolve the Parliament as it would not help the
current situation. FNJP has demanded the reshuffle
of the government, judicial system, limited
function for the Parliament and recuperation for
PNTL and F-FDTL institutions. (TP)
September 21, 2006
Ruak welcomes Tara
Major Agosto de Araujo, also known as Tara, met
with Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak on
Wednesday after five months of incommunicado due
to differences of ideas between the two. Tara said
he is happy Ruak extended his hand and is open to
discussions about the future of F-FDTL and the
return of the petitioners. He suggested F-FDTL
Brigadier General Ruak accept the return of the
petitioners as a means to resolve the crisis
within the institution. Major Tara said the
meeting with the head of the Defence Force is a
first step to try and resolve the problems of the
petitioners as well as the problem of fighting in
Dili. He said there are also plans for Brigadier
General Taur to meet with the spokespersons of the
petitioners, Gastao Salsinha and Major Alfredo
Reinado. In the meantime, Ruak said the return of
the group would give a bad image to the Armed
Forces and might create a precedent for other
soldiers to stage a military coup against the
command. (STL)
Ramos-Horta supports Kofi Annan’s decision
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta said although he has
not officially received information on the new
SRSG for Timor-Leste, if it is former President of
Cape Verde Mascarinhas Monteiro, it would be good
because of his past experience in dealing with
troubling democratic, economic and security issues
of a small, poor nation. The Minister said Cape
Verde is the poorest nation in Africa but its
economy is progressing and if he is the new SRSG
it would help not only the UN but the people of
Timor-Leste. But, he said, the government welcomes
whoever Kofi Annan nominates. (STL, TP)
Actual judges should replaced
MP Lucia Lobato (PSD), is of the opinion that to
better the judicial system in Timor-Leste, the
international judges, including the President of
the Court of Appeal, Claudio Ximenes, must be
replaced. Lobato said Claudio Ximenes’ decision
has left many people discontent and there has been
injustices because he interprets the laws
according to his wishes and he has not been
impartial. She points out that the tribunal should
not be fully under the responsibility of
expatriates because justice must be decided by the
Timorese themselves. The MP said people have been
critical of the court procedures and this reflects
the court’s failings. (STL)
Salsinha questions work of commission
Gastao Salsinha said that although he had met with
members of the Notables Commission he has little
confidence in the work of the commission, as the
team was not complete when they traveled to Gleno,
Ermera on Tuesday (19/9) to meet the petitioners.
Salsinha said the head of the commission and the
spokesperson did not take part in the meeting
leaving him to question their work as did the
lapse in time the commission took to meet with the
petitioners since it was established. He has also
appealed to all the petitioners to gather together
in the areas designated. According to Salsinha,
during the meeting they discussed discrimination
within F-FDTL and not the incident of April 28 as
it is under the international independent
commission. He also said the petitioners are
concerned with the crisis situation as the people
are paying the consequences. He said the group
would like to see an end to it.
Government reshuffle must start with PM: Ramos-
Horta
In response to some demands that there be changes
to the government cabinet, Prime Minister Ramos-
Horta said the reshuffling of the Government he is
heading must start with him. In relation to the
position of premiership, Ramos-Horta said he is
happy to hand it over to anyone who wishes to
exchange with him and who might be able to resolve
the crisis the country is currently facing. He
said his door is open to anyone that wishes to
help put an end to the crisis the government is
facing. (TP)
September 20, 2006
Alkatiri and Lobato cases must taken to court:
Egidio
Egidio de Jesus, leader of Grupo Fretilin Mudanca
(GFM) said the case involving the 13 weapons found
in the residence of Mari Alkatiri must be taken
forward to the court He said the Prosecutor
General must not cover up the problem and keep it
from the realm of justice. De Jesus said if the
weapons were claimed to belong to Alkatiri’s
personal close protection guards, it should have
been handed over to the Australian troops
stationed at his residence at the time. He said
the former Prime Minister should be processed in
court and be detained in Becora prison just like
Alfredo.
In a separate article, Vital dos Santos, the
Secretary General for FNJP, said the cases of Mari
Alkatiri and Rogerio Lobato have remained stagnant
due to the political influence instilled upon
those responsible for the court, by the former
Prime Minister, which is dominated by CPLP
countries including the President of the Court of
Appeal, Claudio Ximenes. Dos Santos said the
conspiracy was clear following some decision made
by Claudio Ximenes. (STL)
Dialogue must be led by Xanana and Dom Basilio
A member of Grupo Fretilin Mudanca (GFM) Vicente
’Maubocy’ Ximenes said his group is prepared to
dialogue with Alkatiri and Lu’Olo’s group provided
the moderator would be someone independent like
President Xanana or the Bishop of Baucau Diocese,
Dom Basilio do Nascimento. Ximenes said political
differences have led to a division within Fretilin
and therefore only an independent moderator can
help to resolve the problem.
Diario Nacional reported that the Government has
presented the program ’Simu Malu’, to President
Gusmao. According to Deputy Prime Minister, Rui de
Arazjo the program is to encourage people to
return to their homes and strengthen unity among
the communities. (TP, DN)
Who is responsible for the April 28-29 Incident:
Salsinha
Lieutenant Colonel Salsinha Gastao, has asked the
Notable Commission to extend the time allotment to
investigate about 42 members of F-FDTL expelled in
2003. According to Salsinha, some of the 42
members were expelled as a result of continued
absence but other left as a result of
discrimination within the institution. He said he
would like the commission to also investigate
former veterans, specially Ernesto Fernandes
’Dudu’ and Samba Sembilan saying, discrimination
did not only affect the petitioners because it
started a long ago in Aileu. He also asked the
Commission who is responsible for the incidents of
April 28-29, Fatuahi and the PNTL officers killed
in Caicoli.
In a separate article in STL, Salsinha Gastao said
the crisis occurred because the leaders were not
concerned the problem that emerged. Gastao said if
the petitioners are at the root of the problem
then they should sit together and resolve the
problem. He said the petitioners are now divided
into two groups, one stationed in Aileu District
and the other in Gleno in the Ermera District.
Gastao said the group wants a transparent
investigation and justice process to resolve the
problem.
In the meantime, MP Leandro Isac (Independent)
said in order to overcome the crisis, F-FDTL
Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak must show
goodwill to resolve the internal problem by
inviting the former generals who fled the Defence
Forces Headquarters to discuss the cause for their
desertion and the division among them. (STL)
Civil society rejects Kofi Anna’s decision
The decision of the UN Secretary General to
appoint the former President of Cape Verde to head
the new mission, UNMIT is not welcomed by some
groups of Timor-Leste civil society, reported STL
Wednesday. FNJP, LABEH, ETPA and Liga Estudanes
Timor-Leste disagree with the decision of Kofi
Annan. The groups met on Monday and decided they
would write to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
presenting the argument that they would like the
present SRSG, Hasegawa, to continue in Timor-Leste
due to his full understanding of the situation and
stressing that the timing is not appropriate to
bring in a new person. Another argument, says
Vital dos Santos of FNJP, is that the decision is
not a good one, as many of the government advisors
come from CPLP countries and this has added to the
crisis in Timor-Leste. He added some of the
advisors might have political interests rather
than being advisors. (STL, DN)
UNDP Provides Assistance To Judicial System
Minister of Justice, Domingos Sarmento has met
with UNDP to ask donors countries to provide
assistance for strengthening the judicial system
in Timor-Leste. The Minister said according to
coordination plans, UNDP will recruit more
international judges and public prosecutors to
attend to the communities in the Districts of
Baucau, Oecussi and Suai noting that the current
international judges, prosecutors and public
defenders are doing good work. (DN)
Swearing-in of new ambassador
Timor-Leste Ambassador to Japan was sworn in on
Tuesday by President Gusmao in a ceremony attended
by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adalgisa
Magno, former Minister of Transport and
Communications, Ovidio de Jesus Amaral and
Minister of Public Works, Odete Vitor. Speaking to
the media following the swearing-in, Domingos
Sarmento Alves said one of his tasks is to invite
investors to Timor-Leste but it would all depend
on the security situation of the country. He said
the leaders and the community must work to provide
peace and security. (TP,DN)
Government Allocates Allowance For Villages
According to government plans, the heads of
villages will receive financial assistance ranging
from US$50-US$80 depending on the number of sub-
villages. The government will also rehabilitate
the basic needs like head offices to enable
meetings to take place once a month and will
provide motorbikes as a means of transport. (TP)
September 19, 2006
Protest re-scheduled and FNJP meets government
The planned organized protest by FNJP for
September 20 has been postponed and will take
place at another time if the demands of the group
are not met, said the Secretary General of FNJP
Vital dos Santos. According to Vital dos Santos,
the group’s priority will be to speak to the
government and the National Parliament and present
the four main demands, which he refused to reveal,
saying it is related to the concerns of the
current situation. Dos Santos said if there is a
solution following the meetings, the protest will
be cancelled, adding, some members of the
government, concerned with the current situation,
called the meeting with his group.
