20/02/2007: Also Truth and Friendship Commission starts hearings, INDONESIA-EAST TIMOR: TRUTH COMMISSION ON 1999 MASSACRE OPENS.

AUSTRALIA was overzealous and "gung-ho" towards East Timor, the former Indonesian foreign minister, Ali Alatas, has said at an inquiry aimed at healing the wounds left by the bloody aftermath of Timorese independence.

Mr Alatas told the Commission of Truth and Friendship that he did not blame the Prime Minister, John Howard, for the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999. However, he said that a letter from Mr Howard to the then Indonesian president, B.J. Habibie, provoked Indonesia's about-face in holding the referendum.

The letter, which outlined Australia's support for an independence vote, was not the "bone of contention", Mr Alatas said yesterday. "It was rather the spirit of overzealousness of Australia  suddenly sending troops and the largest contingent. Sometimes it's a gung-ho attitude."

Mr Alatas, who is now a foreign policy adviser to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was the commission's first witness. He said he was not aware of evidence the Indonesian military was complicit in the slaughter of East Timorese carried out by local militia.

However, witnesses later gave graphic accounts of military members ordering the murder of Timorese civilians. About 1400 people were killed before and after the independence vote.

The commission was established by Dr Yudhoyono and his Timorese counterpart, Xanana Gusmao, in the hope their nations could move on from the bloody events. Amnesty is being granted to perpetrators if they testify truthfully.

The commission was formed after a United Nations report called for war crimes charges against military and militia leaders. Trials in Indonesia, which have convicted only one militia leader, have been widely criticised.

Mr Gusmao and Dr Habibie are expected to give  evidence before the commission. The testimony of  Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto, is also widely anticipated.

The brief of the commission, which comprises five members each from Indonesia and East Timor, is to promote reconciliation and recommend amnesties and compensation.

It is unclear if it may recommend prosecutions of  witnesses judged to have been untruthful.

Emilio Bareto testified how he narrowly escaped death during a massacre of more than 50 civilians seeking refuge in a church on the outskirts of the town of Liquica in April 1999.

Mr Bareto said he saw an Indonesian officer, a member of his family, order local militia to fire on about 2000 people sheltering in the compound. "He was not armed, he was in civilian clothes," Mr Bareto said.

Before being slashed across his head with a machete, Mr Bareto said he saw several people stabbed to death.

Police had earlier secured the roads to the compound to allow pro-Indonesian militia members through, Mr Bareto said.
The commission plans to continue public hearings until June.

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INDONESIA - TIMOR
Truth and Friendship Commission starts hearings
02/19/2007
The commission will investigate atrocities that took place just before East Timor became independent from Indonesia but it will not have the power to prosecute perpetrators. The UN and the local Catholic Church are among the voices of  dissent: justice will not be done in this way.

Bali (AsiaNews) - Public hearings of a controversial bilateral Truth and Friendship Commission are set to start today in Bali, Indonesia. The commission was set up to investigate atrocities in the period leading to East Timor's independence from Indonesia. Between 1999 and 2002, local militias backed by the Indonesian army killed around 1,500 Timorese and displaced 250,000.

The commission launched by Jakarta and Dili in March 2005 includes 10 members from both countries, including lawyers, human rights activists, academics and religious leaders.

Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas, will be the first witness to testify before the commission and in the days to come, another six witnesses will appear, including survivors of violence perpetrated at the time and former members of armed groups. In the first hearings, however, important protagonists of that historic time will not be present, like East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, former Indonesian president BJ Habibie and the then bishop of Dili Mgr Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. The three men, who should have appeared as witnesses, pleaded technical or health reasons to justify their absence while expressing the desire to "participate in future hearings".

The Truth and Friendship Commission is considered by many to be a farce to keep the international community happy while at the same time not allowing human rights matters to wreck the "good relations" between Dili and Jakarta. The commission does not have the power to legally prosecute those found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity but can offer them amnesty. In the past, the Catholic bishop of Dili, Mgr Alberto Ricardo da Silva, had warned that the commission did not enjoy popular consensus. He reiterated the need to set up special and independent courts to try past crimes, as advised by the United Nations. Human rights organizations say the work of the commission will only serve to perpetuate a culture of impunity for serious abuses that accompanied East Timor's acquisition of independence.
AsiaNews.it
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8522&size=A #

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INDONESIA-EAST TIMOR: TRUTH COMMISSION ON 1999 MASSACRE OPENS Feb-19-07 12:01
Dempasar 19 Feb (AKI) - The former Indonesian  foreign minister Ali Alatas was the first witness to appear in front of the Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), which convened on the Indonesian island of Bali on Monday. The CTF began operations in August 2005 and aims to establish the truth behind the massacre that occured after East Timor voted for independence on 30 August 1999. About 1,300 people were killed as a result of attacks carried out by civilian militias supported by Indonesian soldiers. The violence came to an end only after a contingent of international troops was deployed by the United Nations.

Refering to background to events that preceeded the massacre, Alatas spoke of his disappointment and opposition to the decision made by the then Indonesian president, BJ Habibie, to concede to East Timor the choice between independence and autonomy via a referendum, even though talks were in progress with Portugal (East Timor's former colonial power) and the United Nations to resolve the problem on the basis on an autonomy.

"The talks on autonomy should have continued; it needed another year or perhaps five years, but they had reached an agreement. I told that to the president. But the moment in which a second option (the referendum) entered the scene, the talks did not have any more sense," said Alatas, adding that he was afraid that the vote would result in clashes.

"I thought that if it was pro-independence instead of pro-autonomy, they would not have accepted the decision (of the referendum) and the struggle would continue," he added.

Ahead of the vote, Indonesia, through the then head of the armed forces, General Wiranto, refused the UN offer to supply troops to guarantee security. Alatas revealed that the situation only changed when Wiranto lead a diplomatic delegation to the East Timorese capital Dili, a few days after the vote.

"Wiranto would have been aware himself of the chaos and after he returned to Jakarta, he changed his position and asked the president to accept the UN offer to send troops," he said.

International organisations for the defence of human rights have accused Wiranto of having organised, or at least condoned the violence in Dili.

Alatas' deposition will be followed by another six people on Monday and Tuesday. Among those will be victims of the violence, a former pro-Jakarta militant and the former Indonesian ambassador to Portugal.

In total, the commission has another five sessions which have to be completed by June.

More than 70 people are expected to testify, including the former rebel leader and current president of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao, the bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, active in Dili during the struggle for independence and Wiranto. Former president BJ Habibie declined to participate for medical reasons.

The result of the CTF will not lead to new proceedings. The commission is rather to suggest that the respective governments give the amnesty to all those who collaborate with these reconciliation efforts.

According to non-governmental organisations, this will reinforce a culture of impunity that has characterised the search for justice in the past few years.

East Timor, also known today as Timor Leste, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975. In the course of 24 years of occupation, Jakarta used strong measures in an attempt to quell the resilient pro-independence movement.

According to some sources, there were almost 100,000 victims of the conflict. Only one person, a civilian, is currently serving a jail sentence for the crimes committed.

East Timor declared independence in 2002, three  year after the referendum that sanctioned the end of Jakarta's occupation and brought in a UN transition government.

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East Timor truth commission opens in Indonesia
Monday 19 February 2007 10:24

A special commission established to gather the facts surrounding Indonesia's military rampage in East Timor after it voted for independence in 1999 opened Monday on the resort island of Bali. Former Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and East Timorese victims of the violence that followed the occupied territory's decision to breakaway from Indonesia were the first to appear.

The Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) aims to establish the truth behind the violence and clarify the history of the two countries.

Indonesia invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, in 1975, beginning a brutal 24-year rule in which as many as 200,000 people died from military atrocities and during a low-scale guerrilla war with Timorese resistance fighters.

The commission has been criticised by human rights groups because it lacks the ability to prosecute senior members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) for ordering military-backed militias to massacre Timorese civilians and to raze entire villages.

Several senior Indonesian army and police generals have been acquitted of any involvement in the violence and the Jakarta government has refused to hand over any suspects to a UN-run tribunal in East Timor.

Alatas told reporters after the hearing that he did not see any involvement of Indonesian military troops in violence before or after the UN-run ballot.

