(East Timor Problems) The world must heed the harsh lessons of East Timor

Financial Times (UK)

June 30, 2006

Comment

By ARNOLD KOHEN and LAWRENCE KORB

"The tragic renewal of violence in East Timor and unfolding political crisis there should stimulate a tough reappraisal of the way the world community, not least the US, approaches international peacekeeping. For the sake of the long-suffering people of East Timor- and other peacekeeping operations - it is time to learn from past mistakes.

With a temporary Australian-led force in place, the United Nations Security Council is considering a new peacekeeping effort in East Timor to help maintain order before and after elections next year. One hopes that recent remarks by John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, suggesting that Washington may oppose it, are not the last words on this issue.

It is a disturbing reality that peacekeeping missions move according to a logic and schedule that have little to do with the needs of a particular place. They are focused instead on budgets and other international commitments. Every time there is an emergency, a new begging bowl is passed around. In spite of the large demand for troops, few are readily available. And, as the East Timor experience has illustrated, the best expert advice means little if the nations in charge of the mission choose to ignore unpleasant facts. We must find better mechanisms to utilise expert knowledge and reach beyond a small layer of government officials to tap authentic public sentiment.

Several factors, including animosities inside the local security forces and political rivalries, ignited the crisis in East Timor, where 151,000 people have taken refuge in squalid tent cities to avoid further brutality and the possibility of a fresh outbreak of fighting that has killed at least 30 people since April.

But the situation might never have deteriorated so badly if peacekeepers and expert advisers with solid negotiating skills had remained - as they have in Bosnia since 1995 - instead of leaving last year. Historical responsibility cannot be overlooked. Throughout Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, the US staunchly backed Jakarta both with arms shipments and by blunting criticism in Congress and the UN. But wanting to save money on peacekeeping, the Bush administration pushed for the withdrawal of UN troops as soon as East Timor became independent in 2002. With the eruption of conflict, the folly of this penny-wise, pound-foolish stance is plain.

To the casual observer, East Timor may have seemed peaceful before the recent fighting. After decades of trauma, however, it was far more volatile than it appeared.

East Timor's truth and reconciliation commission has determined that as many as 180,000 people, more than a quarter of the population, perished from the effects of Indonesian rule from 1975 until 1999 when East Timor voted to leave Indonesia and Indonesian-backed militias laid waste to the territory. Torture and rape were widespread.

Many urban youth had been among those tortured. In some instances their torturers were hired for the national police force because they had prior experience in police work under Indonesia. With more than 50 per cent of young people and many veterans of the independence struggle without jobs, East Timor became a tinderbox.

International agencies' officials have sheepishly conceded that job-creating development should have been a higher priority, especially in agriculture. As experienced international peacekeepers know, a lack of serious engagement on the economic front will inevitably come back to haunt the international community - precisely what is now reported about Afghanistan.

International donors and a re-structured government must seriously address widespread poverty in East Timor. This should start with reconstruction and other public works projects to engage unemployed veterans and youth, and include support for rural livelihoods.

If a small fraction of the Dollars 1,000bnin annual world military spending were devoted to a permanent fund for international peacekeeping missions, it would be far easier to address the plight of places such as East Timor. If a portion of the peacekeeping budget went to well-targeted economic help, far larger military expenditures to stabilise violent upheavals would be unnecessary next time.

Lawrence Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, was an assistant secretary of defence in the Reagan Administration. Arnold Kohen, international co-ordinator of Global Priorities, an inter-religious initiative to change budget priorities, is author of From the Place of the Dead (St Martins Press, US; Lion, UK)."

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) Alkatiri resigns as PM

Alkatiri has finally resigned as PM of Timor! Thank goddess! Perhaps now things can start to return to "normal".

I'm still on enforced R&R in Tropical Far North Queensland and due to return to Cairns this Thursday.

AVI will inform all Timor volunteers this Friday whether the program will resume or close until further notice. Despite Alkatiri's resignation, I predict I'll soon be out of a job. (The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) still has Timor on a level 5 (the highest) security alert.)

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) Gusmao blocks calls for PM's removal

"Wednesday, 14 June, 2006 18:25:13
Reporter: Anne Barker

MARK COLVIN: East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao appears to have stymied calls for the removal of the Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

President Gusmao has resisted pressure to suspend the country's constitution, to dissolve the Parliament and install a transitional government.

In an address to the nation's Parliament this morning, the President declared he would uphold the constitution to safeguard democracy, at least until his term ends next year.

As Anne Barker reports, the announcement comes as East Timor begins its own criminal investigations into the many violent deaths over recent weeks.