In the meantime the coordinator of Unidade
Joventude, Transparensia e Justisa (UJTJ), Joco
“Choque” da Silva said his group totally rejects
the planned protest by FNJP with its aim of
dissolving the National Parliament. According to
Da Silva, the protest would not be conducive with
the actual situation or help to resolve the
problems that have emerged. He agrees that the
protest would be more appropriate to push for
improvements in the judiciary system but not to
dissolve the Parliament or change the government,
adding time is of the essence to resolve the
problem and it cannot be accomplished overnight.
The Coordinator of UJTJ said protests should not
be used with the intention to disintegrate the
nation. He appealed to all the youth not to become
victims of political interests.
In relation to talks of protest for September 20,
Minister of Interior, Alcino Barris said his
ministry had not received a request, noting that
without an authorization a protest will not take
place. (STL, TP, DN)
Dissolution of parliament would not resolve
problems: Lu’Olo
President of the National Parliament, Francisco
Lu’Olo Guterres said the dissolution of Parliament
will not resolve any of the current problems; on
the contrary, it would aggravate the crisis.
Lu’Olo said the protest in the month of June
following burnings, looting and killing of some
people was to pressure Mari Alkatiri to step down
in order to stop the crisis but it still
continues. He said the best solution would be for
everybody to reflect, sit together and find a
solution to safeguard the nation rather than
dissolve the Parliament. The President of the
Parliament said as per the Constitution of RDTL
anyone is entitled to protest provided they obey
the rule of law. (STL)
Election preparations
Political parties are gearing up for the 2007
elections. According to the media, Partido
Democratica Cristco (PDC) is holding preparations
at the grass root level in the districts. Antonio
Ximenes, President of PDC said part of his party
program is to provide political education to its
members.
President of ASDT, Xavier do Amaral said his party
is holding a national congress in its headquarters
in Lecidere, Dili on September 23. Pending the
security situation, each district is scheduled to
send 34 delegates, totaling about 400, the numbers
of members expected for the congress. But Xavier
Amaral said some districts might send only 10
members due to financial and logistical problems.
(STL, DN) National dialogue
Around 150 participants from 13 Districts left
Dili on Monday to participate in the National
Dialogue in Oecussi. Aurelio Ribeiro, the National
Dialogue Organizing Committee said the
participants are from various organizations from
the districts as well as organizations that used
to be part of the resistance like Ojetil,
religious organizations, student movements and
about 10 friends from Indonesia. Ribeiro said one
of the objectives of the dialogue is to cultivate
trust between the students and the youth from the
13 Districts, to clear the issue of Loro Monu,
LoroSae and to provide a solution to help resolve
the crisis of the nation ultimately strengthening
peace and national unity in the country. STL
reported that Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta
would participate in the dialogue, which will
conclude on September 25. (STL)
Population Should Not Listen To False Information:
Hasegawa
During his official visit to Ainaro on Monday
(18/9) SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa appealed to the
population of that district not to listen to false
information as it would be harder to overcome the
crisis. He appealed to the population to continue
working to put an end to the crisis that emerged a
few months ago. SRSG Hasegawa stressed that the
population must work together to strengthen peace
and unity. In return, the population of Ainaro
asked Hasegawa to help find ways to resolve the
political crisis. They expressed concerned with
the PNTL institution and want it to be reorganized
and stronger in future. On the same occasion, UN
Acting Police Commissioner, Antero Lopes also
showed photos of Becora Prison escapees and asked
them to contact police if any of the escaped
inmates are sighted in the area or if anyone has
any information on the whereabouts of the
escapees, including Major Aflredo. (STL)
China Donates 500 Tonne oF Rice (DN)
Popular Republic of China donated around 500
tonnes of rice to the government of Timor-Leste to
help the vulnerable people and victims of natural
disasters. The donation was officially presented
to the Minister of Labor and Community Reinsertion
Arsenio Bano on Monday(18/9). According to China’s
Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Su Jian, his government
has been providing food assistance once a year to
Timor-Leste to help the Timorese people. (TP, DN,
STL)
September 18, 2006
Political parties should make joint statement
before elections
Timor Post (16/09) reports that Human Rights
Lawyer, Aderito de Jesus Soares, said that all
Timorese political parties should make a joint
statement (promise) before competing in the up-
coming general elections in 2007. He argued that
this would avoid creating conflict among them or
conflict that has links with the political crisis
that is currently taking place in Timor-Leste. He
added that the political parties would show the
population their willingness and seriousness to be
a part of the up-coming process (general
election). (STL)
Demonstration cause Horta bows down to Alkatiri’s
politics
Vital dos Santos, the Secretary-General of
National Front for Justice and Peace (FNJP) said
that the demonstration planned on 20th September
is to create justice, peace and strengthen
stability and not to incite instability. He also
argued that FNJP organizes the planned
demonstration because Prime Minister, Josi R.
Horta compromises too much with the politics of
Maputu or the Mozambican group, which then leads
him to play along with the politics of the former
Prime Minister, Alkatiri. It was also reported
that PM Horta’s compromise on the politics of his
predecessor is considered to be the main cause of
the current endless crisis. (TP)
CTF mandate extended but still cannot meet Wiranto
Jasinto Alves, a commissioner for Commission of
Truth and Friendship (CTF), stated that the
mandate of CTF had been extended for another year
to review the final reports of the Commission of
Truth and Reconciliation or CAVR, Serious Crimes
Unit, KKP HAM, and Ad Hock Tribunal on the
involvement of Indonesian Army in 1999 (Human
Rights Violations). He added that CTF could not
meet the former Indonesian General, Wiranto,
because CTF needs time to prepare for the meeting.
Timor Post also quoted Alves, who stated that it
is a daunting task to review the reports of those
four institutions. The report also mentioned that
CTF have only managed to meet and interview the
former Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas,
Director of Peace and Stability Commission, and
the public prosecutor, who submitted their
allegations to the Ad Hoc Tribunal. (TP)
September 15, 2006
Leaders have lost the will to resolve crisis:
Martinho Gusmao
President of the Peace and Justice Commission, Fr.