"The Indonesian Armed Forces . acted accordingly with all the security arrangement signed with the United Nations," Alatas told reporters, adding that the Indonesian military took efforts to stop the violence after Jakarta invited UN-endorsed peacekeepers into the territory.

General Wiranto, who was the chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces at that time, "played a major role" in helping to crush the mass, Alatas said.

Wiranto, a leading suspect who has been indicted for war crimes by UN prosecutors in East Timor, is expected to appear before the commission in March.

The post-ballot violence only halted after an Australian-led peacekeeping contingent came into East Timor, which was later under UN control until gaining statehood in May 2002.

The CTF's 10 members include legal and human rights experts, academics and religious leaders from both Indonesia and East Timor. It will submit its findings to both governments, and can recommend amnesties for perpetrators if they are found to be "fully cooperative" with the commission. East Timor voters overwhelmingly chose independence from Indonesia instead of special autonomy, triggering a rampage by Indonesian soldiers and pro-Jakarta militiamen across the half-island territory.

The United Nations claims that more than 1,000 East Timorese were killed in the tragic incident, while most of the territory's infrastructure was destroyed in the mayhem.

Monday's hearing was the first of five planned for the next few months to investigate the actions of the Indonesian military as they withdrew from the territory, as well as those of local militia groups.

But human rights groups say the hearings will simply perpetuate a culture of impunity for the serious crimes committed during East Timor's struggle for independence, since it was unlikely any senior military officers would be recommended for prosecution. dpa gs sh jc pw.

20/02/2007: Indonesian ordered East Timor atrocity: survivor

A PLAIN-CLOTHES Indonesian soldier gave the order to attack an East Timor churchyard where thousands of civilians were sheltering in 1999, resulting in more than two dozen deaths, a survivor of the atrocity claimed yesterday.

Village clerk Emilio Bareto's evidence at a commission into relations between the two countries contradicted that of former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas, who denied there had been any Indonesian military provocation in East Timor's bloody road to independence.

Mr Bareto told the Truth and Friendship Commission's first day of hearings that the soldier urged armed members of the Red and White Iron militia to attack the terrified residents of Liquica, west of the capital Dili, after they refused to give up pro-independence leaders believed to be hiding in their midst.

The refugees had gathered in the churchyard as clashes escalated between groups supporting integration with Indonesia, and those supporting East Timorese independence, in the days leading up to April 6, 1999, when the massacre occurred. The refugees mistakenly believed all sides would respect the neutrality of the church grounds.

Mr Bareto told the hearing in Bali he was not aware of there being any political leaders from the CNRT, or National Council of East Timorese Resistance, among the more than 2000 people who were huddled in the compound and the pastor's house.

The Red and White Iron militia was led by Eurico Gueterres, now in jail for his part in the violence that split East Timor in the period leading up to and immediately after its August 30, 1999, independence referendum.

The commission opened with Mr Alatas, who was adamant that despite comprehensive evidence to the contrary, Jakarta military elements were not involved in the campaign of orchestrated violence that accompanied Indonesia's withdrawal from its former province.

Mr Alatas said the police, not the armed forces, were solely responsible for law and order in East Timor up until and immediately after the 1999 vote, and so it was not possible the latter were involved in atrocities.

Asked after the hearing whether, as foreign minister, he should have known of reports his country's military was involved in arming and supporting pro-integrationist militias, Mr Alatas retorted: "Does your Foreign Minister (Alexander Downer) know everything that is going on around him?"

However, former sub-commander of the Dili-based Aitarak (Thorn) militia, Mateus Carvalho, was adamant in his evidence late yesterday that his pro-integrationist group was armed by the Indonesian military (ABRI, as it was then known).

"For me, as a former ABRI member, it was very easy to get weapons from them," said Mr Carvalho, who also served as village chief in Hera, west of Dili.

"Our weapons came from the district military commander."

Mr Alatas said it had been impossible to anticipate the result of the sudden shift in Indonesian policy that led to the 1999 vote. This change came about when former president JB Habibie declared that East Timor should be offered independence by way of a referendum, rather than the "special autonomy" planned in negotiations with Dili's former colonial ruler, Portugal.

Mr Habibie, known for his autocratic decisions, was reacting to a letter from John Howard in late 1998 proposing a partial "trial independence" for East Timor. Mr Alatas said the Prime Minister's letter was not "in itself" the cause of the switch, but Dr Habibie was angered by Mr Howard's "spirit of overzealousness to send troops".

Indonesia's brutal subduing of East Timor, after the 1975 invasion, was regarded by elements in the Indonesian military for more than 20 years as an excuse for unchecked violence.

19/02/2007: The World Today - East Timor truth commission begins

ELEANOR HALL: To Bali now, where a commission inquiring into the pre-independence brutality of East Timor is opening today.

But will the Truth and Friendship Commission, which has been set up jointly by the governments of East Timor and Indonesia, satisfy victims of the violence?

While former Indonesian ministers and generals, and militia leaders, are expected to appear in the sessions, the commission has no power to recommend prosecutions.

Our Indonesia Correspondent, Geoff Thompson, joins us now in Bali.

Geoff, how seriously is each country treating this commission?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, certainly the leadership of each country is taking it very seriously indeed.

It is largely an initiative of East Timor's President, Xanana Gusmao, and Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and it's a response to the many other attempts at inquiry and fact-finding and investigation that have been made into the events around 1999, and indeed for the whole 24 years of occupation.

They're taking it seriously. They're modelling it along the lines of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and like in that commission, there's no power to prosecute, but there is the power to recommend amnesties for human rights abusers.

ELEANOR HALL: Has there been criticism of that fact?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, I think not quite yet. This has been talked about since the end of 2004. It was formally, the commission formally began its work in mid 2005. It's been around for a while, and I think people have been basically waiting for it to get underway, which it is doing today until June.

But the awareness of it going on isn't particularly high. I mean, just standing outside the commission now, I was just inside there, there doesn't seem to be very many East Timorese here, for instance, and that's perhaps for good reason, because there will be sessions held in Dili, and in Jakarta as well.

But I don't think it's enough in people's consciousness.

But certainly the argument is that following the South African model, that just getting this stuff out there is important, and important towards both countries moving forward with what they call revealing the truth of the past and strengthening friendship.

ELEANOR HALL: And who will be able to speak to the commission? Will it be victims of the violence as well as the alleged perpetrators?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Yes, we'll be hearing from two victims, witnesses of militia violence in 1999, in an attack I think on Bishop Belo's house in Dili, another from an attack on a church in Liquisa in 1999.

We hear from two such witnesses today, here in Bali, and also we will be hearing from Indonesia's former foreign minister, the foreign minister at the time of the referendum, Ali Alatas, will also be giving his account and his explanation for why things went wrong back then.

ELEANOR HALL: And will this commission go on for some time? Does it have a timeframe when it has to report?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Yes it does. There are monthly sessions, each month from now until June, and after that they will produce a report, they will make findings, and the copy of those findings will be handed to the heads of state of both East Timor and Indonesia.

ELEANOR HALL: And, Geoff, is it limited to the 1999 violence, or will it be able to explore further back?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Ah, interestingly it does seem to be focused on the events around 1999. And I think, it's almost not really hidden that Indonesia and East Timor are not really, they don't really support
the strident criticism that we've seen in the 2,500 page UN-sponsored report that came out last year.

They're wanting to put the past behind them. They're trying to find a way of dealing with those abuses in a way which is palpable to both countries and move forward. That's certainly the way that they see it.

ELEANOR HALL: Geoff Thompson, thank you.

That's Geoff Thompson, our Indonesia Correspondent, in Bali, at the first hearing of that Truth and Friendship Commission. [This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1851330.htm ]

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PM - Howard instrumental in East Timor referendum run-up: ex-minister
19 February , 2007 

MARK COLVIN: Indonesia's former Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, has identified a letter from John Howard as the factor that pushed former President Habibie to support a referendum on East Timor's independence.

Mr Alatas was speaking at the opening session of a new Truth and Friendship Commission set up to establish the facts of the violence surrounding the independence vote in 1999.

Modelled on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the joint Indonesian and East Timorese body has no power to recommend prosecutions. But it can recommend amnesties for human rights abusers who cooperate with it.

