Dili – Leaders of martial arts groups in East Timor that have fought deadly clashes in the last year signed an accord Thursday to seek dialogue rather than violence to resolve future disputes.
A joint declaration was signed by the leaders of 10 of the 14 martial arts groups invited by President Xanana Gusmco to renounce violence against members of other gangs.
Anne Barker – The United Nations Security Council has been handed a report that recommends an International War Crimes tribunal on atrocities in East Timor, if Indonesia fails to retry those accused of masterminding the violence in 1999. But Indonesia has rejected the proposal.
Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – Six years after the Indonesian army and allied gangs waged a scorched-earth campaign in East Timor, a UN-appointed panel concluded that Jakarta's prosecution of suspects was seriously flawed.
Jakarta – Indonesia flatly rejected a recommendation by a UN panel to set up an international tribunal to prosecute Indonesian forces and militia leaders accused of rights abuses in East Timor, officials said Thursday.
The Indonesian Government has flatly rejected a United Nations demand that it punishes the military officers accused of masterminding the atrocities in East Timor in 1999.
Barker: In the pre-independence bloodshed that ravaged East Timor in 1999, more than 14-hundred people were killed, many of them in massacres.
Karen Michelmore – Australia and East Timor are close to striking a deal on a maritime boundary, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said tonight.
The East Timor Government was considering a draft deal, and it was likely there would be no need for further talks, he said.
New York – The United Nations Security Council should endorse a UN commission's recommendations for addressing Indonesia's failure to ensure justice for crimes against humanity in East Timor, Human Rights Watch said today. The commission's report, which was sent to the Security Council, should be made public as soon as possible.
The long-awaited final report of the UN Commission of Experts appointed to investigate the judicial processes for atrocities committed in Timor Leste in 1999, submitted to the UN Security Council this week, has called on the governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia to take important steps to truly bring to justice those responsible for the crimes.
Pressure was mounting on Indonesia to address its bloodstained exit from East Timor in 1999, as a UN team of experts called for an international tribunal to prosecute security forces and militia.
A UN Commission of Experts has advised the UN Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal if Indonesia fails to take action towards securing accountability for serious crimes committed in East Timor within six months.
Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Human rights groups Tuesday hailed a UN panel recommendation that an international tribunal be formed to try Indonesian military officers accused of violence in East Timor in 1999 and attacks on the United Nations mission there.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has reportedly handed-over the report of the Commission of Experts on justice for East Timor to the Security Council. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network issued the following statement:
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) congratulates the UN's Commission of Experts (COE) for its thorough and thoughtful report.
A United Nations commission says Indonesia should be given six months to re-try those accused of destroying East Timor or they should face an international war crimes court.
David Rose – Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is facing MPs' demands to help clear up the mystery surrounding the slaying of two British newsmen 30 years ago.
The United States has offered full support in working with East Timor and Indonesia to make the Truth and Friendship Commission formed by the two countries as credible as possible as it investigates alleged atrocities in East Timor in 1999, US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Pierre Prosper said Wednesday.
Washington – Poverty-struck East Timor has made "commendable progress" since wrenching its independence from Indonesia but needs to do much more to manage its new-found energy wealth, the IMF said on Monday.
Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – Indonesia should retry accused war criminals acquitted by a special court in Jakarta because the process was a sham, according to United Nations experts on East Timor.
Veronica Brooks, Canberra – East Timor's Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, said Friday he believes Dili and Canberra can quickly finalize a revenue-sharing agreement covering Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s (WPL.AU) stalled US$5 billion Sunrise gas project in the Timor Sea.
"Yes, I think it is possible this month," Alkatiri told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
Michael Richardson – It has been a rollercoaster ride of more than two years of sometimes acrimonious talks between Australia and East Timor on how to share energy reserves in the Timor Sea.
Commenting ahead of the East Timorese Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri's visit to Melbourne today, Timor Sea Justice Campaign co-ordinator Tom Clarke labelled the Australian Government's proposal on how to split gas and oil in the Timor Sea as miserly, deceptive and short sighted.
Bloomberg – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said his country shouldn't rush to settle a dispute with Australia over offshore oil and gas fields before the three-year-old nation can handle the royalties, which may exceed $14 billion over two decades.
Lisbon – A leader of East Timor's Roman Catholics warned Thursday that although the recent dispute between his powerful church and the Dili government is resolved, "nothing is definitive in these types of misunderstandings and conflicts".
Ahead of a visit by the Prime Minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, to Melbourne this week, the Australian Council of Trade Unions has renewed its calls for East Timor to gain a fairer share of the benefits from gas and oil development in the Timor Sea.
Commenting on the visit by East Timor Prime Minister, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said:
An inquest will be held into the death of Balibo Five cameraman Brian Peters, killed 30 years ago in East Timor.
An international relations academic says Australian peackeeping troops are being withdrawn from East Timor prematurely.
Timor Leste – Canberra will on Monday begin withdrawing its last peacekeeping troops from Timor Leste, signaling the end of a six-year mission that heralded a controversial new era of regional intervention for Australia and one of its largest military ventures since the Vietnam War.