Martinho Gusmao said political leaders and the
government have lost the goodwill to resolve the
political crisis that emerged, citing the latest
accusation by former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri
against Ramos-Horta of staging a coup d’etat
against Fretilin. Fr. Gusmao said as the situation
gets better, misunderstandings between the leaders
surface contribute to the insecurity among the
population to carry out their daily activities. On
the other hand, Fr. Martinho Gusmao said he’s
aware that some people are contributing to the
destabilization in order to continue receiving
humanitarian assistance which is
counterproductive.
On the issue of justice and security, Fr. Gusmao
said justice is an insistence of the society and
security must be immediately put in place as per
the sentiment of the people. He said that the
former Prime Minister and the President of the
Parliament must recognize that the crisis that
emerged is their responsibility and to resolve the
problems many others must acknowledge their
mistake. The Priest and President of Peace and
Justice Commission is of the opinion a special
panel must be established to resolve the problem
including the distribution of guns which he
considers to be an extraordinary crime. Speaking
to the media following a roundtable discussion on
the draft of the electoral bill, Gusmao also said
there is dual justice system. For ’small people’
or ordinary people it is a faster process but for
the ’big people’ there tends to be extended (dada
lia) discussion.
In a communique, Frente Nasional no Justisa ba Paz
(FNJP) considers the current leaders incapable of
resolving the problems. According to the document,
to respond to the concerns of the people, FNJP
have met with various components of the country
including political parties and NGOs on 12
September in Gleno/Ermera and all reached an
agreement that the leaders no longer have the
capacity to resolve the crisis. Therefore the
’people’ are thinking of removing the powers
handed to the National Parliament and the
government to find a solution according to their
will. FJNP also stated the purpose for their
establishment is to respond to the current crisis
and not to govern the nation.
In a separate article in Suara Timor Lorosae
(STL), FJNP Secretary-General, Vital dos Santos
said his group is not concerned with the threats
that if Prime Minister Ramos-Horta does not resign
there will be an anti-government protest. He said
a protest is being planned because according to
the population, the crisis emerged from the
National Parliament and Fretilin government.
Therefore, Timor-Leste does not need a government
with a big structure like the present one. Dos
Santos further said in June 2006, FJNP organized a
protest to dissolve the Fretilin government as a
result of their lack of capacity to resolve the
problems of the nation. But at the end there were
compromises and President Xanana inducted Ramos-
Horta as Prime Minister to continue the government
of Fretilin which had lost the trust of the
people, said the coordinator of FJNP. He further
said if the leaders only want to listen to the
suffering of the people through protest then, FJNP
would organize a protest. (TP, STL)
Population should not generalize police work
MP Clementino Amaral appealed to the Timorese not
to generalize the work of the International Forces
as not good. Amaral said for those who asked for
the withdrawal of the forces to carefully measure
it, as there could be consequences without their
presence. He said the work has been positive in
minimizing the problem. He further said if one or
two members of the International Forces acted
inappropriately all the forces should not be
blamed. In a separate article, Timor Post reported
families of the youths shot by GNR police with
rubber bullets in Mercado Lama (old market place)
are critical of the police conduct. The head of
the village of Caicoli, Domingos dos Santos went
to the President’s Office to inform him about the
incident and to ask him to resolve the problem,
adding that the police have not acted in a
professional and impartial manner. (TP)
STAE should be independent
To have a credible and clarified voters, STAE must
be independent to avoid favoritism, Dr. Faustino
Gomez told Timor Post Thursday following a
discussion on electoral laws with all political
parties in Dili. Gomez said it would be better to
have more organizations involved in political and
voters education under the criteria of STAE. He
said the project of law from Fretilin and the
opposition must be analyzed in depth in the
interest of the nation.
MP Lucia Lobato (PSD) in her intervention during
the roundtable discussion on the electoral law
said some of the issues that also need to be
debated are the 5 percent members for a party to
have a representative in the Parliament as
presented by Fretilin, the quota for women and the
status of STAE. According to Lobato, the
opposition would like the Independent Electoral
Commission and the National Electoral Commission.
(TP)
September 14, 2006
One youth death and three injured following attack
One youth died following attacks by an unknown
group in the area of Kintal Bo’ot on Wednesday
evening around 19:00hrs. The victim identified as
Abento was hit on the forehead by the dart-Like
weapon known as rama ambon. According to Timor
Post, three youths were injured following
shootings by the UN police. The population in the
areas of Kaikoli, Mascarenhas, Balide, Matadouro
and Mercado Lama claim to be in shock and are
traumatized by the actions of the UN police for
arbitrary shooting at the population. One of the
injured, Mateus Droga who was treated at the
Canossian Sisters Residence in Balide said before
the problem started he and some youths were
sitting in a kiosk, opposite the President’s
Palace, and upon hearing information of the
conflict they went to the vicinity of the incident
and saw Ambeno on the floor. As they tried to help
him, Mateus said the international police arrived
and rather than chase after the attackers they
started shooting at him and his friends. He
further said they fled from the scene and started
yelling that the international police were
supposed to provide security for the people and
not to harm them. Mateus Droga said the police
composed of GNR chased him and his friends all the
way into the President’s Palace, where one of them
had already been injured in the head from a bullet
wound, and then as they approached the vicinity,
Mateus claims that the police shot him in the in
the neck. The three injured received medical
treatment at the Canossian Sisters Residence in
Balide. According to Timor Post, the UN police
commander has not confirmed the actions of the
police and it is reported police used rubber
bullets. (TP)
700 PNTL registered
About 700 PNTL have registered with the Commission
of Evaluation in a first phase of screening
process for PNTL officers, Minister of Interior,
Alcino Barris said on Wednesday. Barris further
said PNTL Commander General Paulo Martins,
Operational Commander Ismael Babo and Deputy
Administration Commander Lino Saldanha will also
take part in the screening test. The Minister of
Interior further said some members of PNTL have
not yet handed in their weapons and pistols
because they are scared. He said the police have
the original list and know who still have guns. In
the meantime, Paulo Martins has reportedly said
the International Forces have not considered him
as Commander of PNTL and searched his house in
Bairro Piti without notifying him. (TP, DN)
Commission of Inquiry collects 3000 documents
The UN Independent, Special Commission of Inquiry
headed by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro held a press
conference on Wednesday to update the public on
the progress of their work. According to Pinheiro,
the Commissioners have visited the country for the
second time and in the last 10 days have worked
intensively with members of the commission’s team
and the information gathered from interviews and
follow-up interviews. The Commissioners are
scheduled to leave the country at the end of the
week and resume their work towards the end of
September in order to finalize the report which
would be handed in to the UN Secretary General,
and the Timor-Leste National Parliament. (DN, TP,
STL)
Ramos-Horta blames media partly for crisis
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta reportedly said if he
steps down as the head of the government the
journalists would receive the burden and the
consequences for their acts, reported STL
Thursday. Ramos-Horta also blames the journalists
partly for contributing to the crisis, noting some
of the reports have not been accurate and appealed
to them to verify their reports as it can have an
impact on the destabilization of the country. He
further said ’it is not only the politicians
misinforming but also some journalists sometimes
provides wrong information. The Minister added,
some of the journalist reports instigate the
leaders and destabilize the situation.