(sound of Xanana Gusmao speaking)

ANNE BARKER: It was only a short address before East Timor's Parliament, but Xanana Gusmao's words could have far-reaching implications for this tiny fragile nation.

In Portuguese, he addressed the nation's 88 parliamentarians for the first time since East Timor descended into chaos more than a month ago.

President Gusmao compared the crisis to the bloodshed of 1999, albeit on a smaller scale.

He said the weeks of violence had caused unacceptable suffering and fear and paralysed state institutions. But it's clear the President did not support those who believe the only solution is to suspend East Timor's constitution and dissolve the Parliament.

(sound of Xanana Gusmao speaking)

"It is incumbent on me to be the guardian of the constitution," he said, "and to be a guardian of the constitution basically means to safeguard the democratic state based on the rule of law."

"To the happiness of some and to the discontent of others, I will continue to fulfil this sacred duty until the end of my mandate in May 2007. And I will do so," he said, "unwaveringly, and the people can be sure of that."

Xanana Gusmao's decision will, in his own words, be a cause of discontent to the many opponents of Mari Alkatiri. There's widespread resentment in the community at the way the Prime Minister has handled the crisis, and continuing allegations that he was involved in some of the deaths.

His opponents can now only take solace in news that United Nations prosecutors have begun a criminal investigation into the various killings.

The UN's Special Representative in East Timor, Sukehiro Hasegawa, says four investigators attached to the Office of East Timor's Prosecutor-General will examine the circumstance surrounding the deaths of 10 police officers in a gunfight last month, and at least five protesters on April the 28th.

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: And they have commenced their criminal investigations. They will do so with the view to establishing the accountability of those who are responsible.

ANNE BARKER: What will happen to those who are found to be responsible for the violence?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: I think we cannot presume the outcome of number one the investigations. I think United Nations is totally committed to the principle of justice, therefore it is not incumbent on me to hypothesise what would happen.

ANNE BARKER: So would they be tried?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: I think the course of justice has to take place; this is a democratically principled country.

ANNE BARKER: The United Nations Human Rights Commission, based in Geneva, is setting up its own separate inquiry into the deaths, and Mr Hasegawa appeared to confirm today that there will be an investigation into the allegations against Mari Alkatiri that he was behind the spate of killings.

MARK COLVIN: Anne Barker. "

Source: ABC PM program (UNOTIL Daily Media Review, Public Information Office)

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) Australia withdrew too early

"John Howard failed the East Timorese, argues Australia's Labor Party's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd.

THE fresh commitment of Australian troops to East Timor in late May has the bipartisan support of the Australian Labor Party. The troops have been doing a first-class job in a difficult and dangerous operating environment. They have been unjustifiably criticised for not restoring immediate order to the streets of Dili.

But the mission the ADF was sent to perform was to prevent a civil war between the warring elements of an armed, dangerous and disintegrating East Timorese defence force and police force. To date, the ADF has been remarkably successful in this task. They were not sent to Dili to prevent hooliganism. But the Howard Government should have dispatched sufficient police resources from the outset - something they have belatedly sought to do with the impending arrival of approximately 500 police from Australia and the region.

The question that now arises is how we managed to get into this mess. Because East Timor has now become another full-blown member of the arc of instability to Australia's north.

The Prime Minister says East Timor became independent too early. It is amazing how he reinvents political history by press statement. This is the same Prime Minister who in reflecting on his 10 years in office said in March that East Timor had "all turned out fantastically".

Claim the credit when it's all going fine; but when it's not, run a thousand miles an hour from accepting the responsibility. A large reason why East Timor is now a security mess is because the Howard Government decided to cut and run from East Timor in 2003 in order to meet its new military commitments in Iraq.

UN Security Council Resolution 1410 was passed in May 2002, establishing the UN Mission in Support of East Timor. UNMISET consisted of civilian advisers, 1250 police officers and up to 5000 international peacekeeping troops. Australia was a large contributor to that force.

In early 2003 the East Timorese Government made a plea for increased international military assistance to help combat reported border incursions. Unfortunately for the East Timorese, however, the Australian Government had other plans for its troops: the invasion of Iraq.

Labor was critical of the Government's position at the time saying: "At a time when John Howard is forward deploying 1500 troops to Iraq, we face an emerging security crisis in East Timor where Australia's 1000 peacekeepers are already stretched to the limit." And with the support of the Australian Government, the UN Security Council authorised the downsizing
of the military and police components of the UN mission. A year later in May 2004 the UN Security Council met and announced that the military and police components of its mission in East Timor were again to be significantly reduced to a core force of 157 police advisers, 42 military liaison officers, 310 troops and a 125-person international response unit.