Dozens of East Timorese asylum seekers could be granted permanent visas after having their cases reviewed by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone.
Senator Vanstone said she had reconsidered the cases of 53 of the asylum seekers. Six had been ruled out and not all of the remaining 47 were likely to gain a visa, she said.
East Timor will soon start opening up its untapped oil and gas reserves to investors, the Timorese government says.
A major oil and gas conference in Darwin has heard that the fledgling democracy hoped to offer licences by mid 2006 after conducting the first comprehensive seismic survey of 6,600km of Timor's undisputed maritime area in February.
Lisbon – East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri repeated Sunday his denial that his impoverished country had reached a deal with Australia over sharing oil and gas reserves worth billions of dollars under their shared Timor Sea.
Simone Lee Egger – Accommodation was once so scarce in East Timor that a bed in a converted shipping container cost nearly £60 a night.
Lisbon – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Thursday that the resolution last month of the dispute between his government and East Timor's powerful Catholic Church opens the door for debate in Timorese society on sensitive issues such as abortion and prostitution.
Following comments from East Timor's PM, Mari Alkatiri, that further negotiations would be required to iron out details in a proposed resource sharing arrangement with Australia, the Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC) has accused Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, of attempting to 'steam roll' the impoverished nation.
Darwin – The last of Australia's troops are preparing to leave East Timor as the peacekeeping operation winds down.
Australia's national commander in East Timor Lieutenant Colonel Brian Cox said 70 Australian army, navy and air force troops left Dili earlier this week.
A further 45 would return home to Australia in coming weeks.
Jose Ramos-Horta – I want to clarify where negotiations now stand between Canberra and Dili regarding the wealth lying beneath the Timor Sea. There has been too much speculation, sometimes partially accurate, sometimes way off the mark.
Mark Dodd – Fears have been raised for the safety of scores of witnesses to the atrocities committed against East Timor's final struggle for independence in 1999 as the UN unit responsible for investigating human rights abuses wraps up its work.
Canberra – The long-awaited, multi-billion dollar oil and gas deal between Australia and East Timor will soon be presented to cabinet for a final tick of approval.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said all major elements of the deal had been agreed by both countries, but some last minute fine tuning was needed.
Stephen Senise – October 16 marks the 30th anniversary of the slaying of five Australian-based journalists during an Indonesian assault on the East Timorese border village of Balibo in 1975. They are the Balibo Five, and they have become part of the Australian mainstream consciousness.
Washington – More than 50 international organizations have appealed to US President George Bush to use a White House meeting Wednesday with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to press for justice for victims of atrocities committed in formerly occupied East Timor.
The UN-sponsored Special Panels for Serious Crimes (SPSC) ceased operations on 20 May 2005, after trying fewer than one quarter of those indicted for serious human rights violations committed in Timor Leste in 1999.
The Australian-led military intervention in East Timor is considered one of the most successful peacekeeping missions in history. From the rubble of 1999 a mostly stable democratic nation has emerged. When the last of the United Nations peacekeepers pulled out over the weekend, there was good reason to celebrate.
[Excerpt from report by Emmy F FROM Detik.com web site on 22 May.]
Atambua – Smuggling of fuel and various basic commodities across the Indonesia-East Timor border has become rife again. There have been at least 100 cases of smuggling in the past four months via Belu district, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Jose Ramos-Horta sips Cuban rum and listens to classical music in the thatched-roof house he has built on a hill overlooking Dili harbour.
Advocate on behalf of East Timorese in Australia, Sr Susan Connelly, has said the Immigration Minister's change of heart on her decision to immediately deport 50 East Timorese asylum seekers who have been living in Australia for more than a decade.
Andra Jackson – Fifty refugees from East Timor facing deportation are celebrating after being told at the last minute their claims for protection will be reconsidered.
Dili – Tens of thousands of government supporters gathered in East Timor's capital Friday to mark the 31st anniversary of the foundation of the ruling FRETILIN party in festivities that coincided with the celebration of the country's third independence anniversary.
Dili – East Timor's political and military leaders unanimously criticized Thursday the UN Security Council's decision to ignore Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation that the new, pruned-back UN mission include a symbolic peacekeeping force.
The United Nations has marked the end of its peacekeeping operations on East Timor, celebrating a mission credited with bringing stability to the tiny country following its bloody break with Indonesia in 1999.
But while the last peacekeepers are to head home, a scaled-down UN presence will remain in the impoverished country for another year.
Taufik Basari, Jakarta – The atrocities that occurred in East Timor in 1999 have been recognized as gross violations of human rights that constitute international crimes. Elements of these crimes, such as torture, have been recognized as hostis humanis generis, or enemies of all mankind.
"Don't go around digging up old skeletons," so an old Indonesian saying goes.
Six-and-a-half years after the turmoil that swept the former province of East Timor (now Timor Leste), Indonesia has not respectfully laid to rest the skeletons of that fateful tragedy.
Dean Yates and Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia on Wednesday labelled as "irrelevant" a visit by UN experts who will inquire into bloodshed that swept East Timor in 1999 during an independence vote as well as into Jakarta's accounting for the violence.