24 July - 6 August 2000 Vol. I, No. 12

Tais Timor is a public information service of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)

The new cabinet of the TransitionalGovernment in East Timor - comprising

four East Timorese and four internationalstaff - recently held its first two meetings,representing the first time in history thatEast Timorese leaders participated as equalpartners in the governance of their country.

The first session followed the historicannouncement and swearing in of EastTimor’s Transitional Cabinet on 15 July atUNTAET Headquarters. A range of organi-zational issues was discussed, including cab-inet procedures, a code of conduct and fre-quency of meetings.

At the second meeting, the Cabinetagreed to appoint Mari Alkatiri, who is incharge of Economic Affairs, and PeterGalbraith, who is responsible for PoliticalAffairs, to the Ministerial Council for theZone of Cooperation in the Timor Gap.

“We can from now on provide to theTimorese population as well as to our inter-national partners one single point of entry;one single focal point in each of the main sec-tors of public activity to the government ofEast Timor,” Transitional AdministratorSergio Vieira de Mello said after the ceremo-ny.

The international cabinet members inaddition to Mr. Galbraith are: Jean-Christian Cady, the Deputy SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-Generalwho will be responsible for the portfolio ofPolice and Emergency Services; Judge GitaHonwana-Welch, who will oversee Justice,and Michael Francino, responsible forFinance.

Besides Mr. Alkatiri, the Timorese cabi-net members are: Judge Ana Pessoa, incharge of Internal Administration; JoãoCarrascalão, responsible for Infrastructure;and Father Filomeno Jacob, responsible forSocial Affairs.

Mariano Lopes da Cruz was appointedInspector-General for the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the National ConsultativeCouncil (NCC) approved a regulation on theestablishment of a National Council, its suc-cessor law-making body. Minor modifica-tions were made to the draft regulation onthe Council, including a name change fromthe National Legislative Council (NLC), toemphasize the consultative nature of thenew body.

The current 15-member NCC will be dis-solved at the first session of the NationalCouncil, which will comprise 33 EastTimorese members from the political, reli-gious and private sectors. The TransitionalAdministrator will have the final say in theapproval of any draft regulation proposed tothe cabinet by the NC.

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Published bi-weekly in Tetun, English, Portuguese and Bahasa Indonesia and distributed free of charge

United Nations senior officials and EastTimorese leaders turned out to pay tribute

at a memorial service for a New Zealand peace-keeper killed in a recent clash with suspectedmilitias.

“Thank you for helping us, Leonard,” CNRTPresident Xanana Gusmão said in a movingfuneral speech for Private Leonard WilliamManning, the first UN soldier to die in action inEast Timor since the deployment of UN troopson 1 February. Pvt. Manning died on 24 Julynear Suai of gunshot wounds to the head andshoulders after an armed group fired at his five-man tracking team.

“We fought for 24 years, we died for thiscountry, for this people,” Mr. Gusmão told thepacked congregation in Dili’s Motael Church.Now, for the first time, “a peace-keeping soldierdied for us.”

As commander of a small guerrilla army,Mr. Gusmão recalled, the lesson he had learnedwas not to cry for the dead, but to honour them.“Thank you all who lost their lives here in EastTimor,” he said in tribute. “All of you will liveforever in our history, in our liberation struggleand in our efforts to rebuild a new country withpeace and democracy.”

Transitional Administrator Sergio Vieira deMello emphasised that “there is no room withinthese walls for revenge - none whatsoever.” Theneed was for justice, and he would demand theextradition of the murderers if they were foundon the other side of the border.

The hope was that Pvt. Manning’s death

would help achieve the aim “we are all here toachieve - banning violence from the lives of allTimorese,” Mr. Vieira de Mello added.

Lt. Col. Dransfield, commander of the RoyalNew Zealand Infantry Regiment, pledged thatPvt. Manning’s killing would not deter theUnited Nations peacekeepers: “We owe it to Lennot to walk away from East Timor.” They wouldcarry on with the work he and others had start-ed. “You can be assured we will push on withrenewed determination to succeed,” he pledged,before New Zealand soldiers sang a lilting Maorihymn to the accompaniment of guitars.

According to a spokesperson for the UNPeacekeeping Force (UN-PKF), an armed groupfired at Pvt. Manning’s team from about 10metres, forcing the peacekeepers to withdraw.Once the New Zealand group had reassembled,they noticed that Pvt. Manning was missing.His body was found near the location of the fire-fight.

Spokesperson Lt. Col. Brynjar Nymo saidthe assailants acted as if they had received somekind of military training.

Pvt. Manning’s squad was following up on areport of nine armed individuals dressed ingreen fatigues wearing wool masks over theirheads. The patrol had moved from south tonorth, following the suspected militia tracks.

Whether the group is pro-integrationistmilitia that crossed from West Timor, or a groupthat for some time has been operating withinEast Timor, was unclear, according to Lt. Col.Nymo.