Our Indonesia Correspondent, Geoff Thompson, is at the hearing and he filed this report from Bali.

(Sound of gunfire)

GEOFF THOMPSON: It is the violent events of 1999, seven-and-a-half years ago which are the focus of the long gestating Truth and Friendship Commission, which began hearing testimony in Bali today.

In theory at least, the Commission is modelled along the lines of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And like that body, this joint Indonesian and East Timorese effort can recommend amnesties for witnesses who are forthcoming and cooperative.

A United Nations-supported report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation released this time last year, was vast and damning of Indonesia.

It blamed Indonesia's security forces for the deaths of 183,000 civilians, mostly through hunger and illness, as well as most of the 18,600 killings and disappearances between 1975 and 1999.

Those findings were largely buried by Indonesia's President Yudhoyono, and his East Timorese counterpart, Xanana Gusmao.

But today's bipartisan Truth and Friendship Commission has their full support. As a way of addressing the past, and getting on with the future.

The first to appear was Indonesia's Foreign Minister in 1999, Ali Alatas. He detailed how he pushed for special autonomy for Indonesia and said that it was a letter from John Howard to the then President BJ Habibie, which set East Timor on its troubled path to independence.

Mr Alatas said the Australian Prime Minister's suggestion of an interim autonomy period angered Mr Habibie, who saw it as a waste of time and money, and likely to attract further international criticism of Indonesia.

Instead, Mr Habibie decided to let East Timor decide its future for itself. After his testimony, Ali Alatas sounded more diplomatic.

ALI ALATAS: It was a letter which indeed pushed things as far as President Habibie's views were. But it was quite a good, quite a normal letter.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Do you think the transition or the change or the options might have run smoother if that letter didn't arrive?

ALI ALATAS: No, it's not the letter you know which is the bone of contention between the two. It was rather the spirit of overzealousness of Australia suddenly to send troops and send the largest contingent of troops.

Sometimes it's a gung-ho attitude etcetera. It was not the letter, it was not the letter.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Ali Alatas also suggested there was bias and even perhaps even electoral dishonesty on the side of the United Nations in favour of independence, and said he could not explain why the vote 0for independence was so overwhelming when he believed most people in East Timor supported integration with Indonesia.

He also maintains that the police and not the military were responsible for securing the ballot in 1999, and says he had no evidence that the military were really pulling the strings.

ALI ALATAS: The Foreign Minister does not know everything the military does. Does your Foreign Minister know?

GEOFF THOMPSON: So, you didn't know that the military was unofficially and directly involved?

ALI ALATAS: I don't have any evidence about what you're saying.

GEOFF THOMPSON: But you know it's generally accepted that the military were behind the militia.

ALI ALATAS: I don't have any evidence about what you're saying.

GEOFF THOMPSON: But that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

ALI ALATAS: I don't know.

GEOFF THOMPSON: There were few East Timorese at the hearing today apart from the six commissioners taking part. Some of them were human rights activists back in 1999, and looking anxious and disconcerted by the proceedings, they declined requests for interviews.

The East Timorese co-chairperson, Dionisio Babo Soares, said he was aware that the Commission was open to criticism that it is rewriting history and emboldening a culture of impunity in Indonesia, which has seen so few human rights abusers brought to justice.

DIONSIO BABO SOARES: We will try very hard from our side at least to strengthen the relationship, but we also have to recognise, and I hope this should be recognised by everyone in East Timor and in Indonesia including the commissioners from Indonesia that truth must be revealed and must be established.

Without truth, there will not be any long lasting friendship.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Future sessions of the Commission are expecting to hear from Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto and the jailed militia leader, Enrico Gutierrez.
[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1851651.htm ]

18/02/2007: Timor commission to question ex-minister

An Indonesia-East Timor commission plans to question a former foreign minister over violence in the lead-up to the fledgling nation's vote for independence.

Commission co-chairman Benyamin Mangkudilaga says the truth commission will hear from seven people, including former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas, when its first hearings start on Monday and Tuesday.

"We invited [former Indonesian president BJ] Habibie and [East Timorese President] Xanana Gusmao but they could not make it to this hearing," Mr Mangkudilaga said.

Mr Habibie is undergoing medical treatment in Germany but has sent a supportive letter and documents to the commission, while Mr Gusmao is busy preparing for elections.

Mr Habibie was president at the time of the East Timor vote in 1999.

Both are expected to attend a future hearing.

The commission plans to invite 70 people to similar public hearings until June, including former Indonesian military chief Wiranto and former militia leader Eurico Guterres.

Guterres is the only person serving a jail term for his role in the trouble that surrounded the United Nations-sponsored ballot.

Mr Mangkudilaga says "the hearing is not aimed to look for who is guilty, it will not be a trial".

The commission was set up in August 2005 to probe past events to establish the truth about the violence during that turbulent time.

The body, comprised of five Indonesians and five East Timorese, is not a judicial body and will submit its findings to both governments.

Modelled along lines similar to South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it aims at reconciliation rather than recrimination.

Militia gangs, which the United Nations has said were recruited and directed by Indonesia's military, went on an arson and killing spree before and after the East Timorese voted for independence.

They killed about 1,400 people and laid waste to much of the infrastructure in the half-island, which was a Portuguese colony before Indonesia invaded it in 1975.

An Indonesian rights court set up to try military officers and officials for atrocities in East Timor was widely condemned as a sham for failing to jail any Indonesians.

Prison break

Meanwhile, police say six prisoners have escaped from a jail in the East Timor capital, Dili.

United Nations police spokeswoman Monica Rodrigues says the prisoners escaped from Becora prison but one of them was captured immediately.

"[We] are involved in the search for the other five, four of whom allegedly were in pre-trial detention concerning an arson case in Liquica," she said.

In January, three women were killed and their house was torched in
Liquica, about 40 kilometres west of the capital Dili.

Rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado escaped from the same prison along with more than 50 other inmates shortly after he was arrested in August last year on charges of possessing weapons.

Reinado led a group of 600 deserting troops and was accused of sparking civil unrest in May.

The unrest triggered clashes among rival security forces and gang wars on the streets that killed 21 people and prompted the deployment of an Australian-led international peacekeeping force.

17/02/2007: Up to 40 prisoners escape from jail in East Timor

DILI, East Timor: About 40 prisoners escaped from a jail in East Timor on Saturday, officials said, adding to security concerns in the tiny nation as it prepares for elections following political turmoil and violence last year.

Among those who broke out from the prison in the capital, Dili, were people arrested during the unrest in May that killed at least 30 people and led to the downfall of the prime minister, said prison guard Januario de Oliveira.

He said some of the other fugitives were arrested more recently for deadly gang fights that a U.N.-led peacekeeping force, deployed after last year's violence, has struggled to contain.

De Oliveira said police were hunting for around 40 escapees.

Minister of Justice Domingos Samento confirmed the breakout, but was not able to say how many inmates fled or how they escaped.

17/02/2007: Rights Activists Skeptical of House's Commitment

Activists have said that they are skeptical of the House of Representatives' commitment to bringing to justice retired and active Army generals implicated in human rights abuses.

The House is set to submit a report on three shooting incidents in 1998 and 1999 to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono next Tuesday.

House Commission III overseeing legal, legislation, human rights and security affairs has recommended that the 1998 Trisakti shootings that killed four students and the 1998 and 1999 Semanggi shootings that killed a total of 18 people go to trial.

Contacted separately, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usam Hamid, Charmain Mohamed of New York-based Human Rights Watch and executive director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Demos) Asmara Nababan said they were unconvinced about the move.

Usman said Kontras and the relatives of the victims feared that the House's recommendation was only a formality designed to avoid angering the public and that the House knew the eventual outcome would be that "justice is not upheld".

"Strong political support from the House and political parties is required to press the President to set up an ad hoc court with a presidential decree and to order the Attorney General's Office to thoroughly investigate the tragedies," he said.

Charmain agreed with Usman, saying the credibility of the House and the government was being tested.

"We fear the outcome of the trial, if the ad hoc court is established, that the three shootings will be similar to that of the  Tanjung Priok and Timor Leste cases," she said.