September 13, 2006
I do not intend to be involved in Timor politics:
Horta
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta stated his intention of
not participating in the country’s politics as of
next year due to the insistence by some people
that he is seeking power. Therefore, Ramos-Horta
stressed, the population must start thinking of
who they want to elect to be the next Prime
Minister and President. He said his purpose of
being in Timor-Leste is to assist the people and
not to seek power. The Prime Minister stressed he
did not do any political maneuvering during the
crisis adding that he alone acted as a bridge
between Mari Alkatiri, President Gusmao and
Fretilin’s President to find a solution to the
crisis. Ramos-Horta said if he wants power he
would try his luck in 2007 but because he doesn’t
want that. He said he opted to stay in Timor-Leste
because of the crisis and as result he lost a
bigger seat in the United Nations as the
Secretary-General. He said he wanted to stay in
Timor-Lest and not run away to New York. The
Minister said that during the crisis no one
pointed a finger at him for being involved in
distributing guns or stones or wanted to bring
down Alkatiri as he was part of the government and
gave 100 percent over the last four years to the
nation out of loyalty He said only a mad person
would want to become Prime Minister during a
crisis and for a short term.
In a separate article, in Suara Timor Lorosae,
Ramos-Horta said his main concern is that Major
Alfredo will opt for violence although he believes
he will voluntarily surrender as he is intelligent
and knows what is best for this nation. (STL)
Timor Post reported Prime Minister Ramos-Horta who
is also in charge of the Defence Force as saying
during an interview with RTTL that F-FDTL has not
been engaged in joint operations with the
international forces. He said some members of F-
FDTL have been working with the International
Forces in the districts to inform the population
about the current situation. (TP)
Horta should not interfere in Fretilin’s affairs:
Lu’Olo
President of the National Parliament Francisco
Lu’Olo Guterres said Fretilin was the one
supporting Ramos-Horta to become the Prime
Minister for the II Constitutional Government and
would continue to provide support until his
mandate concludes. But, according to Guterres,
Fretilin asked Ramos-Horta, as an independent
person not to interfere in the affairs of Fretilin
and other parties. (STL, DN, TP)
In a separate article, Francisco Guterres said as
an immediate measure, Parliament would formally
present the complaints of the IDPs about the
Australian forces to the UN executive in Timor-
Leste. A group of IDP presented their complaints
to the Parliament on Tuesday.
According to Diario Nacional, MPs Feliciano de
Fatima (ASDT) and Maria Paixao (PSD) said that
Parliament must request Australian Commander Mick
Slater to provide clarification on the complaints
presented by IDPs in Comoro. (DN)
FNJP gives ultimatum to government
Frente Nasional Justisa no Paz has given an
ultimatum to the government to urgently resolve
the crisis or face actions to dissolve the
Parliament, Vital dos Santos, the groups’
coordinator told the media on Tuesday following a
meeting with all interested parties that they want
peace for the country. The government has been
given one week (12/9-19/9) to resolve the
problems. He did not reveal what type of actions
the group is planning.
In the meantime, MP Madalena da Silva (Fretilin)
demands the President of the Republic present the
report on the implementation of emergency measures
especially in the areas of defence and security to
Parliament. According to Madalena, until now the
Parliament has not received a report and does not
know where the defence development stands since
President Xanana declared a state of emergency.
She would like the Parliament to present her
request to President Xanana. (TP, STL)
Fretilin reformer prepared to dialogue
A member of Fretilin’s Reformer Group, Vicentre
Maubocy said his group is prepared to dialogue
with Mari Alkatiri and Lu’Olo’s group in order to
resolve Fretilin’s internal problems. Maubocy said
the main theme of the dialogue would center on
Mari Alkatiri’s image as he is the reason for the
downfall of the Fretilin government. (DN)
STAE violates constitution Cecilio Caminha
Freitas, Chairperson of East Timor People Action
(ETPA) said the census process launched by the
Technical Services of the Electoral Administration
(STAE) is against the constitution of RDTL.
Freitas said according to the Constitution of
RDTL, census can only be processed when an
Independent Electoral Commission has been
established in order to oversee the work of STAE.
He said STAE must wait for the legislation on the
electoral law and the Independent Electoral
Commission, noting there would be some changes to
STAE as per the new legislation. He recommends it
would be better for STAE to wait until the
legislation is approved by the Parliament and the
President. (STL)
Band tours for peace
In order to promote peace and commemorate the
International Day of Peace, the bank 5 do Orient
is touring the enclave of Oecussi, Ego Lemos, the
bank coordinator said in a communique. The band
hopes to further encourage the communities in
Oecussi to maintain and strengthening peace. The
theme of the tour will be "Peace and
Nature/Environment" and involves activities such
as screening of films, music concert and festival
gathering with the communities which kicks off in
the sub-districts of Nitibe on Sunday 17
September, then Oesilo, Pasabe and conclude on
Pante Makassar the International Peace Day, 21
September. The government of Ireland, Oxfam
Australia, IOM-Timor-Leste, Caritas Australia,
Concern Timor-Leste, civil society and the people
of Oecussi have sponsored the tour. (TP)
September 12, 2006
Alfredo is not the only one demanding justice:
Bishop Basilio
The Bishop of Baucau, Don Basilio do Nascimento
said Major Alfredo is not the only one demanding
justice, everybody is demanding it. The Bishop
stated he doesn’t know whether the slowness of the
justice process is due to the conditions or the
lack of capacity and hopes there are no other
interests preventing the process from taking
place. Don Basilio is of the opinion there must be
an explanation for the escape of the prisoners
from Becora jail. He said the biggest threat is
the loss of faith in the State institutions. He
appealed to the community to fully understand the
justice process because it is a fundamental that
everybody demands justice and it is also important
that that accused are provided a fair court
hearing and should not be punished merely by
public demands. The Bishop of Baucau said all
citizens must obey the law regardless of whether
they are ministers or from the majority party and
each group should not make their own laws. In the
meantime, MP Leandro Isac said the population
would create a popular revolution if the
International Forces and F-FDTL will join forces
to recapture him.
STL reported Cecilio Caminha Freitas, Chairperson
of East Timor Person’s Action (ETPA) NGO as saying
that the joint patrol by Australian Military and
F-FDTL is a mockery and like asking the people to
kill each other. Freitas said the time is not
appropriate yet to involve the Timorese on these
activities, stressing F-FDTL and PNTL were in
conflict four months ago and their involvement in
patrolling should be delayed until the
investigation process and evaluation is complete.
He stressed that the fact that the President and
the former Prime Minister requested international
forces means that the two national forces can no
longer provide security and stability. The ETPA
chairperson said the involvement of members of
these two national institutions might have a
negative impact on the community due to the recent
conflict between the two institutions and it is
not yet know who was involved in different cases.
According to STL, in an interview with RTTL, Prime
Minister Alkatiri rejected that there is a joint
patrol between F-FDTL and the international forces
explaining that the F-FDTL members are cooperating
with the international forces under their
guidance. (TP, STL)
Justice progressing well, Claudio must be
replaced: De Jesus
According to Aderito de Jesus, a human rights
advocate, the justice in Timor-Leste is
progressing well and in a fair manner but he wants
to ask SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa to replace the
President of the Court of Appeal for many mistakes
that he has made, including the decision in favor
of Fretilin’s second congress. De Jesus said
Claudio Ximenes does not have the capacity to sit
on the Court of Appeals as he is working in the
capacity of a Timorese but earning an expatriate’s
salary due to his contract as a foreigner while in
charge of a sovereign body of Timor-Leste. He said
SRSG Hasegawa must have the courage to expel
Ximenes and replace him with an international
judge that has the capacity and experience to
carry out a judgment in an impartial manner in the
country. The human rights lawyer says Claudio
Ximenes must be replaced by a capable and
experienced judge for Timor-Leste to get out of
this crisis. He said the UN should not contract
Timorese with Portuguese passports who do not have
the capacity for this job because it only
increases the problem in the country. Aderito
wants the UN to be responsible for the weakness of
the justice system and not to wash their hands of
it. On the judges from CPLP countries, Aderito de
Jesus said their contribution had worsened the
situation in Timor-Leste. But the President of the
National Parliament, Francisco Lu’Olo Guterres
said the justice system is functional in Timor-
Leste therefore it should not be touched. He said
it has been impartial and has achieved a lot for
the Timorese including providing training, said
Lu’Olo. On the question of Ximenes having a
Portuguese passport, Lu’Olo said the constitution
of Timor-Leste allows dual citizenship therefore
he is not denied Timor-Leste citizen even though
he holds a Portuguese passport.