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Saying GGoodbye: Members of the RoyalNew Zealand Infantry Regiment (above) at thememorial service for Pvt. Leonard WilliamManning, the first UN soldier to be killed inaction in East Timor since the deployment of UNtroops on 1 February.

CNRT President Xanana Gusmão (right), ina moving tribute, thanked Pvt. Manning and allthose who died for helping the people of EastTimor during “our liberation struggle and in ourefforts to rebuild a new country with peace anddemocracy.”

Photos by OCPI-UNTAET

24 July - 6 August 2000 Tais Timor

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Second in a series

What is a constitution? Textbooks say itis a country’s highest law, with the

greatest authority and power. This is notalways so, however. Sometimes it is a merepiece of paper that everyone safely ignores.But when it is the result of real decisionsand commitments, then constitutions aregenuinely important.

Many people have the impression that aconstitution is something you write, like anarticle in Tais Timor. If they know a lotabout constitutions, they might also mentionthe British case as an interesting exception:an unwritten constitution. But the writingitself is not that important. If Britain has anunwritten constitution, that only meansthere is no separate piece of paper bearingthe title “The Constitution of Britain.” ButBritain is committed to some basic princi-ples of government, some of which are writ-ten down in law, and that is the British con-stitution. Whether something is writtendown on paper is not that important: a con-stitution is something you must decide. Adecision and a commitment are key. Youwrite it down simply to have a clear record ofwhat you decided. But you do usually writeit down. It is a document, a text written onpaper.

Haitians have a saying that constitu-tions are paper, but bayonets are iron. In aconflict between the two, bayonets will win.So what good are constitutions? Not much, ifthey remain on paper, as many do. In suchcases, they are not records of decisions andcommitments, but are usually propagandadocuments that can be safely ignored.

On the other hand, if a constitution isthe product of a real decision then it can bethe foundation of your future independence,a foundation in law.

To become independent, a country oftengoes through two stages: a fight for inde-pendence, followed by a period of buildingindependence. You must first get rid of for-eign rule. But chaos can easily replace for-eign rule, so a nation must also create theinstitutions necessary for it to govern itself.It must be able to make decisions and to act.

The most important of those institutionsare established by the constitution. Thesestages can be called the stage of the guerril-la and the stage of the constitution. EastTimor is now right between those twostages.

The fighting stage has one main task: toget rid of foreign rule. The building stage, bycontrast, has many tasks. The two stagesare very different, and people everywherehave found transition from one to the next

CONSTITUTION AAND IINDEPENDENCEquite difficult. One big difference is this: com-mitment to the struggle during the first stageis shown above all by willingness to makeimmediate sacrifices. But during the buildingstage you have to think in a long-term way.

It is a bit like building a big solid house.You begin with the foundation. That is a con-stitution. “Constitution” comes from theLatin word that means “to create” or “tobuild.” You want to build a house that willnot collapse tomorrow. You must think of allthe dangers the house will have to face in theyears to come: rain, wind, fire, perhaps evenan earthquake. You want to build a constitu-tion in that way, too, so that it can withstandwhatever dangers your country will face.What could these dangers be? Unfortunately,every country faces many possible dangers inits future: the danger of external invasion,but also the danger of civil war, the danger ofgridlock and paralysis so that governmentcannot function, or the danger of corruptionwhen public officials go after private gain atthe expense of public purpose. And there isalways the danger that some group withguns will try to take power. A good constitu-tion should diminish all these dangers.

So one big difference between the fight-ing stage and the building stage is this: whenyou are fighting you think of immediate dan-gers, but when you are building, you think

also of dangers in the long-term future.There is another important difference

between these two stages. At the fightingstage, unity is crucial and many disagree-ments can be postponed. There is one cleartask, to get rid of foreign rule. At the stageof building there are many tasks, and dis-agreements cannot be postponed. So every-one must learn how to disagree with eachother. During the stage of fighting, “unity”is the right slogan. At the stage of building,I believe the best slogan is that adopted bythe First National Congress of Women inEast Timor: “Unity in Diversity.”

You now face many disagreements thatyou can no longer postpone: that is the“diversity” part. But there can still be anelement of unity if you don’t let the dis-agreements divide you from one another.

Unity in diversity means that both ele-ments are present: serious disagreementsexist, but they do not divide people com-pletely. Unity is present as well. Unity indiversity is a wonderful ideal in manyspheres of life. I was very moved when I sawit as the theme of the Women’s Congress. Itseems to me the perfect theme as you movefrom the stage of fighting for independenceto the stage of building it, beginning with aconstitution.

