News Monitoring
24th February, 2006

Members of F-FDTL Dismissed

F-FDTL Commander Taur Matan Ruak yesterday signified his dismissal of the 404 F-FDTL personnel who do not want to return to their barracks via the words "Thank you". When he received the soldiers at his office on 8
February, President Xanana requested that they return to their barracks to solve the problem.

However, this request, to date, has not been honoured. "For this reason, all I have to say to them is thank you", said Ruak when speaking to the press at Metinaro on Tuesday. He said that the next step would be to present them with an acknowledgement of the service that they have provided in the F-FDTL, to the community and to the nation, however brief.

According to policy, the soldiers must remain at the Military Training Centre at Metinaro in order to participate in an investigation by the F-FDTL Investigating Team formed by President Xanana. Coordinator of the protest action, Gastao Salsinha, said that originally the soldiers had thought that once they had undergone investigation procedures, they would return as normal within the F-FDTL institution.

However, he said that this had not been the case, with many protest participants continuing to feel threatened at the Metinaro Academy. " We feel like prisoners at Metinaro, and we also don't feel that Metinaro is the appropriate place to be conducting an investigation", stated Salsinha. He affirmed that for these reasons the soldiers have decided to remain in Dili. (Suara Timor Lorosae)

Law Has No Basis: Lasama
Democratic Party President Fernando Lasama de Araujo has said that the defamation law that will be used as the basis for his prosecution no longer has a legal basis, as it is an UNTAET law. For this reason, he said that
there is no need to take him to court. He explained that the law violates principles of human rights and democracy, and that he will continue to defend his position against the law. (Suara Timor Lorosae)

CTF visit victims in Liquisa district RTTL reported that the CTF group went to District Liquica to listen directly to the voices of victims and witnesses of the threats and killings by militia Besi Mera Putih in April 1999. In the meeting Benjamin Mangkuedilaga, Chief of CTF from Indonesia, said that now that CTF groups have listened to the victims and witnesses, it is important for both countries to work on truth and reconciliation.

END