National Media Report hasai husi UNMIT Public Information Service

Maluk sira tuir UNMIT nia Media Daily Review haktuir hatenten katak Presidente da Republica Xanana Gusmao hato ona ba Parlamento Nacional Progra Estado nian nebe nia propoe katak Eleicoes Presidenciais sei halao iha fulan Marco nia laran enquanto Eleicoes Gerais sei halao iha fulan Abril nia laran. Presidente nia proposta nee importante teb-tebes tanba too ors nee ema especula deit eleicoes presidenciais ho legislativas nee bainhira los. Iha mos rumores katak eleicoes bele adia fali.

Maluk sira bele le informacao nee tuir mai nee iha lian Engles.





Friday, 20 October 2006


These Items Do Not Reflect the Position or Views of the United Nations.
UNMIT Public Information Office

National Media Reports

COI Report
One of the dailies, STL, published the Secretary General’s message to the people of Timor-Leste following the release of the report. Furthermore, today’s newspapers focus on reactions to the COI report. Aderito de Jesus, human rights advocate, is of the opinion that leaders of the nation should stop the political process and prioritise the judicial process so as not to lose focus and so that the people will regain their trust in the judicial system and the rule of law. De Jesus agrees with the recommendations of the report that a special panel must be established to process the cases, due to the weakness of the country’s court. Ivo Valente, Deputy Prosecutor General, said the Public Ministry has already established an investigation team composed of two international prosecutors who would carefully read the report, adding that the cases would be recommended to the court following the gathering of sufficient evidence. Coordinator of ‘Fretilin Mudança’, Vitor da Costa said an extraordinary congress is urgently needed to change leadership for 2007, since the names of the current Secretary General and President of Fretilin have been stained due to their involvement in the crisis.

Timor Post today published some of the recommendations and this is the second day that STL published the full summary of the report in Tetum language.

Prime Minister Ramos-Horta reportedly said the government and the United Nations are ready to provide assistance with provision of Prosecutors and judges to the court to process those responsible for the crisis. Ramos-Horta said the decision would be up to the court whether to establish a new court, adding that the government and the UN is willing to assist the court with 2-3 prosecutors and judges in order to help gain the trust of the people. He said that the government and the leaders would not interfere in the course of the process. The Prime Minister also said according to his own evaluation of the recommendations of the COI, the commander of F-FDTL, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak is not criminally accountable for the crisis.

The International Forces have increased checkpoints and the checking of vehicles following the release of the COI report. According to a motorist, the forces are doing a good job and should continue checking vehicles for the people to feel safe.

President Gusmão Presents State Program

President Gusmão has presented the state agenda for 2007 with the Presidential elections scheduled for March and general elections for April 2007. The President asks the media to work together and to contribute to pacify the situation with constructive information and asked them to be cautious with sensitive information in relation to the current environment hence asking the population for peace to implement the program. Another program of the State is the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Nobel Laureates on December 10 with a mass in Taci Tolu with the participants of Nobel Laureates from other nations at the invitation of the State. President Gusmão further said he has launched a commission to gather all the traditional elders (lia nain) of the 13 sacred houses to follow with the tradition, which he said has not been observed following the end of the invasion. He said he has been criticized for this but would like to follow the ancestral traditions. It is believed that the recent crisis is partly the result of not following in the tradition of putting back the swords to rest, which were taken and used as protection during the war. There would be cultural events and another part of the program will start on 12 November and conclude on 10 December with the scheduled mass. (TP)