All military and police officers tried in the Tanjung Priok and Timor Leste cases were acquitted of all charges.

The National Commission on Human Rights found gross human rights crimes in its investigation into the three shootings, but the Attorney General's Office has declined to follow up the findings and has said that the rights body has no authority to investigate the incidents.

Asmara said he was skeptical because the way the incidents were being investigated contradicted the 2000 Ad Hoc Court Law.

"The law requires the Attorney General's Office to follow up the rights body's findings by collecting evidence and questioning those involved in the incidents.

"After the (Attorney General's Office) gets strong evidence and suspects, the House makes a political recommendation for the President to set up an ad hoc court. The ad hoc court will be idle if no suspects are declared in the cases," he said.

Former defense minister and Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, former Army Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subiakto and Defense Ministry secretary general Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin have been linked to the incidents. All three have denied their involvement in human rights abuses.

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The Jakarta Post
Saturday, February 17, 2007
New Criminal Code 'could limit free speech'

The draft revised Criminal Code currently being deliberated at the House of Representatives contains articles that limit freedom of expression and target the media, say observers and lawmakers.

Speaking at a workshop on the revised Criminal Code this week, legislator Soeripto, of the Prosperous Justice Party, said that other bills also currently being drafted also had the potential to restrict free speech.

"The draft laws will restrict freedom of expression, such as the bills on state secrets, intelligence and national security," he said, adding that it would make room for the state to oppress citizens and be contradictory to the spirit of reformasi.

"That means reformasi is yet to be achieved due to the lack of cultural changes on the part of state leaders and clear signs the government is not siding with the people."

Soeripto, who is a member of House Commission I, added that there needed to be constant public access to the government, without excluding transparency and accountability.

"Last but not least is the need for international pressure," he said.

The Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) says that at least 60 of the new articles added to the revised criminal code could be used to stifle people's freedom. These include articles on agitation directed at the government, airing misleading reports and news, defamation of the government and state institutions, defamation of individual reputations and divulging state secrets.

"A punishment of seven years' imprisonment awaits those who divulge state secrets, (but they don't say) what sort of secrets they are (talking about)," said LBH Pers director Hendrayana.

Hendrayana said the articles could inhibit people's freedom of expression and stifle the right to obtain information through the media.

The article on the defamation of "one's good reputation", for example, states that "a person who verbally damages the integrity or good reputation of another person by accusing him or her of a certain matter with the intention of publicizing it" can be convicted of libel, which carries a sentence of a year in prison or a fine of Rp 7.5 million (US$835).

The article on agitation aimed at the government mandates two years in prison or a Rp 30 million fine for anyone found guilty of insulting the government in a manner that incites public unrest.

"What can the people do if everything is forbidden?" asked Hendrayana.

Leo Batubara, a member of the press council, said bills suppressing the freedom of expression were a manifestation of struggle between good and evil in Indonesia and were part of the move to revise the press law.

"Calls to revise the press law are against the people's will but in favor of the corrupt, because a free press will hinder corruption," he said. Leo said that many law enforcement personnel preferred a Criminal Code that did not side with the people.

"A revised Criminal Code that does not side with the people will be economically beneficial for those who are corrupt," said Leo.

15/02/2007: East Timor seeks seven years jail for ex-MP

East Timor's prosecutors are seeking a seven-year jail sentence for a former interior minister for allegedly giving weapons to civilians led by an army rebel during a wave of violence last year.

Prosecutors say Rogerio Lobato distributed police uniforms, weapons and ammunition to a group of civilians led by renegade army major Alfredo Reinado without the knowledge of the government.

Prosecutor Bernades Fernandes told a court trying the case in the capital, Dili the defendant did this not for public interest but for his own.

Violence broke out in the impoverished tiny country in May after the government sacked 600 members of East Timor's 1,400-strong army.

The chaos led to the deployment of an Australian-led international peacekeeping force.

Prosecutors have dropped similar charges against former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri because of lack of evidence.

14/02/2007: Taur Does Not Believe Rogério Involved In Guns Distribution

F-FDTL Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak told the court Tuesday he does not believe  Rogerio  Lobato  distributed  guns to civilians to destabilize the nation.  During the testimony, the head of the national defence forces also said  he  learned  of Railos group through the international media, and the issue  of  guns  distribution was raised by Ramos-Horta in the former Prime Minister  resident. Following the meeting, he issued a document to the then Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, the Court of Appeal and the President of the Republic   asking   for  the  inspection  and  control  of  guns  for  both institutions,  F-FDTL  and  PNTL,  but  Paulo  de Fatima Martins, then PNTL Commander  General  said the weapons were no longer in the storehouse as it had been shifted to Aileu, Liquiça and elsewhere. Taur said he was in shock to learn the storage was empty. He apologized to Rogério adding that he was emotional  at the time as he had learned Rogério Lobato was taking over the post  as  Minister  of  Defence.    The Brigadier General continued that on April 29 they held a cabinet meeting in Alkatiri's residence to analyse the situation  because  PNTL command had lost control of the situation and were facing many difficulties and, it was thought, required F-FDTL assistance to deal  with  the  violence that erupted from the petitioners' demonstration. During  another meeting, Taur Matan Ruak said he suggested to PNTL to be in charge of the security the capital while F-FDTL took over responsibility of the  outskirts of Dili as the petitioners were moving out town. In relation to  the  attack  in  Tibar,  Taur  said  he  received  information from the battleground that the people attacking F- FDTL headquarters were civilians, petitioners  and  PNTL,  dressed  in military and PNTL uniforms. He said he learned  of  Railos  and  his  group  through the report of the Independent Commission  of  Inquiry  and  acknowledged  the  distribution of weapons to civilians  namely  the  former veterans to reinforce against the systematic attack  on F-FDTL by Major Alfredo, PNTL and civilian groups. Taur told the court the situation was aggravated on May 24 when Major Alfredo and a group of 10 URP from Aileu attacked F-FDTL in Fatuahi, his residence in Dare, the Military  Police Headquarters and F-FDTL Headquarters in Tasi-Tolu. He said the  attack  was  well  planned  and  organized, stating it was a political conspiracy  to  destabilize the nation through the armed forces in order to have  an  outside  intervention.   The Brigadier said during the Council of Defence  meeting  it  was  decided to request international intervention to avoid further problems.

Rogerio  Lobato's defence lawyer, Paulo Remedios, told the court that early Tuesday,  morning  13/2  a  black  car without plate numbers and with armed people threatened him at his residence. He asked the court to take measures but  was  told  by the President of the Judges, Ivo Valente, to present his complaint to the Public Ministry.

José  Edmundo  Caetano,  lawyer  for the Justice and Peace of Dili Diocese, said  the international authorities in the court needs to further learn the legislation of Timor-Leste rather than implement laws to confuse the people and  contribute  to  the deterioration of the situation which can lead them not  to  believe  in  the  laws  of  the  country  as  a  result  of  their irresponsibility. (Diario Nasional, Suara Timor Lorosa'e, Timor Post)

UNMIT Ask Longuinhos To Re-Establish Contact With Alfredo
Acting  SRSG,  Eric  Gim  Tan  and DSRSG Finn Reske-Nielsen met Timor-Leste Prosecutor  General  Longuinhos  Monteiro  Tuesday  and  requested  him  to re-establish  contact  with  Major  Alfredo  to  continue with the dialogue process.   According to Longuinhos, he is still undecided whether or not tocontact Alfredo due to the many arguments it instigate. Deputy SRSG Tan hasstressed  that  UNMIT wants strongly to continue with the dialogue in orderto pursue Alfredo to peacefully follow the justice procedures. (Timor Post)

08/02/2007: JRH testifies at Lobato trial

In a show of personal respect for the independence and integrity of Justice, Prime-Minister Dr. José Ramos-Horta appeared as a witness in the trial of former minister of Interior, Mr. Rogério Lobato.

Dr Ramos-Horta told the truth and nothing but the truth about the facts of his knowledge, without withholding any information as to favour or harm anyone's interest.

Therefore, it is deplorable the way some media outlets distorted the essence of the Prime Minister's testimony in court.

He told the court that arming civilians is always politically incorrect, whatever its motive might be. Dr Ramos-Horta wouldn't be drawn into the constitutionality or the legality of those actions for he considers the judgment upon those aspects are of the competence of the court itself.

