We liberated the country... ...now we liberate the people of East Timor

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US State Department account of the last five years of East Timor under the control of the Fretilin dominated party

17th June 2007

The following report was taken from the US State Department website and is an account of the last five years of East Timor under the control of the Fretilin dominated party:

“East Timor became a fully independent republic on May 20, 2002, following approximately two and a half years under the authority of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The country has a parliamentary form of government with its first parliament formed from the 88-member Constituent Assembly chosen in free and fair, UN-supervised elections in August 2001. The 29-member Cabinet is dominated by the FRETILIN Party, which won the majority of Assembly seats. Mari Alkatiri, FRETILIN's Secretary General, was the first Prime Minister and Head of Government, and Xanana Gusmao--elected in free and fair elections on April 14, 2002--is President and Head of State. UNTAET's mandate ended with East Timor’s independence, but a successor organization, the UN Mission for the Support of East Timor (UNMISET), was established to provide additional support to the government. UNMISET’s mandate expired on May 20, 2005 after the UN Security Council unanimously approved the creation of a small special political mission in East Timor, the UN Office in East Timor (UNOTIL), to take its place.

Under the constitution ratified in March 2002, "laws and regulations in force continue to be applicable to all matters except to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Constitution." Many Indonesian and UNTAET laws and regulations remain in effect, but are being gradually replaced by RDTL laws. During the period from December 2004 to September 2005, the government held local elections in all 13 districts. East Timor witnessed its largest and longest political demonstration in April and May 2005 when several thousand protestors took part in a protest about a broad array of religious and political issues led by the Catholic Church that lasted 20 days. The demonstration ended peacefully with the signing of an agreement between the Catholic Church and Prime Minister Alkatiri that resolved several key issues of disagreement.

Despite the winding down of the UN presence in country, the institutions comprising East Timor’s armed forces (F-FDTL) and police (PNTL) remained fragile and the authority of the state much more tenuous than most observers assumed at the time. In February 2006, approximately 400 military personnel (from a total military strength of 1,400) petitioned President Gusmao to address their complaints of discrimination against “westerners” or Loro Monu people by “easterners” or Loro Sae people in the military. Shortly after presenting their petition, they left their posts and approximately one month later were dismissed by the F-FDTL commander. In late April the petitioners group staged protests in Dili. On April 28, the protests turned violent. Citing ineffective police response, the government called in the armed forces (F-FDTL) to respond. The rioting and the police and military response resulted in six confirmed deaths. In response to the events of April 28, large numbers of people began to flee their homes for internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or the outlying districts and several members of the F-FDTL, including the commander of the Military Police, left their posts in protest of the military intervention.

During a FRETILIN Party Congress in mid-May, Prime Minister Alkatiri was re-elected as Secretary General after his supporters successfully amended the party constitution to substitute secret ballots with an open vote. Against this political backdrop, a series of deadly clashes between the F-FDTL and forces comprising dissident military, civilians and some police took place on May 23-24, followed by deadly conflict between the F-FDTL and the PNTL on May 25. In the aftermath of these clashes, which effectively caused the dissolution of law and order, mob and gang violence took over the capital, resulting in additional deaths, widespread destruction of property, and the continued displacement of thousands of Dili residents. At the peak of the crisis, approximately 80,000 IDPs were in the districts and approximately 70,000 were residing in camps within Dili.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and international relief organizations have provided vital services to the camps that include water and sanitation facilities, camp management support, hygiene kits, and mosquito nets. USAID has also supported East Timor’s independent public radio and television broadcast services in order to ensure that reliable and timely information about current political events reaches East Timor’s citizens.

On May 28, the Government of East Timor requested the Governments of Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Portugal to send security forces to stabilize the country. By July 2006 there were approximately 2,200 international military and police officers in East Timor. During the month of June, there was increasing pressure on then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to resign as criticisms of his handling of the crisis mounted. Moreover, serious allegations emerged that he had been involved in illegal arms distribution. In June, former Minister of Interior Rogerio Lobato was arrested on the charge of distributing the above-mentioned weapons and placed under house arrest. Following President Xanana Gusmao’s public request that the prime minister step down, accompanied by a threat to resign himself if Alkatiri remained in office, Alkatiri resigned on June 27. Anti-Alkatiri demonstrations, which kicked off on June 28, with most participants coming from the western districts, turned into partial celebrations following the prime minister’s resignation and lasted for several days. Similar numbers of demonstrators entered Dili from the eastern districts the following week to voice support for Alkatiri and the ruling Fretilin party.

After President Gusmao held consultations with the leadership of the FRETILIN Party, Jose Ramos-Horta--East Timor’s Foreign and Defense Minister in the Alkatiri government--became Prime Minister on July 10. Prime Minister Ramos-Horta’s new cabinet was sworn in on July 14, 2006. Ramos-Horta said the “immediate task of his Government is to consolidate security in Dili and in all of Timor-Leste and to put in place the necessary conditions to enable displaced Timorese to return home and rebuild their lives.”

As requested by the Government of East Timor, the UN Security Council passed resolutions to roll over the small UN political mission, UNOTIL until August 25, 2006 while its members considered the mandate of a larger follow-on UN mission to help East Timor overcome its crisis. The United States coordinated closely with members of the Core Group on East Timor (Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, and the United Kingdom) and the EU to obtain approval of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), which provides for a UN-led policing component of up to 1,608 personnel. UNMIT’s mandate, set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 1704 approved on August 25, 2006, calls for the UN mission to assist in restoring stability, rebuilding the institutions comprising the security sector, supporting the Government of East Timor in conducting presidential and parliamentary elections (expected in the spring of 2007), achieving accountability for the crimes against humanitiy and other atrocities committed in 1999, among other aims. (UNMIT’s own website provides additional information: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmit/)
Although security in Dili has been significantly improved in comparison to the violence and anarchy that reigned in May and June, neither the establishment of a new government nor the expansion of the UN mission has reduced the levels of violence and criminality to their pre-April 2006 levels. Indeed, in October, shortly after the UN Special Commission of Inquiry issued its report on responsibility for the security crisis of April-June, Dili experienced a surge of violence that led to several deaths and the closure of the international airport for a day. While the overwhelming majority of the current violence is Timorese-on-Timorese perpetrated by gangs or martial arts groups, foreign nationals have also been targeted. Differences between Loro Sae and Loro Monu have recently subsided and been overtaken by long-standing conflicts between members of competing groups, including martial arts groups and semi-religious sects. While much of the current fighting reflects a continuing lack of law and order underscored by the absence of judicial accountability, many observers note that communal and gang violence has been employed in many cases toward political ends.

As of December 2006, over 28,000 displaced persons remain in 29 camps in and around Dili, representing over 4,000 families, 45 percent of whom have houses that have been destroyed. Over 2,000 houses were destroyed over the last months, and many more damaged. Another 70,000 or so IDPs remain in the outlying districts. November and December 2006 featured public efforts by the Timorese leadership to foster a spirit of reconciliation – particularly among members of the armed forces and the police – but key issues remain outstanding, including the lack of resolution of the petitioners’ case and the continued presence of armed military dissidents. Police functions in Dili are currently under UN control, while members of the PNTL are being gradually reintegrated into city policing following vetting for criminal or ethical violations. UN officials and other observers expect the reform of the country’s security sector to be a long-term challenge.”

Ends.

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