A report just received by ETISC from reliable sources in Dili, East Timor confirms that a very significant gathering took place there on Saturday 6 June.

Jakarta – President Jusuf Habibie has no plans to change Indonesia's policy on the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, the Jakarta Post reported on Tuesday.

At least 1,500 students took part in a free-speech assembly at the University of East Timor in Dili today, 1 June, according to a report received by TAPOL from local sources.

The event took place despite attempts by the University Rector, P. Theo T. Ralella to prevent it from happening.

Xanana Gusmao, ex-leader of the East Timorese guerrilla fighters who reject integration with Indonesia, has said that the Suharto regime is responsible for most of the problems in East Timor.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received information from reliable sources that an East Timorese man, Costodio da Silva Nunes, was extra-judicially executed by Indonesian security personnel on 7 May, 1998.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information in relation to Sabino Barbosa Ximenes who was detained in Dili on 11 September, 1997, by members of SGI (Special Intelligence Unit).

A prominent Muslim leader in Indonesia, also seen as the emerging leader of a People's Power movement against President Suharto, today, called for the right of self-determination of the East Timorese people to be respected. He also admitted that Indonesia's rule of the troubled territory is a severe drain on Jakarta's coffers.

Semarang – Jail sentences of between 3 and 4 years were sought for four East Timorese students undergoing trial in Semarang, Central Java on charges of possessing explosives. The foru students, Domingus Natalino, Joaqim Santana, Fernao Pedro Malta and Ivo Salvador were charged under Article No. 12/DRT/1951 of the Criminal Code, and Article No.

Dili – Four Timorese youth were shot dead last week in Maubara, 50 km west of Dili, religious sources at the territory said on Monday.

According to several sources quoted by Agence France Press, local militias armed by the Indonesian forces allegedly executed the four youth.

Richard Waddington, Lisbon – East Timor's traditionally fractious resistance movements have united to elect jailed guerrilla chief Xanana Gusmao as leader of a new single front against Indonesian rule of the Pacific territory.

Indonesia has succeeded in getting the United Nations Human Rights Commission to drop a resolution condemning its human rights record in East Timor. Lisa Schlein reports from the commission meeting in Geneva that a deal was worked out whereby Indonesia received a milder form of rebuke.

Hundreds of East Timorese students demonstrated at the Semarang district court as the trial of four East Timorese was underway. They demanded that the four men be freed.

For the second time running, the prosecutor was unable to present Constancio da Costa as a witness to testify at the trial. He said this was for security reasons and in consideration of the costs.

Macau – Three leaders of the Movement for the Reunification and Unity of the People of East Timor (MRUPTL) have been subpoenaed by the Indonesian police to be interrogated on Thursday.

Jakarta - East Timorese were suffering the affects of a prolonged drought, but claims that residents of the former Portuguese colony were facing "mass starvation" were false, the territory's Indonesian-appointed governor said on Wednesday.

Diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a solution to the East Timor problem seem to be making little headway of late and for that reason a large group of East Timorese youths today demonstrated in front of the British Embassy in Jakarta.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court has sentenced an East Timorese man to 20 years in prison for allegedly smuggling homemade bombs into the disputed territory last year, the official Antara news agency reported today.

Antara said Constancio Costa Dos Santos, 21, was convicted by the Dili District Court on Tuesday on charges of undermining the Indonesian government.

Coimbra, 01 Apr (Lusa) - Indonesian military arrested and "tortured" a young Timorese in Dili on Friday, a Timorese student in Portugal said on Tuesday.

Lisbon – The commander of the Armed Forces for the Liberation of East Timor (FALINTIL) Konis Santana died on March 11 after falling in an embankment, Portuguese radio RDP announced on Monday, quoting a radio message by the a spokesman for FALINTIL, Taur Matan Ruak.

Sydney – Indonesian soldiers detained and tortured a young Timorese farmer early this month in the region of Baucau, the organisation East Timor International Support Centre (ETISC) said on Friday.

It said in a statement that the farmer who was seriously injured during the detention was now under the care of his family.

Lisbon – The head of the external delegation of East Timorese resistance movement FRETILIN warned on Saturday for the shortage of basic foodstuffs in East Timor, due to the "economic, social and political crisis" affecting Indonesia.

Sydney – Timorese leaders in Australia described the re-election of Suharto on Tuesday for the Indonesian presidency as a structural and political weakness in the Southeast Asian nation that it would only be solved if the vice-president Habibie, could guarantee a proper transition in the post-Suharto era.

Bangkok – A Group of human-rights advocates successfully concluded two international seminars on East Timor this week despite continued "low intensity harassment" by Thai authorities.

Sydney – The Australian government announced on Thursday that it had granted seven new licences to explore oil in the Sea of Timor.

Jakarta – Three alleged Timorese activists were arrested in Dili by the Indonesian authorities on 26 February, Indonesian news agency Antara said on Wednesday.

Lisbon – A group of six Timorese who had sought refuge at the Spanish embassy three weeks ago left Indonesia to Portugal on Tuesday, the Portuguese Red Cross announced.

The six Timorese who have complained of persecution by the Indonesian police, left Indonesia in a KLM flight.

Dili – Fighting between Timorese guerrillas and Indonesian forces in the East Timor region of Ermera on Wednesday caused the death of two resistance members and one Indonesian soldier, according to a military source.