In a separate article, Aderito de Jesus said Mari
Alkatiri’s accusation stating that Ramos-Horta
manipulated him to step down as Prime Minister is
a political waste of time and there is no strong
evidence to substantiate the accusation.
MP Jose Nominado Buras (PD) said the leaders
should not use political compromises to cover each
other in relation to justice. MP Xavier do Amaral
(ASDT) said the accusation by Mari Alkatiri
against Ramos-Horta is a statement to shift the
attention of the people from the allegations
against Alkatiri alleging that he distributed guns
to civilians and puts the blame on the current
Prime Minister for the crisis that emerged.(TP,
STL)
September 9, 2006
Mari accuses Horta of coup d’etat
Former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has accused
Ramos-Horta of staging a coup d’etat against
Fretilin. In response to Horta’s statement that
Fretilin needs leadership changes, Alkatiri said
the current Prime Minister made every possible
move to force him out of government and then
pretended to present the names of candidates for
the premiership knowing he was the one who would
become Prime Minister. Speaking during a gathering
with Fretilin’s Central Committee from the 13
districts on Saturday, Alkatiri clarified to
members of his party that the reason he stepped
down as Prime Minister was due to the manipulation
by the current Prime Minister. Alkatiri further
said Horta knew that Jose Luis Guterres did not
have a chance to become Fretilin’s secretary
general but used a way of dividing Fretilin by
siding with the ’Fretilin Group for Changes’. The
Secretary General of Fretilin said all members of
CCF have agreed to hold a dialogue with ’Fretilin
Group for Changes’ or suspend the group for no
longer obeying the party’s rules. (TP, STL)
Commissioners should not be scared to meet us:
Salsinha Salsinha Gastao, the petitioner’s
spokesperson asked members of the Notable
Commission not to be scared of the petitioners
stationed in Aileu and Ermera. Gastao said the
petitioners would not harm anyone visiting them to
carry out the investigation. He said since the
establishment of the commission, no one has met
with them and stressed that the petitioners are
prepared to cooperate with the commissioners in
order to settle the problem in a fair manner. Due
to past experience with Alfredo, Salsinha said the
group is concerned about traveling to Dili to
participate in the investigation process and is
happy that Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak has
authorized investigation within the F-FDTL
institution. In the meantime, the Commission’s
spokesperson, Pedro da Costa has requested F-FDTL
and the International Forces not to impede those
petitioners wishing to travel to Dili to
participate in the process. (TP)
AFP and GNR beats child and PNTL member
Timor Post today reports that AFP and GNR forces
have beaten a youth and one PNTL member in the
area of Bidau Masau. According to Tomas Silva
Pereira, the PNTL officer, the incident occurred
on Saturday, around 22:00hrs when he woke up to
knocks on his door and was then punched in the
face with a torch by an Australian police officer
when he opened the door. Angered by the behaviour
of the Malaysian and Australian police, Pereira
showed them his PNTL card. Upon seeing the card,
the police stopped beating him and apologized but
Pereira said the apologies were not welcome and
warned that he would present his complaints to
PNTL National Commanders, the Human Rights
Commission, Commission for Social Affairs and
Administrator of Dili Sub-District. He said when
he presented his complaint to the human rights
commission, they suggested that he process the
case in court but he says he prefers to speak to
the police commissioner and the international
forces first regarding the incident. The PNTL
officer said the police beat him based on
information which is unfounded — that he was
involved in the conflict between Bidau Masau
community and the IDPs. Another case involves 16-
year old, Januario Pereira Soares whom GNR accused
of being involved in the conflict between the IDPs
and the community of Bidau Masau. According to
Timor Post, Januario was not aware of the conflict
when GNR went to his house and beat him.
Special mass for Major Alfredo
The National Front for Justice and Peace is
organizing a special mass for Major Alfredo
Reinado in Gleno on Tuesday aiming to pray for his
protection and courage to continue the fight
against injustice in the country. An advisory
notice sent to the media on Friday said the mass
would be held on Tuesday at 2:00pm. Meanwhile, MP
Manuel Tilman (KOTA) said according to juridical
consciousness he disagrees with the population
that wants to conceal Alfredo and his members
because justice has not been processed. On the
other hand, Tilman says in terms of politically
consciousness he agrees with the pro-Alfredo, as
usually the small people are the one’s that suffer
the consequences. He cited as an example the cases
of allegations involving Mari Alkatiri and Rogerio
Lobato. Tilman said guns were found in the former
Prime Minister’s house but he was not detained.
But in the case of Alfredo, he came to Dili on the
orders of President Gusmao and was arrested when
police found guns in his house, adding that the
whole situation has confused the people. He said
the problem is not within the judiciary but with
the political process which has not been going
well. (TP)
September 8, 2006
Commission mandate extended
The Notable Commission mandate has been extended
until 30 October 2006 to complete their work.
Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta made the decision
to extend another 60 days to allow the Commission
to complete its work, which had been stagnant
since May due the crisis. According to Pedro da
Costa, the Commission’s spokesperson the extension
would help reactivate the contacts with the
petitioners in order to get further information.
He said the Commission would guarantee their
safety for any information they wish to present,
as they do not have sufficient information. He
encourages anyone wishing to present their
complaints on the issue of discrimination within
F-FDTL to contact the Commission. (TP)
We will protect Major Alfredo: Eduardo
The community leader of Ermera District, Aduardo
de Deus, also known as Dusae said the population
will protect and conceal Major Alfredo Reinado
until justice and truth are in place. Dusae said
the youths from the 10 districts would protect
Reinado and wait for the truth and justice of
those involved in the crime adding they want a
fair justice procedure. He said the youth in
Ermera is holding a small activity in Gleno today
(8/9) to ask the international forces not to
proceed with their search for Alfredo and his
members. They also do not want members of F-FDTL
to travel to the 10 districts especially Ermera.
The population has rejected the presence of three
members of the national armed forces who visited
that area with the international forces According
to Timor Post, three members of F-FDTL are working
with the international forces and went to Ermera
to try to speak and win the sympathy of population
but were asked to leave. Dusae said members of F-
FDTL would be allowed to return to that district
only after the problem of discrimination within
the institution is resolved. (TP) Four injured
following GNR attack
The population of Aldeia 30 Agosto in Comoro has
expressed anger against the international forces,
GNR, for attacking and shooting in that area right
into the homes of the population. The incident
occurred around midnight on Wednesday and
according to Baltazar Bartolomeu, his younger
brother was injured when GNR members shot into the
house from the front door and hit his brothers. He
said following knocks on his front door, he opened
the door and was slapped on the face when he tried
to question the presence of the police force. He
said the loud noise scared all those inside the
house including his pregnant wife who woke up
crying not understanding what was happening.
Barlolomeu said his two brothers who had come to
Dili to sell coffee had their hands tied and were
taking to the airport roundabout with other youths
by the GNR who started interrogating and punching
them. The two young men were later released.
Baltazar Bartolomeu said his house door, window
including his small shop were destroyed by the
international force during the assault. Dismayed
by this incident he went to GNR Headquarters in
Caicoli to present his complaints but was told by
a GNR sergeant to go and complain somewhere else.
He is a pre-secondary teacher at in his village.