In his testimony, the Prime Minister had at all times in mind consideration for the truth and accuracy, recalling that the acts took place in the context of the crisis situation on 28 April 2006, which intensified in the following days and weeks, after the demonstration of the so called "petitioners", simultaneous actions of hooliganism and destruction, and the inoperativeness of the National Police of Timor-Leste.

The Prime Minister did not say that arming civilians might be constitutionally or legally validated, under any circumstances, and on the contrary, in his evidence he told the court that no justification should validate the arming of civilians.

09/02/2007: Statement From the United Nations Development Program on International Prosecutors Employed by the Prosecutor-General

Questions have been raised in the public sphere about the status of the international prosecutors working for the Office of the Prosecutor-General of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.

From the UN side we would like to clarify that the prosecutors were recruited through the United Nations Development Programme under the Justice Project in agreement with the Office of the Prosecutor-General for the Republic of Timor Leste. Recruitment is based on the highest professional qualifications and personal integrity.

Once selected, the prosecutors are sworn in by the Prosecutor General after which they carry out their functions as independent prosecutors.

 

08/02/2007: PG Irresponsible In Issuing Letter: Soares

Aderito   de   Jesus   Soares,  human  rights  advocate,  said  Timor-Leste Prosecutor-General  lacks  serious  sensibility  to  the  public's right to understand  the  judicial  process. Soares stressed that before issuing the letter  to  Mari  Alkatiri  about  dropping charges against him, the Public Ministry  should  have  explained  to the public the efforts made and their conclusion   for   the  public  to  understand  the  process  and  why  the investigation  stopped.  He said the letter has created confusion among the public  and  is  not  helping  to resolve the crisis. Soares would like the Prosecutor-General  to  clarify the issuing of the notification letter.  He said  that  the Prosecutor-General was in Australia and aware of the letter while  his Deputy made public that he was not aware of it. The announcement of  the  letter  was made public by Mari Alkatiri. According to Soares, the work  of  the  Prosecutor  is  unprofessional  and  he  does  not  have the competence  to  be in charge of an institution as it is clear that both the Prosecutor-General and his deputy are not speaking the same language. (Timor Post)

MARK COLVIN: A witness at the inquest into the death of the newsman Brian Peters in East Timor in 1975 wept today, as he described seeing the five dead Australian journalists in a house in Balibo.

Another witness identified Brian Peters as the first of the five to be gunned down outside what was known as the "Chinese house".

Previous official reports have suggested the journalists were accidentally shot in the crossfire of war.

But the East Timorese witness told the court today that there were was no fighting at all between the Fretilin independence movement and the Indonesians in Balibo when the Australians were killed.

Emma Alberici reports

EMMA ALBERICI: Over the past four days, the coronial inquest into the death of Brian Peters has heard from four East Timorese men, all of whom have requested their names be suppressed for fear of reprisals back home

Their evidence has been explosive, and while much of it has been suggested before, it was never presented to an open, independent court

Previous inquiries into the deaths of the five Australian journalists in Balibo, East Timor in 1975, concluded that they had most probably been caught in the crossfire of war.

But none of the witnesses giving evidence in Sydney this week have corroborated that story. Each of them has detailed a shocking scene of white men surrendering and Indonesian men shooting at them en masse with AK-47 rifles.

It was more than 31 years ago but the emotion of seeing innocent bystanders killed was too much for the man referred to as Glebe Three, as he broke down in the witness box.

With his voice quivering, he reached for a tissue, wiped the tears away and told Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch, of the scene he witnessed as he walked into the Chinese house in Balibo and saw five dead white men in civilian clothes, three sitting down and two lying down. All in pools of blood, either shot or stabbed to death

He later recalled seeing smoke coming from the Chinese house and being told the bodies of the Australian men were being burned.

Fairfax Correspondent, Hamish McDonald co-wrote the book Death in Balibo, Lies in Canberra.

HAMISH MCDONALD: Even in the four days of the hearing so far, there's been a noticeable convergence of stories on some central elements of what happened.

One is that it looks like Brian Peters, the Channel Nine cameraman was the first to be shot in the square, as he tried to surrender to the Indonesian Special Forces.

The others may have fled into a Chinese house nearby and three seem to have been shot or knifed to death inside that house, and one other knifed to death as he tried to take shelter outside the house.

EMMA ALBERICI: If we take it they were shot or stabbed, why?

HAMISH MCDONALD: I think it's become clear that the Indonesians thought they had a green light from Gough Whitlam's government to go ahead with this covert attack, and that the Whitlam government would do all it can, would bend over backwards not to condemn it.

However, this was premised on there not being glaring evidence that the Indonesians were doing it. So, it was essentially to maintain the Indonesian cover story that these were local pro-Indonesian forces doing this, fighting back against Fretilin.

EMMA ALBERICI: But if it comes to light that the Australian Government of 1975 under Gough Whitlam knew the Indonesians were about to invade Balibo, and that indeed they also knew there were five Australian journalists in Balibo, there will be a lot of questions to answer I imagine.

HAMISH MCDONALD: Well, I think it's already been conclusively proven that the Whitlam Government was briefed by the Indonesians about what they were going to do and didn't protest beforehand except to say, keep it hidden.

The foreknowledge of the Australian journalists being in the way of that attack is the main issue to be really proven. That would be extremely embarrassing if it was shown that they were knowingly sacrificed for this operation.

MARK COLVIN: The journalist and author, Hamish McDonald, speaking to Emma Alberici. [This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1843576.htm ]

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PM - Balibo Five inquest hears from second key witness Wednesday, 7 February , 2007 
MARK COLVIN: A witness to the deaths of five Australian journalists in Timor in 1975 told a court today that he'd heard people yelling "there are whites, there are whites" before gunfire broke out.

The man, known only as Glebe Four, is the second witness to suggest in Sydney's He spoke to Emma Alberici.

BEN SAUL: Most coronial inquests deal with deaths which happened within New South Wales, or to New South Wales citizens elsewhere in Australia.

It's very significant to have a coronial inquest proceeding to investigate a death overseas.

EMMA ALBERICI: Why was it left to the families of the Balibo Five to bring this death to the intention of the coroner 30 or so years later? Why wasn't this investigated by an Australian coroner sooner than now?

BEN SAUL: Well, there has been a history of Australian governments not investigating this case for all sorts of political reasons. After East Timor became independent in 1999, the UN tried to investigate the killings of the Balibo journalists, but Indonesia refused to cooperate, and so no evidence could be taken from Indonesian citizens who were there at the time.

EMMA ALBERICI: Shouldn't more pressure have been brought to bear on the Indonesians to cooperate?

BEN SAUL: Well, there's a long political history between Australia and Indonesia on this issue.

Certainly members of the victims' families and other groups in the community have applied sustained pressure over the last 25-30 years to ensure that these killings weren't forgotten.

There is evidence to suggest that these killings were war crimes, in violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, which both Indonesia and Australia have signed up to, and the failure to fully investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute war crimes is very significant indeed.

EMMA ALBERICI: If the coroner decides in her judgment to find that members of the Indonesian military, or indeed the Government, were responsible for the deaths of the journalists, what powers would Australia have to bring charges against those people, given the coronial inquest has no jurisdiction to compel witnesses from Indonesia to even appear before it?

BEN SAUL: Australia for a long time has had war crimes legislation which allows Australia to prosecute those who are suspected of committing war crimes anywhere in the world. They don't have to be Australian nationals, the crime doesn't have to have taken place within Australia.

The problem is obtaining custody of the suspects, and to do that Australia would need to lodge an extradition request with the Indonesian authorities, and hope that the Indonesians agreed to extradite the suspect to Australia.

EMMA ALBERICI: And if they didn't?

BEN SAUL: Well, the extradition treaty between Australia and Indonesia provides that if either country refuses to extradite a national, then they have to submit the case to their own authorities for prosecution.

And that really would depend upon the Indonesian justice system as to whether they thought there was sufficient evidence to prosecute.

Beause there are high-level political and military figures in Indonesia arguably implicated in these killings, it's been very unlikely in the past that these kinds of cases would be seriously prosecuted and brought to trial.