Today the 25th of February, Cecilia Redner and Marija Fischer from the women's ploughshares group Choose Life were found guilty of attempt to malicious damage and violation of the law protecting facilities important to society (roughly translated). Cecilia, a priest in the Church of Sweden, was sentenced to fines and three years of correctional education.

Lisbon – East Timorese activist Jose Ramos Horta has disagreed with the disclosure of a letter allegedly sent by the jailed resistance leader Xanana Gusmao where he argued against appeals for an end of armed fight in the troubled territory.

Table of contents

Executive summary

A. Introduction

Dili – Six University of East Timor (UNTIM) students were brought to trial, last Wednesday (11/2). Aniceto Guterres Lopes and Vincente Daton Igon, lawyers from the HAK (Legal, Justice and Human Rights) Foundation accompanied the six students to the Court.

Dili – Security agents arrested two unidentified East Timorese youths, last Wednesday (11/2). The arrest took place near Dili State Court. At that time, the judge just began their hearing on the trial of six University of East Timor (UNTIM) students. They are accused of torturing Army soldiers in UNTIM campus.

Dili – Joao, 20, a citizen of Limanaru village, Raerobu, Sub-district Atabae, District Bobonaro, East Timor, had mysteriously disappeared from Guico Public Health Clinic (Puskesmas). An unknown armed group shot and kidnapped him.

Dili – Six students of the University of East Timor have gone on trial on charges of 'torturing' three members of the armed forces. The trial commenced on 11 February.

The six [all political science students] are: Francisco de Deus, 20; Domingos da Silva, 25; Silveiro Baptista Ximenes, 23; Juvinal dos Santos Moniz, 22; Bernardino Simao, 23 and; Vicente Marquez da Crus, 21.

Lisbon – The eight East Timorese who have sought shelter one week ago at the Spanish embassy in Jakarta left to Portugal on Thursday, a source at the diplomatic mission told Lusa.

The youth, with ages ranging from 18 to 29, are expected to arrive in Lisbon on Friday.

Joaquim T. de Negreiros, Lisbon – Joao Carrascalao, Chairman of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), is unbending: UDT will not take part in the first resistance overseas congress. There are various reasons, but one determining factor is his rejection of Ramos Horta's status as Xanana Gusmao's overseas representative.

Andrew Perrin, Dili – The troubled Indonesian province of East Timor is facing yet another catastrophe - this one generated not by politics but by the failure of monsoon rains due to the El Nino effect.

According to an AFP report on 23 January, the trial started in Dili of David Ximenes 44, who is being charged with "separatism". The charge carries a maximum sentence of life. (The report does not mention the article under which he is being charged.)

Dili – The accused Falintil bomb-maker, Constancio da Costa dos Santos alias Aquita, tore apart the District Attorney's official response paper on Wednesday 21 January, 1998. The incidence that took place in the courtroom of Dili State Court surprised Judge I Made Nandu and District Attorney Eko Purwanto and the audience packed in the courtroom.

FALINTIL activist Constancio stunned the court at the hearing of his trial last week when he angrily tore up the prosecutor's response to his demurrer which had challenged the indictment read out at the first hearing.

Without doubt it is the women of East Timor who have suffered the most. While they have undergone what can only be described as martyrdom, the international community has chosen to turn a blind eye to their pleas for help.

Lisbon – The five East Timorese who have sought refuge last Thursday on the French embassy in Jakarta are expected to arrive in Lisbon on Tuesday, a source at the Portuguese Red Cross told Lusa on Monday.

Jon Land – Foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer announced on January 12 that the federal government now recognises that East Timor has the right to self-determination.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received a report from a reliable source that Lucas da Costa, 49, an East Timorese professor from Surabaya, Indonesia, who disappeared on 23 December, 1997, has been released after being arbitrarily detained by the Indonesian authorities.

Jakarta – Anti-Indonesian rebels shot dead two militiamen in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in an ambush on a car carrying a village leader, the official Antara news agency reported on Friday.

ETHRC has received reports that Elizio Pinto Guterres Soares (also known as Mito), 25, an East Timorese man studying in Semarang, Indonesia, was arrested and tortured by members of the Indonesian security forces on 1 January, 1998,

Jakarta – Five youths from the troubled Indonesian territory of East Timor spent the night in the French embassy here today after jumping the gate and demanding to be allowed to leave for Portugal, sources said.

Dili – Four East Timorese have been found dead days after they were abducted from their village by a group of unidentified armed men, a local official said.

The four victims from Coilima village, about 60 km west of the territory's capital Dili, were among a group of eight people seized on January 3, Francisco Martins Dias, a local district chief, said.

According to Kompas (12 January 1998), the military authorities claim to have shot dead two members of the armed resistance during an encounter with an armed group of 25 people. The incident occurred on 9 January in Buatete Kampung, Hatolia sub-distrcit. in the district of Ermera. The district chief said that the other members of the group fled.

Six East Timorese men will now go to trial for their alleged involvement in the manufacture and possession of home-made bombs. The trials are expected to commence soon.

Jakarta – Tens of Timorese students demonstrated on Monday in Semarang, in the centre of Java, against the "police terrorism" and the recent kidnappings of students and an university teacher.

Mariano Lopes, one of the Timorese student leaders told by phone that the demonstration was held in front of the regional parliament of Semarang, 400 km of Jakarta.