In advance of the Security Council meeting, The Australian reported on February 20, 2004, that the Australian Government had been actively lobbying the US and Britain for an even greater reduction in the military component. East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta, for one, was confused by the Australian Government's position, saying: "We are all quite puzzled as to why Canberra, London and Washington want to differ from everybody else on this issue."

Once again Alexander Downer, the man who on East Timorese independence pledged that Australia would not let East Timor down, described the East Timorese request for assistance as just "a security blanket for East Timor".

In the end Australia was not able to win sufficient support at the UN Security Council in 2004 for its position. But a year later in early 2005, Australia again took a strong position advocating further cuts to the military component of the peacekeeping mission in East Timor.

Strangely enough the Government's opposition to military support for East Timor once again coincided with its commitment to deploy troops to Iraq. Only two days after Howard announced the new deployment of 450 troops to Iraq's Al Muthanna province, our ambassador to the UN stated Canberra's position that "we don't think there's a need for a continuing military component".

Little more than six months or so after the withdrawal of the last of Australia's troops, problems erupted in the East Timorese military and police forces. The rest, as they say, is history.

The UN's peacekeeping force in East Timor (of which Australia was a central part) represented a major stabilizing force in East Timorese politics - particularly during the early development of its democratic institutions. The permanent withdrawal of the UN force exposed too early the brittleness of East Timorese politics - brittleness now on stark display and with consequences for future stability.

East Timor and the Solomons are casualties of a Government whose foreign policy priorities for many years now have been driven by John Howard's $2 billion investment in his so far failed Iraq enterprise.

The result: a growing arc of instability that now presents financial and foreign policy costs for Australia in the years to come."

Source: The Australian (UNOTIL Daily Media Review, Public Information Office)

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) UNOTIL continues to urge progress on peace and unity

"3 June 2006 Dili—As efforts to restore order are stepped up, UNOTIL continues to support the leaders to work towards finding a political solution and encourage the people of Timor-Leste to seek out peace and unity for the sake of all citizens.

“We are in constant dialogue with the Timorese leadership,” Special Representative of the Secretary-General Sukehiro Hasegawa stated. “The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Ian Martin is now on the ground to make a political assessment,” he added. Additionally, UN Security as well as UN military and police advisers continue to closely monitor the situation and liaise with international forces.

Commenting on the recent decision made in the Council of State, in which it was agreed that the President, in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, would assume principal responsibility of the nation’s security and defense, SRSG Hasegawa told ABC television, “ The announcement made by the Council of State yesterday was a good one. It’s a step forward.”

The SRSG said one of the fundamental elements necessary for a sustainable restoration to peace and security is the need for retraining and reuniting of security forces, and he expressed a confident outlook if this can be accomplished “We can move towards the presidential and the parliamentary elections next year and that is key. We are going to bring this country back together,” the SRSG commented.

Hasegawa said that the underlying causes of conflict he found were the institutional incapability to address grievances of the members of the Timorese Armed Forces; poverty and unemployment, particularly among the youths; and the mindset of certain issue groups that have a propensity to resort to violence in settling disputes. He pointed out that the challenge and opportunity posed for the UN and the international community to help the Timorese is to overcome the conflict trap by linking the promotion of human rights with guarding the imperatives of inclusive democracy.

“We now have the opportunity to engage in peace- and nation-building with innovative ideas. We need to recognize that the problem is never how to get new innovative thoughts into our minds, but how to get the old ones out when facing a new situation, “ the SRSG said."

For additional information, please contact: Donna Cusumano, Chief, Public Information Office, UNOTIL; +670 723 0749

Source: UNOTIL Public Information Office

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) Population displacement update

“United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Date: 02 Jun 2006

Timor-Leste: Population Displacement OCHA Situation Report No. 4

Ref: OCHA/GVA - 2006/0096

OCHA Situation Report No. 4
Timor-Leste - Population Displacement

This report is based on information received from the United Nations Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), the OCHA Regional Office in Bangkok, and the Dili offices of IOM, Oxfam, World Vision International and Care International.