This has been the problem with this case all along, I mean, there's been such a long history between Australia and Indonesia of Australia not, successive Australian governments really not doing their best to uncover the truth here.

MARK COLVIN: Dr Ben Saul of the Centre for International Law at Sydney University, with Emma Alberici.

[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1842561.htm ]

07/02/2007: Rogerio distributed guns to reinforce public order-PM Ramos-Horta's statement in court

The Primer Minister Ramos-Horta in his statement at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday 2/2, said that Rogerio distributed guns to reinforce public order because, according to him, after the incident on 28 April, he travelled all night until morning around the city, in front of embassies to verify if the city was protected by the police but unfortunately he found none. Also, on the 29 April many PNTL officers abandoned their posts increasing the risk, according to rumours, that the petitioners were going to attack the government buildings. He said that the police wouldn't have the capacity to establish law and order and that the former Minister of Interior, to avoid all this from happening, gave orders to give guns to civilians to restore order.

Horta said he doesn't know if the actions of Rogerio are politically correct or incorrect, but that a closer look should be taken at that stage of the situation. He also said he didn't believe that Lobato had intentions to destroy his country.

According to Horta, it was only on 28 May that the Commandant of PNTL Paulo de Fatima Martins informed him that the PNTL guns used by UIR on the border had been transferred to Dili. Martins did not explain clearly who gave orders and for what purposes the guns had been transferred to Dili.
Ramos-Horta said that the incident of 28 April 2006 in front of the Government building was with the intervention of a third party but he did not name that third party. (Timor Post)

The MUNJ wants the CPLP prosecutors to leave TL

Agosto Junior Trindade, the coordinator of the Movement of National Unity for Justice (MUNJ), told STL at the demonstration site that he would demand the President of the Republic to expel the international prosecutors Felismino Cardoso and Bernardo Fernandes from Timor-Leste within 24 hours and declare them as “persona non grata”. He also said that if the President of the Republic, the Public Ministry and UNMIT don't take any measures in this regard, the MUNJ will conduct a huge popular action. (Suara Timor Lorosa'e)

Longinhos admits Alkatiri case Closed

Timor Post reported today that the Prosecutors General Mr. Longinhos Monteiro in an interview with The Age, in Sidney-Australia, on Monday (05-02) stated that he is aware that the Public Ministry had notified the ex-Primer Minister Mari Alkatiri of the dropped charges against him due to of lack of evidence, but he said that the case can be reopened if new evidence emerges. (Timor Post)

Former East Timor PM to sue ABC

February 7, 2007 Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri intends to sue the ABC's Four Corners program over a report that led to him being forced from office. Mr Alkatiri said he had directed Australian lawyers to prepare the legal action alleging the program, Stoking the Fires, defamed him when broadcast last year, Fairfax reports. The show went on to win a Gold Walkley for Liz Jackson, Lim Buckfield and Peter Cronau. Fairfax said the former East Timor leader was considering the action prior to prosecutors in Dili telling him on Monday he'd been cleared of any wrong doing. "The ABC damaged my image, my family and my party," he told Fairfax. The Four Corners program reported on claims by former guerilla fighter Vicente da Conceicao that he had been hired by Mr Alkatiri to kill and intimidate opponents. Mr Alkatiri denied the claims, but the report lead to the country's President Xanana Gusmao


Witness tells inquiry 32 years later how Scot met his death
The Herald 7 February
By WILLIAM TINNING

A witness has described for the first time under oath how five journalists, including a Scot, died more than 30 years ago during an Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The witness, who was not named, told a judicial inquiry in Australia that a former Indonesian military commander who later joined the government was first to fire at two British journalists and three colleagues covering Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor. Malcolm Rennie, a TV reporter from Barrhead, Renfrewshire, and four colleagues were all working for Australian television networks. Mr Rennie, 29, was on his first foreign assignment when he flew to East Timor with Brian Peters, 26, a British cameraman. The pair, working for Channel 9, had barely arrived on the island when they were killed in an attack, along with two Australians and a New Zealander, who were working for Channel 7. The Indonesian government says the journalists were killed in crossfire as advancing troops took over the town of Balibo on October 16, 1975. An East Timorese witness, who claims to have trained with the Indonesian military, told the inquest into the death of Brian Peters at Sydney's Glebe Coroner's Court that Indonesian commander Yunus Yosfiah was the first to open fire on the journalists. The witness, identified only by the pseudonym "Glebe 2", said other soldiers then began shooting at the house where the journalists were staying in an unprovoked attack. Senior military officials warned junior officers to keep quiet, the man said, adding that he lied to Australian investigators about the incident until his conscience prompted him to speak out. "In East Timor, I saw a lot of injustice and massacres and as an East Timorese I couldn't support that any more," the witness said.
Mr Yosfiah was the captain of special forces at the time of the shooting and became information minister in 1998. An independent report for the United Nations last year found the journalists were probably killed deliberately. Indonesian special forces attacked a local militia that had claimed sovereignty after Portugal abandoned its former colony. The attack was a prelude to an Indonesian invasion in December that year.
Mr Yosfiah dismissed the witness's remarks, saying: "It is all lies. I am afraid that person making those allegations wants to start a new life in Australia by making up a sensational story." But East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said there was no doubt the journalists were killed deliberately and urged Indonesia to come clean and allow the reporters' families to move on. "At least, let the truth emerge," Ramos-Horta said. Following testimonies by several witnesses, relatives and campaigners suspected the journalists - known as the Balibo Five - were killed to prevent pictures of mass killings being shown to the outside world after witnessing an illegal secret invasion of East Timor by Indonesian troops. Yesterday, Mr Rennie's cousin, Margaret Wilson, speaking from her London home, said: "If the inquest achieves nothing else, we hope it will conclude that Malcolm and his colleagues were murdered."

Indonesian Army 'Shot Reporters'
Wednesday, 7 February 2007 Press Release: Pacific Media Watch

Indonesian Army 'Shot Reporters'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6333941.stm
SYDNEY (BBC World/Pacific Media Watch) - The Indonesian military opened fire on five Western journalists covering the invasion of East Timor in 1975, a witness has told an Australian inquiry. The East Timorese witness, who was with the invading Indonesian troops, said a top military commander opened fire.  A Sydney coroner's court is investigating the death of one of the journalists, Briton Brian Peters.  Indonesia has always said the five journalists were killed in crossfire as troops advanced into East Timor. The five journalists were killed in the town of Balibo on 16 October 1975 as Indonesia moved to annexe the former Portuguese colony. Special forces  The family of Peters insisted he was murdered and a coroner's inquest has been called to examine the circumstances surrounding his death.  The East Timorese eyewitness said he had trained with Indonesian troops and saw a special forces commander open fire on the journalists.  Other troops then began to fire as well, he said.  His name has not been released in order to protect his identity. Indonesia ruled East Timor until a referendum in 1999 in favour of independence.  Militias loyal to Jakarta, apparently assisted by the military, embarked on a campaign of violence and intimidation that left more than 1000 people dead and was only stopped by the arrival of Australian-led peacekeepers.  East Timor became the first new nation of the century in May 2002. 

06/02/2007: Charges against Alkatiri dropped

PROSECUTORS have dropped an investigation into allegations that former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri ordered a hit squad to kill political rivals, clearing the way for the Fretilin leader to
contest April's presidential elections.

Dr Alkatiri, forced to resign last year over the allegations after a power struggle with President Xanana Gusmao, said yesterday he had been told by the prosecutor's office the investigation was closed and no further action would be taken for want of evidence.

"The false allegations, aired with extreme political bias and utmost ill-will, have been found to be baseless when subjected to judicial scrutiny," Dr Alkatiri said in Dili.

Dr Alkatiri, who has long denied any wrongdoing, said the allegations were a "politically motivated smear campaign instigated against my good name and character in East Timor, Australia and elsewhere".

Timor's deputy prosecutor, Ivo Valente, said he did not know of the alleged development, but noted that Dr Alkatiri's case was being handled by the prosecutor-general, who was travelling in Australia.

Dr Alkatiri was alleged by a former cabinet minister to have played a role in the unrest, which killed at least 37 people and saw the deployment of Australian-led international peacekeepers in the tiny nation that won independence from Indonesia in 1999.