International Media Reports

Timor's top peacekeeper meets rebel in secret
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin
October 20, 2006
MICK Slater, the commander of Australia's peacekeeping force in Dili, has revealed that he could not arrest East Timor's most wanted fugitive, Alfredo Reinado, during a secret meeting in the mountains last week because he was outnumbered. "Me unarmed. Him surrounded by 11 heavily armed thugs. Call me a coward … it wasn't a smart thing to do," Brigadier Slater said yesterday. He confirmed that he and two East Timorese, one of them a Government official, had met the Australian-trained Major Reinado after agreeing to go unarmed to a rendezvous point in the country's south. He said that Major Reinado, who led a mass escape from Dili's main jail in August, "proved yet again he is an intelligent man who is doing some stupid and foolish things". "He claims that he is ready to come back to face justice and clear his name, but he insists he won't do that until everyone else he believes should face justice has done so," Brigadier Slater said. A United Nations inquiry released this week in Dili blamed Major Reinado for firing the first shots in a bloody confrontation that plunged East Timor into crisis in May. It recommended that he and at least nine of his men face prosecution over a gun battle in which five people died. Brigadier Slater said that support for Major Reinado had withered since his escape. "Eventually he will come in," he said. "It will be either of his own free will or he will be forced in … it would be far better if he comes in voluntarily." Major Reinado has criticised the credibility of the UN inquiry's findings, saying that one of his men, who was recommended for prosecution, was killed during the gun battle. Brigadier Slater, who commands almost 1000 Australian troops deployed in Dili, said fears that the inquiry's findings might spark new unrest had proven to be unfounded. "People are responsibly accepting the report and thinking through its implications," he said. The inquiry recommended that scores of police, soldiers and civilians be prosecuted over violence that erupted in Dili, forcing tens of thousands of people into squalid refugee camps. (The Age)


AUSTRALIA: Canberra supports UN report into Timor violence
Last Updated 19/10/2006 3:06:47 PM
Australia has welcomed the UN report into East Timor's violence, saying its findings and recommendations now need to be implemented.
Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell
Speakers: Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer; director of the United Nations centre for Australia and the South Pacific, Abdullah Mbamba

DOBELL: The UN Special Commission says the violence in East Timor in April and May was more than a series of criminal acts. The breakdown is described as the expression of deep-rooted problems in the institutions of a fragile state with a weak rule of law. The director of the United Nations Centre for Australia and South Pacific, Abdullah Mbamba.
MBAMBA: I think the report says that the problem actually lies in the foundation itself, being a very young democracy and institutions are not in place. And I think this is what the Secretary General was referring to when he said that we need to build institutions, proper institutions, so that East Timorese can survive in today's world, and this is what we're trying to do.

DOBELL: The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says the report covers a sensitive, even inflammatory set of issues and has been well handled by East Timor. Mr Downer has endorsed the report, saying it needs to be implemented while also keeping East Timor quiet and stable.
DOWNER: It is the Australian government's view that this is a credible report, it sets out facts surrounding the destructive events of April and May of this year, and it clarifies the issue of responsibilities and it also recommend certain actions to be taken.

DOBELL: Key amongst that recommended action is the finding that Timor's then Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, failed to use his authority to denounce the transfer of security force weapons to civilians in the face of credible information that the transfer was happening, and involved members of his government. The UN's Mr. Mbamba.
MBAMBA: I think the substance is that it has cleared the former Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri of being personally involved in the running of the weapons or amassing weapons. But I believe the report also says that there are some suspicions that he knew that weapons are being smuggled and transported and given to the civilians by the police. And therefore, the commission had recommended that he should be farther investigated to see if there's any criminal responsibility on this particular issue.

DOBELL: Commentators emphasise the need for calm in East Timor, to see that there's no fresh division or violence. Mr. Mbamba says it was a sensitive issue for the UN, calling for further legal inquiries into the actions of East Timor's Prime Minister.
MBAMBA: Well, this is a concern because Mr. Alkatiri still has a lot of followers in the country, and the political parties, and there's so much division in the country on these particular issues. And therefore, it's a very delicate situation to name Mr. Alkatiri, but at the same time, I think the law has to take its course.

DOBELL: The UN report calls for a considerable strengthening of East Timor's judicial system, so that justice can be seen to be done. The special commission says any culture of impunity would threaten the foundations of the Timor state. Alexander Downer says Australia will do its part by helping to build and train East Timor's judicial system and direct resources to the Office of the Prosecutor General. DOWNER: I know from the discussions we had last week with Prime Minister, Ramos Horta and also from the statements that have been made in East Timor yesterday that the East Timorese leadership by taking a responsible approach to the commission's findings. I have no doubt that they're, in some respects, difficult findings, but they are doing that and I would encourage these Timorese to follow their normal legal processes in dealing with the conclusions of the report, which I'm sure they will do. (ABC Radio)


NATIONAL NEWS SOURCES:
Timor Post (TP)
Radio Timor-Leste (RTL)
Suara Timor Lorosae (STL)
Diario Tempo (DT)
Diario Nacional
Seminario
Lia Foun (LF)
Televisaun Timor-Leste [TVTL]

These Items Do Not Reflect the Position or Views of the United Nations.
UNMIT Public Information Office - END –