(TP)
Appointment of acting police commissioner and
DSRSG
Suara Timor Lorosae today (8/9) published the
information released by UNMIT on the appointment
of Acting Police Commissioner Antero Lopes and the
nomination of DSRSG Reske-Nielsen. Both documents
were release by UNMIT Public Information Office on
Wednesday. (STL)
September 7, 2006
Xanana must reconcile himself: Tilman
MP Manuel Tilman (KOTA) stressed that the
important path to resolve the current crisis, is
for President Gusmao to first reconcile himself,
then with other competent political leaders such
as the President of the National Parliament
Francisco Lu’Olo Guterres, F-FDTL Commander Taur
Matan Ruak and other commanders in the Armed
Forces. Tilman said these individuals have the
moral responsibility to reconcile among themselves
and to resolve the problems since they are aware
of the problems within F-FDTL. He further said the
next step is for President Gusmao and his team to
sit with each leader representative (lia nain)
from Kabalake, Matebian and Ramelau and proceed
with reconciliation according to Timor-Leste
custom. Manuel Tilman hopes that this process will
help the IDPs return to their homes, and that the
justice process will follow. (TP)
SRSG visits Lautem community
SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa met with members of Lautem
District community and IDPs during a visit on
Wednesday where he informed the public about the
assistance the UN has been providing through the
Ministry of Labor and Community Reinsertion. The
Head of the UN in Timor-Leste also informed those
he met that the government is making an effort to
help the communities in the districts and
highlighted examples in the areas of education and
health. He also said there is a possibility to
amend the security situation in Dili, adding that
the police and AFP are cooperating to recapture
Major Alfredo and the prisoners that fled Becora
prison and are taking measures to stop them from
fleeing the country. SRSG and his delegation
visited Salesian Dom Bosco orphanage and the new
market. (TP, DN)
Weakness of justice is minister’s fault: Corte-
Real
The injustice process in the country is not due to
political intervention but a result of the
weakness of the Minister. MP Alexandre Corte-Real
(UDT) said on several occasions the Public
Ministry and the court have presented difficulties
encountered, like lack of human resource,
infrastructure, and finance but the Ministry has
not taken any measures to respond to these
concerns. Corte-Real said due to the lack of human
resources and finances the court is non-functional
and the Minister himself has not approached the
Council of Ministers or the National Parliament to
attend to these concerns, adding it only shows
that the Minister does not have planning capacity.
The MP stressed that the judiciary power must be
reactivated urgently to allow the international
police to capture and condemn the people
committing crimes.
Tiago Sarmento, Director of NGO JSMP said the
court cases of Rogerio Lobato and Mari Alkatiri
are pending because the judges, prosecutors and
defenders in charge of the process have all ended
their contracts and left the country. Sarmento
said the cases would proceed when the new
judiciary personnel arrive this month. He points a
finger at the UN and UNDP for stopping their
contracts in a situation where the population is
eagerly waiting for justice, adding that other
international judges, prosecutors, and defenders
should be on the ground and have the work
transferred in order to determine justice in
Timor-Leste. The Director of JSMP said the court
has not processed any case since August. (TP)
I had guns to protect myself: Isac
MP Cipriana Pereira (Fretilin) said any Member of
Parliament in possession of guns and involved in
the social crisis is an act of crime as it is
against the Constitution. Pereira raised her
concern with the media following MP Leandro Isac’s
(Independent) statement during a television
interview where he said he was in possession of a
gun to defend himself. She said if a civilian
caught in possession of a weapon is considered a
crime and this also applies to any Member of
Parliament. She said she would like the Parliament
to take action and investigate all Members of
Parliament in relation to the crisis. In the
meantime, Leandro Isa said he had a gun on May 24
and 25 to protect himself, his family and about
300 people that took refuge in his house. Isac
said he has evidence he was a target because on
April 29 he came to Dili to get some food and was
stopped and told not to proceed or he would be
shot upon his return. (DN, TP, STL)
Women returned to East Timor
Three women allegedly reported to have been
abducted and taken to Atambua a few months ago
have now returned to Timor-Leste via Mota’ain
border on Tuesday, reported Diario Nacional
Thursday. Jasti Norina, one of the three girls
told DN, due to lack of employment opportunities
in Timor-Leste they went to Indonesia with the
intention to find work in Malaysia. (DN)
Population congratulates Major Alfredo
According to DN, the population of Comoro has
extended their congratulations to Major Alfredo
and his members for fleeing the prison. The
population claims that Alfredo will establish
conditions for the people who have not found
justice, peace and unity. Duarte, representing
Comoro people, said when Alfredo fled the prison,
the Comoro population were overwhelmed because
Alfredo feels he has become the victim since some
leaders involved in crime have not been condemned
and are still not in jail. He is of the opinion
that justice should not only be for the ’small
people’. (DN)
September 6, 2006
STAE launches pilot program
Secretariadu Tekniku Administrasaun Eleitoral
(STAE) launched its electoral census pilot program
on Monday with the aim of distributing voter photo
ID cards. Director of STAE, Tomas Cabral said the
pilot program will run until October 5 in Dili
District and the cards are free. He further said
the new card would replace the UNTAET voter
registration cards thus making it also a
legitimate ID card, as well as an official
registration card as both are required in Timor-
Leste. (TP)
Two members of AFP attacked
Two AFP members were hit by rocks while trying to
stop attacks of rock throwing between two groups
in Lurumata, next to the American Embassy in Dili.
Two youths were injured including two Australian
police and their car seriously damaged. According
to Timor Post, youths staged the attack due to
their discontentment with the way the Australian
police have acted in arbitrary detention. One
youth, who refused to give his name, told TP his
friends attacked the police because instead of
detaining the attackers at the scene they detain
those defending themselves. He said they have been
observing the international police and they are
not performing their duties correctly, especially
in stopping group fights.
In a separate article, it is reported that attacks
of stone-throwing in the area of Balide resulted
in the damage of 8 houses and one burning. The
fight was between the youths from Mascarenhas
Aldeia 1 Balide and Caicoli beginning on Sunday
(3/9) night and lasting until Tuesday.
Marcelino Martins, the head of the youth from
Caicoli said the root of the problem started in
Casossa Balide on Sunday following stone throwing
at the IDP compound while they were praying.
In the meantime, the IDPs in Colmera, opposite
Hotel Timor claim they have not received food from
the government and NGOs for over a month.
According to Celestino da Costa, camp coordinator,
the stopping of assistance is not a concern for
the people as all they want is for the government
to focus on security in order to enable them to
return home. (TP)
Judges accused of influencing court decision
The debate on the court of appeal decision, ruling
in favor of the result of Fretilin second congress
continues to be an issue of debate in the
Parliament. MP Joao Goncalves (PSD) has accused
two judges of influencing the decision of the
court recently. Goncalves said judges Maria
Natercia Gusmao and Jacinta Correia were part of
the panel that influenced the decision of the
court, because their spouses are members of
Fretilin Central Committee. Meanwhile, President
of the Parliament, Francisco Lu’Olo Guterres said
the accusation of Goncalves must be presented with
facts on how the court was influenced and whether
the process was constitutional or not.
Guterres also asked MPs not to meddle into areas
not of their competence. (TP)
Lu’Olo inconsistent with statements
MP Leandro Isac said the President of the
Parliament has been inconsistent with his
statement adding that he says something on one day
and the following day he says something different.