As the head of Fretilin, East Timor's largest political party, Dr Alkatiri will be able to contest the presidential election called for April 9.

That would appear to rule out a presidential run by Nobel peace prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta, who replaced Dr Alkatiri as prime minister last June 26.

The East Timorese Prime Minister said last Wednesday that he would run for the presidency only if there were no other candidates.

Mr Gusmao, who called the elections on Saturday, was elected president in April 2002 and has repeatedly said he will not run again.

But with the field cleared for Dr Alkatiri to take the presidency, an intriguing political possibility looms with rumours that Mr Gusmao will make a run for parliament as member of the opposition Democratic Party.

The former leader of Fretilin's military wing during the Indonesian occupation is East Timor's greatest national hero. His massive personal popularity could be enough to propel his new party to victory in parliamentary polls to be called after the presidential election.

This could see a prime minister Gusmao facing off against a president Alkatiri, reversing the roles of last year, when Australia led a force of 3200 foreign peacekeepers to East Timor in late May after the country descended into chaos following the sacking of 600 mutinous soldiers.

Sporadic gang-related violence has continued in the Asia-Pacific region's youngest country, which has been plagued by poverty and high youth unemployment since independence in 2002.

The changing political environment in Dili came as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer moved to invoke a rarely used "national interest" exemption clause to fast-track ratification of the Timor Sea Treaty through the Australian parliament more than 12 months after the signing of the historic agreement.

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties was given barely 24 hours' notice yesterday that they would meet Mr Downer tonight and hear why he wanted the committee to rubber-stamp the deal.

In Dili, ratification of the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) has been held up because of ongoing civil strife stemming from last year's political unrest.

Under CMATS, East Timor's revenue share of the Greater Sunrise oil and gas prospect straddling the boundary of the so-called Joint Petroleum Development Area could be as much as $19 billion because of
a newly agreed 50-50 split with Australia.

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CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AGAINST ALKATIRI DROPPED BY TIMOR'S PROSECUTOR GENERAL

Former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste and Secretary General of FRETILIN, Dr. Mari Alkatiri was today notified by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Timor-Leste that the investigation against him was closed and that no further action would be taken for want of evidence of any criminal conduct ON the part of Dr. Alkatiri arising out the allegations made of his alleged involvement in the arming of civilians.

The Prosecutor Generals Office concluded from the investigations that there was no evidence that Dr. Alkatiri either had any knowledge or participated in anyway in the alleged distribution of arms to civilians to warrant any criminal prosecution to be brought against Dr. Alkatiri.

"I have maintained my innocence with respect to any knowledge or participation in the matters alleged from the outset. My family and my supporters vehemently maintained my innocence in this regard. Anyone who knows me knows it would have been against my personal values and my character to be involvement with any such practices. I, my family and my supporters have never doubted that the truth would prevail and that I would be vindicated," said Dr. Alkatiri.

"I have committed my life to the struggle for justice by our people. I have been a strident promoter of truth and justice in our people's cause, and have maintained that truth and justice would prevail during this investigation against me and that I would be cleared. I submitted myself to the justice system, unlike some who have been actors in the crisis in our country of last year, because I believe in a state based on the rule of law and justice. False allegations aired with extreme political bias and utmost ill will has been found to be baseless when subject to judicial scrutiny," said Dr. Alkatiri.

"This now paves the way for me to seek legal redress for the injustice done to me and my family by the politically motivated smear campaign instigated against my good name and character in Timor-Leste, Australia and elsewhere," said Dr. Alkatiri.

Dr. Alkatiri continues to be the Secretary General of Timor-Leste largest elected party and has returned to parliament where he will continue to play a role in the re-election of his parliamentary party. [Source unclear - found at
http://timor-online.blogspot.com/2007/02/criminal-investigation-against.html ]

05/02/2007: Court Hearing For Members Of PSHT

Judges  have  decided  to  give  preventive detention to 32 members of PSHT including its president Jaime Xavier Lopes, while 17 were free on condition that they present themselves to the police station once a week. Those on preventive detention will undergo further investigation. According to  Antonio Freitas, Public Private Defender, his clients have been accused of  committing  violence  and  are likely to be sentenced for over one year imprisonment  based  on  evidence  including  the finding of weapons in the
house.   Freitas  is  not  happy  with the accusation that his clients were involved  in  the  violence,  burning  and killing of people in the capital Dili.    He  further  said that police captured his clients while they were defending  themselves from a group intent on attacking PSHT headquarters in Ailoklaran.  The  Public  Private Defender also rejects the accusation that his client had the red and white flag and used the words Allah Akbar before attacking  the  population.  He said that the name PSHT is derived from the
Indonesian  language  because that's where the organization originated from and  the connection of the group to Indonesia is totally based on sports as opposed  to being political. The hearing was under tight security, reported Diario Nacional. (Diario NNasional)
---------------------
  The UN Wants Alfredo To Answer To Justice: SRSG Khare
SRSG  Atul Khare has stated that the UN mandate in Timor-Leste continues to demand Major Alfredo to answer to a court, reported Diario Nacional Monday. During the meeting with civil society, organized by the NGO Forum, FONGTIL, last week SRSG Khare said the aim of the various meetings held with Alfredo which  included  representatives  from the government and the international forces  is  to convince Alfredo to follow court procedures, adding that the meeting  between  Alfredo  and  the  Prosecutor  General was to clarify the accusations against him. Reporting  on  the  workshop  held in Dili on Friday and Saturday about the socio  economic  situation in Timor-Leste, it was noted that SRSG Khare has acknowledged  that some progress has been made in the past five years under Fretilin's  leadership  but  some  serious  problems  need to be taken into consideration  in  order to alleviate poverty in the country.  He said that security  is  a  challenge  for  the political developments, stressing that security and poverty reduction are inter-related. (Diaro Nasional, Timor Post) ------------------------------------------------------
Deputy Prosecutor General On Agreement

Ivo  Valente,  Deputy  Prosecutor General, said the agreement by the Public Ministry  with  Major  Alfredo was the initiative of the government and the UN,  adding  that  the  Public  Ministry  did  the  follow  up based on the recommendation  of the two bodies. Valente further said if the agreement is a success the case will be handed over to the government and the UN.

A witness at a Sydney Coroners Court has described how four white men were shot in the East Timorese village where five journalists were killed in 1975.

Twenty-six-year-old Brian Peters was one of five journalists who were killed at Balibo as they reported on the Indonesian invasion of 1975.

The Glebe Coroners Court is holding an inquest into his death, and is expected to hear evidence from several East Timorese eyewitnesses who were trained by the Indonesian military.

One of those men, who has been given the code name Glebe 2, has told the inquest he was travelling just behind Indonesian forces when they attacked the village on the morning the journalists were killed.

He told the court he heard shooting and there were four white people.

The man has also demonstrated to the court how he saw the white men raising their hands above their heads.

The inquest continues tomorrow.

Balibo 5 inquest hears from first witness
The NSW Coroners Court heard today from the first witness in the inquest into the death of Sydney cameraman Brian Peters, one of the Balibo Five group of TV journalists who died in mysterious circumstances during the between Indonesia and the groups that wanted independence for Timor.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1840842.htm
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The World Today - Balibo five death hearing begins Monday, 5 February , 2007  

Reporter: Emma Alberici
ELEANOR HALL: The NSW Coroner's Court has today begun investigating just what happened to Sydney journalist Brian Peters, 31 years after he died in Balibo in East Timor.

Brian Peters was working as a reporter and cameraman for Channel Nine on October 16th 1975 when he and four news colleagues were found dead during the conflict between defenders of East Timorese independence and forces sympathetic to Indonesian integration with the former Portuguese colony.

There have so far been seven inquiries into the deaths of the five journalists, and two books written about the subject.

But until today, no coronial inquiry.

Emma Alberici is at the Coroner's Court in Glebe and she joins us now. So, Emma, what is the significance of this eighth inquiry?

EMMA ALBERICI: Well, Eleanor, this inquiry was brought about by Maureen Tolfree, the sister of Brian Peters, and her lawyer, Rodney Lewis.