SITUATION

1. The security situation in Dili is essentially unchanged over the last 24 hours with increasing calm accompanied by a continuation of sporadic looting, arson and gang clashes. On 30 May President Gusmao assumed emergency powers and direct control of the security forces and on 1 June the Ministers of Interior and Defence resigned. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on 2 June that Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta had been appointed as the new Minster of Defence while maintaining his position as Foreign Minister. 1,800 Australian forces have been deployed in Dili since 25 May. More than 330 Malaysian troops are in place and 120 Portuguese police are expected in Dili on Saturday 3 June. The number of New Zealand forces deployed is expected to reach 160 by the end of this week.

2. According to data drawn from inter-agency assessments conducted between 29 May and 1 June, and compiled by IOM, 71,300 IDPs are living at 65 locations in Dili. The five largest sites in Dili are Cannossiana Sisters (Balide) with 13,060; Dom Bosco (Comoro) with 13,000; Has Laran Canossa School with 6,000; Obrigado Barraks (UN Compound) with 4,500; and Fatumeta Seminario Maior with 4,064. 40% of sites had received some type of support; 26% of sites had access to medical facilities nearby or within the camp; 49% of site reported availability of food; and 42% reported sufficient quantities of drinking water. Health problems including diarrhoea, fever/malaria, cough and respiratory infections were reported at 26% of the sites. Water quality at 72 % of sites was assessed to be good.

3. UNOTIL estimates an additional 60 to 70 camps housing between 35,000 and 40,000 people are scattered throughout the country, in particular in the districts of Liquiça, Ermera, Aileu, Oecussi, Baucau, as well as in the sub-district of Atauro. Humanitarian agencies have been unable to travel more than 60 km. from Dili for the past several days due to fluctuations in the security situation.

4. Ensuring security around and within IDP locations is of concern to humanitarian agencies. While delivery of food, water and non-food items has been ongoing over the last few days, access by the humanitarian agencies to IDP locations is regularly interrupted due to the fluid security situation. Humanitarian agencies have also had difficulty in ensuring effective security arrangements at warehouses and distribution sites.

5. As a result of looting, widespread shortages of food, commodities and fuel are reported in Dili.

6. The Humanitarian Action Group, including UN agencies and national and international NGOs, continues to meet daily under the chairmanship of he Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare and Reintegration.

ASSISTANCE REQUIRED

7. Priority areas determined by the Humanitarian Action Group as a result of ongoing assessments are: protection, food, water and sanitation, health and shelter. UN agencies are compiling a flash appeal which is expected to be launched next week.

8. The Dili hospital reports fuel shortages.

NATIONAL RESPONSE

9. The Timorese Government is undertaking daily distribution of rice and water to IDPs.

10. To ameliorate living conditions, the Government, with the support of UNHCR and others, is planning to establish planned camps where IDPS can live in better condition and receive more timely assistance, until they are able to return home when security improves.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

11. Mr. Fin Reske-Nielsen, has been appointed as the new Resident Coordinator for Timor-Leste. He is expected to arrive in Dili next week.

12. WFP is providing comprehensive food packages to vulnerable families and IDPs drawing on a donation from the Chinese Government of 2,000 MT of rice. According to WFP's estimates, the food stocks currently available in Dili will last no longer than 3 weeks.

13. The Australian Defence flights arrived in Dili on 30 May with water, blankets, tents, plastic sheeting as well as medical and blood supplied for the Dili hospital. The Australian Government, through AusAid, has made available 3 million Australian dollars for the provision of assistance to the IDPs in Timor-Leste (1 million to be allocated to NGOs, 1 million to UN agencies, and 1 million for urgent relief items). In Darwin, AusAid has also pre-positioned stockpiles of shelter and non-food items including 10 and 20 litre water containers, water purifying tablets, tarpaulins, tenst, mosquito netting, and blankets. These items are scheduled to be transported to Dili in the coming days.

14. UNICEF is focusing its activities on water and sanitation, health and nutrition and child protection. UNICEF has supported the Timor-Leste Red Cross in the distribution of jerry cans, latrine plates, bottled water and detergent. They have also initiated the procurement of family water kits, sanitation supplies, emergency measles vaccines, oral dehydration salts, therapeutic milk and emergency educational materials. The working group on child protection has also resumed its activities and developed a plan to address child protection concerns.

15. UNHCR will deploy a 9-person emergency response team in the coming days to support the provision of shelter, camp management and protection activities. An airlift of tents, plastic sheeting, and non-food items for up to 30,000 will also be deployed from existing stocks. UNHCR also plans to deploy three large portable warehouses and 1,400 stoves to Dili.

16. An OCHA civil-military coordination officer arrived in Dili on 1 June and additional OCHA Officer to support humanitarian coordination will arrive on 4 June.