In relation to the guns in Mari Alkatiri’s house,
he first said it was false but later acknowledged
during the Parliament’s plenary session on Tuesday
that there were guns stored in Alkatiri’s house
but the Minister of Interior has not had the time
to collect them. In a separate article, Francisco
Guterres said the pistols still in the former
Prime Minister’s house belonged to his personal
protection security and that Alkatiri himself did
not want the guns stored there. The President of
the Parliament said people should stop creating
propaganda about international forces collecting
weapons at Mari Alkatiri’s house and should
provide the correct information. STL reported MP
Juliao Mausiri (PD) as saying the Parliament is
the root cause of the problem because on April 10,
a resolution project was presented to the plenary
to help resolve the issue of the petitioners. It
was put on the agenda as the last issue but was
ignored and never debated, he said. (STL)
September 5, 2006
Wirajuda and Downer meeting with President Gusmao
Ministers of Foreign Affairs for Indonesia and
Australia met with President Gusmao, following the
trilateral gathering in Dili on Monday. According
to the media some of the issues discussed by
President Gusmao and the foreign ministers were
economy, politics, security and support of the
neighboring countries during the 2007 elections.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ramos-Horta said ties
between Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Australia
remain the same as the previous government under
the premiership of Mari Alkatiri. He said the
trilateral meeting was to review the ties between
the three countries, especially the cooperation at
the commercial exchange level between the three
nations and the means to be able to encourage more
investment in the respective economies. The Prime
Minister also briefed the foreign ministers on the
current situation and the security conditions of
the country, the election for 2007 and ended with
a confidence note of trust that Timor-Leste would
overcome the actual situation. (TP)
Escape of prisoners not international forces
responsibility: Slater
Commander of the international forces in Timor-
Leste, Brigadier General Mick Slater said the
escape of Alfredo and his members from jail is the
responsibility of the government, especially the
minister of justice and not the international
force. Slater said the duty of the force is to
patrol the town and that securing law and order is
and coordinated with the international police. A
representative of the New Zealand force is of the
same opinion as Slater.
In a separate article, Steve Lancaster, commander
of the International Police said during a press
conference on Monday that three people have been
identified as being involved in the attack in
Kolmera, which left 9 people injured. Lancaster
told the media on Monday that some of those
involved are PNTL officers and the international
police needs the cooperation of the community to
find and detain them and hand them over to the
court for the crimes committed. He said the
international police would not be able to do
anything if the community is not providing
information on their whereabouts which will be
damaging to stability. STL reported Lancaster as
saying publication of posters with the fugitives’
photos has been done with the intention to limit
their movement in order to have the opportunity to
recapture them. The Prosecutor-General authorized
the publication of the posters. He also appealed
to the escapees to surrender peacefully.
During a public gathering on Monday, organized by
the NGO Lao Hamutuk, the international police
representative Emir Bilget said that sooner or
later the international police will capture
Alfredo and his members. Therefore he appealed for
them to surrender. Bilget also explained that the
new United Nations mission would set up new
structures for the international police in Dili
and in the districts and that the police need the
contribution from everybody including the
Timorese. On the efforts of the international
police to recapture Alfredo, MP Leandro Isac said
he disagrees with the Police Chief Superintendent
Emir Bilget because in reality part of the
population welcomes Alfredo and they would be
inclined to protect him therefore undermining the
efforts of the international forces to maintain
stability. Isac said the international police made
the appeal because they are unaware of and have
not been following Alfredo’s whereabouts believing
the appeal would satisfy everybody, which is not
the case. He further said if the international
forces want to be successful they must try and
learn from the case of Major Alfredo.
In relation to claims of attempts on the lives of
Alfredo and his members, Director of Becora
prison, Carlos Freitas Sarmento refuted the
statement saying there was no group that wanted to
kill or defend anyone. Sarmento said during the
last four months, members of HAK had not visited
the prison to collect data therefore the statement
made by them is unsubstantiated. He added that the
case of Alfredo occurred due to lack of equipment
in the prison and that such incidents occur in
other parts of the world. The Director of the
prison said the prisoners fled following attacks
on the guards, some of them using scissors.
Institution capacity of public ministry still
weak: Aderito de Jesus Human Rights lawyer
advocate Aderito de Jesus said the judiciary
capacity of the courts and the public ministry is
still weak. De Jesus referred to the many cases
still unresolved apart from the pending ones. He
said the government must support the means to
facilitate the court and the public ministry in
order for them to be more effective.
The human rights advocate says the judiciary
process is now on phase one and it should be
questioned whether it can proceed with the cases.
If not he suggest that maybe a special panel
should be established to attend to the crisis. De
Jesus said this is one of the propositions for the
international commission to look into involving
the cases starting from April up until now. He
said the state law applies to everybody. (TP)
No extraordinary congress: Lu’Olo
The demand for extraordinary congress by the group
of Fretilin for changes (Fretilin Mudanca) have
been rejected by the party’s Secretary-General and
President. According to Francisco Lu’Olo Guterres,
even though Fretilin’s constitution foresees
extraordinary congress, the demands of the group
will not be realized.
Guterres said the structures of the districts are
aware that the group for changes want the
extraordinary congress but there is no room for it
as per the court of appeal decision. In the
meantime, Egidio de Jesus of the ’group for
changes’ said the majority of the people that
participated in the congress and members of
Liquica District have rejected the leadership of
Fretilin under Mari Alkatiri and Rogerio Lobato.
He said the ’group for changes’ would go ahead
with the congress following further consultations
with more districts. (STL)
September 2-4, 2006
Prisoners fled due injustice process
Aniceto Neves the Program Manager of local NGO HAK
said Major Alfredo’s escape is likely due to
constant threats and attempts on his life, as
confirmed by his lawyers. According to Neves the
situation faced by Alfredo and his members in
Becora jail showed that the security management is
not safe for any citizen and that is precisely why
the former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato and
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri are under house
arrest. Therefore, the government should not have
detained Alfredo and his members in Becora jail.
He further said, based on the monitoring from his
organization, HAK, that there were various threats
by the prisoners and guards alike to kill Alfredo
and his members. For instance, a guard from the
eastern part tried to kill him but a guard from
the west intervened to stop the killing. The head
of HAK said these are the reasons Lobato and
Alkatiri are not in jail so why should Alfredo and
his members be subject to it, adding everybody,
from government officials to MPs have blamed the
police and international forces for the prisoners
getaway but have not looked at their own mistake.
Aniceto Neves stressed that the international
forces are doing their work based on the politics
of the government not the forces’ politics. He
further said he totally disagrees with the
accusations by some MPs who express concerns with
the international forces work but who, themselves,
are not learning the legal process of the country
created by them because all they do is sit and
raise their hands without understanding the
substances. The escape of Alfredo and his members,
said Aniceto Neves, is the responsibility of the
government of Prime Minister Ramos-Horta because
it has failed to establish a politics that
guarantees justice, security and freedom of the
prisoners, and the escape of the prisoners is an
accumulation of protest to the problem of
injustice that the people of Timor-Leste are
currently facing. In an interview aired by the
national radio and television, Alfredo Reinado
appealed to the youth to stop the current actions
and maintain calm and understand each other
because the country now needs peace. He said he
fled the jail because the trial detention had
expired but he has not fled justice and is
prepared to appear in court when the system is
implemented impartially. (STL, TP)
Interference from some leaders on justice process:
Carrascalao
PSD President, Mario Carrascalao said the justice
process to the former Minister of Interior and
Prime Minister is in an impasse due to
interference from some components in the country.
On the getaway of the prisoners from Becora jail,
Mario Carrascalao said Alfredo fled with the
support of the population because if he did not
have the support the population they would have
announced his whereabouts. He said there has been
lots of injustice therefore it is time for drastic
measures to solve the problems and see what is
best for the public. He further said the national
dialogue proposed by the government is not enough,
the important thing is to take measures, adding
that no solution to the problem of kaladi (west)
and firaku (east) has materialized. The president
of PST stressed that one of the problems faced in
Timor-Leste is the IDPs, and how to bring the
people from the east and west to live together as
there has been so much hatred created.