In the year 2000, they came to Glebe and lodged a formal complaint with the police. Astoundingly, it hadn't happened until then, and the coroner's court found in 2004 that indeed they did have jurisdiction to hear this matter, and the coroner agreed to hold the inquest.

It was supposed to be last year, but after the rioting in Timor, it was pushed to this year, and there has indeed been a packed courtroom to hear the opening address by Mark Tedeschi, the counsel assisting deputy state coroner Dorelle Pinch, who herself said this was unprecedented in its scope and of historical significance, also because the majority of the 66 witnesses to be called are being brought here from Timor.

ELEANOR HALL: Now, what is the scenario being advanced by the counsel assisting the coroner as to how these men died?

EMMA ALBERICI: Well, interestingly enough, the most explosive evidence has been pointed to so far today is that it named Yunis Yosfir, who was appointed Minister for Information in the Habibe Government in Indonesia in 1998, that he actually led the attack on Balibo, back in 1975.

This is not something that's ever been made public before, and counsel assisting the deputy state coroner is saying that up to 1,000 troops bombarded the small East Timorese town at around 6 o'clock in the morning on that fateful Thursday.

Fretilin East Timorese Independence Fighters had already retreated, so there was no other reason for the Indonesian-led attack, other than it was specifically targeting the Australian journalists.

The five men attempted to surrender themselves to the protection of the invading forces but were set upon and either shot or stabbed to death.

And then it's alleged that the Indonesian army clothed them in Fretilin fighter uniforms and placed machine guns by their sides to give the appearance that they were somehow aligned or indeed involved in the fight for East Timorese independence.

ELEANOR HALL: Now, Emma, is the inquiry going to hear from this former Information Minister from the Habibe government?

EMMA ALBERICI: Unfortunately, Eleanor, this court doesn't have the jurisdiction to call anyone from Indonesia, which of course has attracted the ire of counsel assisting.

He made quite a big deal, Mark Tedeschi, of the fact that they still invite these people to come forward, all the Indonesians they have called to give evidence have refused to do so, so indeed not even given a response to those calls.

But one person who will be giving evidence, who has never done so before is a man they are calling 'Glebe 2'. His identity will be withheld.

He was the leader of the East Timorese partisan soldiers on the Indonesian side. First time we will have heard from him and he was actually there on the day of the attack.

ELEANOR HALL: And, Emma, has there been any mention about how much prior knowledge the Australian Government had of the attack, or whether there was any prior knowledge?

EMMA ALBERICI: Eleanor, there's been a lot about that. Indeed, the evidence that will been given will say A, that the Australian Government knew the attack on Balibo was about to take place and B, that the five Australian journalists in Balibo at the time, that they knew they were there.

In fact, the defence signal directorate knew the journalists were there, that's the Australian electronic spy agency, and it said that we will hear evidence by two men who worked with Justice Hope on the royal commission on intelligence and security.

But they both clearly remember that a message they saw was an Indonesian radio message from an Indonesian commander on the ground in East Timor to a senior military officer in Jakarta, which said, "As directed or in accordance with your instructions, five journalists have been located and shot".

And that is a signal that was intercepted by the Australian defence signal directorate.

ELEANOR HALL: Emma Alberici at the Coroner's Court in Sydney, thank you.

---

Journalists 'surrendering' when shot
February 5, 2007
An East Timorese eyewitness has told a Sydney inquest he saw four of the Balibo Five journalists raise their hands in surrender before they were gunned down by Indonesian troops.

An inquest into the death of one of the five Australia-based journalists, Brian Peters, began in Sydney on Monday, more than 30 years after his death on the then Indonesian-occupied island.

Mr Peters and four other journalists - Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, Tony Stewart and Malcolm Rennie - were killed during an attack by Indonesian special forces troops on the Timorese border town of Balibo in October 1975.

Official reports say the men were killed in crossfire between Indonesian troops and East Timorese militia, but their families insist they were murdered.

An East Timorese eyewitness who trained with the Indonesian military, known by the code name "Glebe 2", told Glebe Coroner's Court that when invading Indonesian troops entered Balibo's town square he saw four white people raise their arms in the air.

"I observed some people were lifting their arms up," Glebe 2 said through an interpreter, and demonstrated a surrender pose.

The witness said he then saw soldiers start firing at the journalists.

"They shot at them," he said.

"I saw them shoot. A lot of them were firing. They fired towards the white people."

Counsel assisting the inquest, Mark Tedeschi QC, said other witnesses would give evidence that after the journalists had been killed Indonesian troops dressed them up in uniforms worn by East Timorese Fretilin troops and machine guns were placed in front of their propped up bodies.

"In this macabre falsification of evidence to try to suggest that the journalists had been combatants, the bodies were then photographed and filmed by two Indonesian reporters," Mr Tedeschi said.

The bodies were then burnt, Mr Tedeschi said, before being sent to the Australian embassy in Jakarta to be buried.

Mr Tedeschi said the inquest also would hear evidence regarding an Indonesian message intercepted by a signals listening station in the Northern Territory which was sent on the day of the Balibo attack.

The message intercepted by the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), the Australian national authority for collecting foreign radio signals intelligence, allegedly contained words to the effect: "As directed, or in accordance with your instructions, five journalists have been located and shot", Mr Tedeschi said.

However, the document had not been located by commonwealth officials since it was viewed by two witnesses in 1977, he said.

Mr Tedeschi said if the five journalists were deliberately targeted for execution, a possible motive was that the Indonesian government did not want footage of its actions in the invasion of East Timor to get out because it could compromise the Australian government's support for the invasion.

"The five journalists had seen clear evidence of the involvement of Indonesian forces in the attack on Balibo," Mr Tedeschi said.

"The elimination of this evidence could have been seen as essential if the news was not to get out to the world at this critical stage.

"If the journalists were targeted for execution, and if the motive was as suggested, then this may enable one to reach the conclusion that they were murdered because they were journalists and because of what they had witnessed."

Mr Tedeschi said no Indonesian government officials, soldiers, or individuals would give evidence at the inquest as none had made contact with the inquest or offered to give evidence.

The inquest before NSW Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch continues on Tuesday.

This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1840561.htm ]

05/02/2007: East Timor : Former PM Says He's Been Found Innocent

Dili, 5 Feb. (AKI) - Former prime minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, has said that he has been cleared of any wrongdoing in regards to his alleged involvement in arming a civilian militia in the small Southeast Asian country. In a press conference in the capital Dili on Monday, the former prime minister said that the prosecutor general told him that there is no evidence linking him to the militia or showing that he had any knowledge about the setting up of armed groups.

Alkatiri said that the news vindicated him. He also added that he may seek justice for those that have slandered him, in Timor and beyond. "My family, my supporters and I, never doubted that the truth would prevail and that I would be vindicated," Alkatiri said.

"This now paves that way for me to seek legal redress for the injustice done to me and my family by the political motivated smear campaign instigated against my good name and character in East Timor, Australia and elsewhere," he added.

Alkatiri's statements came before any official declaration of the East Timorese authorities.

Contacted by Adnkronos International (AKI), deputy prosecutor general, Ivo Valente said that it is too early for Alkatiri to make such a statement. "Perhaps the prosecutor general chief, Longuinhos Monteiro, has more knowledge about Alkatiri's case. I cannot comment on that," he told AKI.

Longuinhos Monteiro is currently in Australia.

Alkatiri is still the secretary general of Fretilin, East Timor's largest party. He stepped down as prime minister in June last year after international troops were deployed to East Timor to quell rioting that gripped the streets of Dili for almost two months. He was replaced by Jose Ramos Horta.

Alkatiri was accused of having organised the supply of weapons to a hit squad that had been allegedly set up to eliminate his political opponents.

He has always denied the accusation but a United Nations inquiry into the violence of April and May 2006 recommended an investigation to see if he "bears any criminal responsibility with respect to weapons offences."

One of Alkatiri's closet ally, former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato, is currently standing trial on weapons and other charges related to the alleged hit squad.

Ethnic clashes that broke out in East Timor in April and May last year led to the deaths of at least 37 people and forced about 155,000 people - or 15 percent of the population - to flee their homes. Alkatiri was forced to resign last June amid allegations he was involved in arming a civilian militia to eliminate his political rivalries.