17. WHO has mobilized emergency health kits and stands ready to deploy them to Dili upon request of the UN Country Team.

18. IOM has assisted in the delivery of over 60,000 kgs of rice and 60,000 litres of drinking water to 15 IDP sites.

19. UNFPA is mobilizing safe –birth and hygiene kits.

20. ICRC had deployed 7 additional staff to support the work of the local Red Cross society. They have been distributing clean water to IDPs camps since 29 May.

21. Plan International has mobilized 60-80 tonnes of oil and beans from Darwin.

22. OCHA is in close contact with the Office of the SRSG UNOTIL and UN Country Team in Dili and will revert with further information as it becomes available. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at <http://www.reliefweb.int>

Tel.: +41-22-917 12 34
Fax: +41-22-917 0023
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officer:

Ms. Megan Gilgan (in GVA) direct Tel. +41-22-917 1558
Mr. Wojtek Wilk (in NY) direct Tel. +1-917-367-9748

Press contact:

(in GVA) Ms. Elizabeth. Byrs direct Tel. +41-22-917 2653
(in N.Y.) Ms. Stephanie Bunker direct Tel. + 1-917 367”

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

(East Timor Problems) Timor's women and children have their say

"Occasional UN advisor and Dili resident Robert Johnson writes:

Each morning over the past week I have watched large groups of women and children walk past my house, carrying bed mats or small plastic bags of clothes, either heading home from a safer bed or towards a church compound for food after another night of fear.

To many of the Timorese people holed up in their homes or in the increasing number of camps across Dili, frustration at the failure of the political leadership to act is mounting. But the consequences of the continuing political impasse are not being felt by the leadership, most of whom seem immune or blind to the crisis around them. How else to describe the ability to continually talk while so many thousands of people are being killed or injured or displaced – their homes burnt to the ground or attacked by mobs of (mainly young) men?

The victims of all this are primarily women and children – East Timor is a very young country, with the highest fertility rate in the world (more than seven births per woman) and more than 50% of people aged under 18 years. Under incredibly difficult circumstances, the women have to continue to care for their families, do the cooking and manage appalling sanitation conditions. Two days ago I visited a woman who was the third to give birth in her camp; her baby is now four days old. With a diet of basically rice and water, she's trying her best to breastfeed. Yesterday when I saw her, she was the focus of a BBC film crew.

Today, the women and children have responded to the actions of the men in power and the men on the streets. At 9 o'clock this morning, some 150 Timorese women and children started gathering outside the prime minister's office to start a three-day peace rally. The women were dressed predominantly in white (to symbolise peace) or black (to mark their grieving), while the children sang and chanted slogans.

The peace rally has been organised by a group of non-governmental organisations, led by the Peace and Democracy Foundation (established by Dr Ramos Horta from his Nobel Peace Prize funds), along with Alola Foundation, Fokupers, Rede Feto (Timorese women's NGOs), and some nuns from the Catholic Diocese of Dili. Australian troops are providing security.

The people involved in this "Peace Rally of Women and Children of Timor-Leste" are saying they will not cooperate with leaders who lack the capacity to govern, and will actively advocate a vote against political candidates who do not listen to them. The rally is expected to demand that an international independent commission investigate the recent violence, including the "bad attitude" of some leaders, and that the government rebuild the houses that have been destroyed.

The children are calling for an end to the sound of weapons and an end to blood being spilled "in our homes, in our neighbourhood, on the streets". And to be able to go back to school."

Source: Crikey (www.crikey.com.au)

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)

R&R in Tropical North Queensland, Australia

The President of East Timor yesterday declared a State of Crisis (read: Emergency) for 30 days. As such, AVIs insurers will not send us back until the State of Crisis is lifted. Thus we were faced with the dilemma of whether to return to a wintry Melbourne or wait things out here in Tropical North Queensland. We've elected to do the latter. In early July, we will have a better picture of whether it will be feasible for one or both of us to return to Dili.

As you might expect, we're both shattered. We're very much in need of some R&R and have decided to bring forward our four weeks annual leave by a couple of weeks. (We were due to leave for a two week break in Bali this month followed by two weeks exploring East Timor.) So for the remainder of June we will travel to Magnetic and Hichenbrook Islands, Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands and the World Heritage Area of the Daintree Rain Forest. We've never visited this part of Australia before so we thought we might as well take advantage of the fact that our evacuation flight landed in Townsville.

I have continued to update the blog about the situation in Timor, mostly with news from reputable sources. However, it is doubtful that I will be able to keep this up while travelling.

Here's to a speedy and peaceful resolution in Timor.

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)