In a separate article, Aderito de Jesus, Timorese
human rights advocate and lawyer said that the
escape of Alfredo and his members are still under
the judiciary system therefore the issue has
become more complex and it needs political will to
resolve it.
PNTL must establish unity among the population:
Hasegawa
Speaking at PNTL parade in Dili headquarters on
Friday, Acting UNPOL Police Commissioner, Antero
Lopes said PNTL must show its professionalism
because PNTL has good capacity, respects human
rights and can be part of other missions under the
United Nations, noting the current PNTL officers
working in Kosovo. He reminded PNTL officers to be
happy, as there are many good PNTL officers. He
stressed his sadness for the circumstances leading
to his return but hopes to reorganize and develop
PNTL capacity, loyalty and honesty to better the
services and show greater professionalism. He
appealed to PNTL to have faith in the UN police
and asked for unity and cooperation to work
together. He said the evaluation team is
continuing to screen each PNTL officer’s
availability, integrity and loyalty within the
institution, in order for them to carry out their
duty better, adding that the UN police will work
together with PNTL. On the same occasion, SRSG
Sukehiro Hasegawa said PNTL must create unity
among the population avoid past mistakes. He said
many PNTL were involved in the crisis and appealed
to them to reflect and to try to find an answer to
the solution to end the violence that emerged in
the country. (DN)
Nine injured during attack at refugee camp
Nine people were reported injured on Friday
following rock attacks and shots at the IDP camp
opposite Hotel Timor in Dili. According to Timor
Post, a 12 year-old was seriously injured with gun
shoots. According to an eyewitness, who wished to
remain anonymous, an unknown group including some
members of PNTL, one of them from Baucau, went to
attack the camp with two big guns and pistols. The
eyewitness said they recognized two of the
attackers and PNTL officers. SRSG Hasegawa said
the international police are investigating the
case and the people involved in order to process
them in the court. (STL)
CVA not transparent: Aderito de Jesus Soares
Aderito de Jesus, human rights lawyer, said the
public is concerned with the transparency of the
Comissao Verdade e Acolhemento (CVA) [Truth and
Friendship Commission] that has been extended for
another year to complete the work. De Jesus said
the public must know the budget of CVA and the
result of the work. He said right from the start
CVA’s mandate has not been clear and transparent
and its significance is unknown in Timor-Leste.
He said relations can be implemented through other
means and that money should not be wasted to
establish negotiations for justice, adding he is
also confused with the extension of the mandate
because there has not been a public debate about
it. (TP)
PD wants Ian Martin or Hasegawa to lead new
mission
The Democratic Party (PD) disagrees with the
notion that of new representative leading the new
United Nations mission in Timor-Leste. MP Rui
Menezes said information that the new SRSG would
come from a CPLP country would not be appropriate
due to lack of experience and knowledge which
could lead to new problems. Menezes said the
person following Timor-Leste process has been
former United Nations Representative to Timor-
Leste, Ian Martin, but his party would recommend
to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan to maintain
the current SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa to lead UNMIT.
In a separate article, MP Quiteria da Costa (UDT)
said whoever is replacing the current SRSG must
have the conviction to bring the people of Timor-
Leste together. She is of the opinion the current
representative of the United Nations in the
country should continue to hold the same position
with the new mission. (DN)
September 1, 2006
Minister of justice responsible for prisoners’
getaway
MPs have raised their concerns in relation to the
prisoners that escaped from jail on Wednesday
saying Minister of Justice is responsible. The
President of the National Parliament, Francisco
Lu’Olo Guterres lamented the incident noting that
such an incident had not occurred in the past four
years. Guterres considered the case to be serious
for the trial process. He said the fundamental
problem of the incident rests with the Ministers
of Justice and Defence and the trainers. He added
that the Minister for Justice should have looked
into the security of the prison following the
withdrawal of the international forces. Some of
the MPs were of the opinion that the Minister of
Justice, Domingos Sarmento, should be asked to
resign as a result of the prison escape; others
raised the concern that the escape of Alfredo and
other prisoners would have a negative impact on
the elections in 2007 and some said it would stop
the reconciliation process that has been organized
by President Gusmao. In the meantime the Minister
of Justice, Domingos Sarmento said he is prepared
to step down but it is up to the Prime Minister to
decide.
In a separate article, the Director of NGO Yayasan
Hak, Jose Luis Oliveira said the getaway of
Alfredo and other prisoners would not only have an
impact on the government but greatly on the
population of Dili. Oliveira said it is likely
that some people have already packed and left for
the districts. According to Diario Nacional,
Oliveira said another impact would be on the
reconciliation process, which is part of the
government program to resolve the recent crisis.
Still on the escape of the prisoners, Aniceto
Neves, an observer from Hak said the government
has given big expense salaries to the
international judges to strengthen the judicial
system in Timor-Leste but it continues to remain
the same. He further said there are many people in
the jails in Becora, Ermera and Baucau whose
status has not been revised, adding he is of the
opinion that the contract with the international
prosecutors is not fortifying the Timorese
justice. Neves is of the opinion the getaway of
the prisoners on Wednesday is the government’s
fault. He pointed out that Alfredo and his group
were on trial detention up until 28 August but did
not receive a court justification. He questioned
why they were detained beyond the set date and
prolonged until the 30th to be the start of
investigations which did not happen. He also said
Alfredo received many threats while in detention,
reported STL.
Diario Nacional reported Minister of Justice,
Domingos Sarmento as saying that the prison guards
were threatened with grass scissors when visiting
time was coming to an end, adding that a team has
been formed to work with the international police
to investigate the 60 prison guards on duty.
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta appealed to the
population not be concerned with Alfredo’s escape
because he is not the “giant of Timor-Leste”,
adding Major Alfredo was in detention for carrying
illegal weapons. In relation to reports of F-FDTL
in possession of weapons, the Minister told heads
of villages and districts during the gathering in
Maubara that the information gathered must be
concrete in order to have these people detained.
(TP, STL, DN)
UNPOL and international police will detain
escapees: Antero SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa said the
UN together with the International Forces and
International Police have the responsibility to
locate and detain Major Alfredo and other
prisoners that escaped from jail on Wednesday.
Speaking during a press conference Thursday,
Hasegawa said the new UN mission, UNMIT, had
established a joint task force to maintain peace
and stability in Timor-Leste and he has requested
the police commissioner to head the task force.
According to Diario Nacional SRSG Hasegawa said he
has already requested the government to review the
joint security arrangements for the prisoners
especially during visiting hours. SRSG said
security for the prison is the responsibility of
the government, but the international forces would
conduct frequent patrols to that area as agreed to
by the military commander, Brigadier Mick Slater,
in accordance with the UN Security Council
resolution which says the international forces
were invited to support the implementation of the
UNMIT mandate which includes provision of security
to the public. On the same occasion, the Acting
Police Commissioner, Antero Lopes said the
international forces are working together to
provide security for the population and are trying
to bring Major Alfredo back to prison in order to
process his case legally. Australian Federal
Police commander, Steve Lancaster said there are
cooperation efforts from all the international
forces in Timor-Leste including the UN to re-
capture the getaway prisoners. Lancaster said the
military had also set up checkpoints to search
vehicles entering and leaving Dili as well as in
the capital. He said he believes Alfredo is still
around in Dili and appealed to anybody with
information about the prisoners to alert the
police. (STL)
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