School TTeachers wwith VVision: After ateam of Australian optometrists tested the eye-sight of Timorese school teachers in a jointUNICEF-WHO programme, 70 of them triedon their new spectacles at a 28 July ceremony.Thirty teachers also received training to screenfor students with poor eyesight. UNICEF is alsosupporting a programme of corrective eye sur-gery at the Dili ICRC Hospital for Timoresekids who need it.

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Tais Timor 24 July - 6 August 2000

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NNeewwss BBrriieeffsspresented by the Indonesians.

The five cases are the Liquica Churchmassacre; the Suai Church massacre; theattack on Manuel Carrascalao’s residence;the attack on Bishop Belo’s compound; andthe murder of Dutch journalist SanderThoenes.

The 10-day visit is the result of the firstworking-level meeting between UNTAET’slegal and political representatives and theirIndonesian counterparts in Jakarta on 8June.

The Indonesian team consists of 15investigators, two legal advisers, two typistsand two interpreters. They are accompaniedby five Indonesian journalists.

The Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’Association (PANPA) launched a jointwebsite for all print media in EastTimor at the organization’s 31st annual con-ference in Sydney.

The East Timor Press Web Project ismaintained and hosted by staff and studentsof the School of Media and Journalism at theQueensland University of Technology.

The site will be transferred to the man-agement of East Timorese journalists in Diliearly next year. The local journalists will betrained and supported in website develop-ment by UNTAET’s Media DevelopmentUnit and Queensland University ofTechnology.

Two newspapers, Timor Post andLalenok, will be on-line atwww.easttimorpress.qut.edu.au

The Government of Japan, UNTAET andthe United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) recently signed sixproject funding agreements worth US$27.5million - the largest contribution made sofar for the rehabilitation of infrastruc-ture in East Timor.

Projects include rehabilitation andimprovement of the water supply system togive the population in the Dili regionaccess to safe drinking water; rehabilita-tion of the Dili-Ainaro-Cassa road, whichwill improve the distribution of humanitar-ian and other supplies and boost economicrecovery; irrigation rehabilitation inManatuto, which will increase agriculturalproductivity and enhance food security;restoration of navigation aids and the fend-er system in Dili port; and rehabilitation ofpower stations and distribution networksin Dili and 13 rural areas.

UNTAET’s Chief of Staff, ParameswaranNagalingam, met the former militialeader of the Aitarak group, EuricoGuterres, in Kupang, West Timor, in July.The meeting included six other pro-auton-omy leaders from the Forum for the Unityof Democracy and Justice (FPDK) andFront for the People of East Timor (BRTT).

The seven leaders indicated that theywere interested in a “come-and-see” trip toDili. UNTAET is currently working withCNRT to facilitate the trip and UNTAET’sKupang office is in close liaison withIndonesia’s West Timor Commander,Major-General Kiki Syahnakari, in thisprocess of reconciliation. Security detailsare being worked out by UNTAET. No datehas been fixed for the visit yet.

Meanwhile, Gen. Syahnakari, speak-ing in Oecussi on 12 July, called on theEast Timorese to put last year’s violencebehind them and welcome back therefugees, including former militia mem-bers. The General said he believed thatthousands of refugees in West Timor want-ed to return home but feared for their secu-rity.

The first disbursement of loans to EastTimorese businesses were recently madeas part of the Small Enterprises Projectfinanced by the World Bank-administeredTrust Fund for East Timor. ThePortuguese bank, Banco NacionalUltramarina (BNU), is the implementingagency.

Twenty applicants from Dili weregranted loans worth a total of US$307,000for projects varying from a transport busi-ness and carpentry shops to a boutique anda guesthouse. The projects will createabout 250 jobs. Ten of the loans went tofemale entrepreneurs.

A team from the Indonesian AttorneyGeneral’s Office arrived in Dili on 19 Julyto question witnesses and collect anyresulting material evidence concern-ing the five priority criminal cases

On 21 July, Televisao UNTAET beganbroadcasting every Friday from 6 p.m.The new time-slot, changed from Tuesdaysat 5 p.m., followed numerous requests todelay broadcasts to allow workers time to gethome to watch the programme. The one hourper week broadcast will continue until earlySeptember when facilities at a new radioand television complex will make it possiblefor enhanced transmissions to begin.

Because of security concerns, the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) closed its office in Betun butwill continue to deliver basic services such asfood aid distribution and provide repatria-tion services to the 120,000 refugees in WestTimor. The decision came at a meeting inDenpasar, Indonesia, with UN agencies andnon-governmental organizations working inWest Timor. UNHCR staff were relocated toAtambua, where they will carry out theirfunctions in the Belu district.

An assessment of the state of coffee productionwas undertaken in the AAiilleeuu district. UNTAETand CNRT agricultural staff visited seven vil-lages in coffee growing subdistricts and inter-viewed 21 farmers. Results will be used in plan-ning short- and medium-term intervention incoffee cultivation.

Celebrations for the patron saint of BBaauuccaauu, St.Antonio, took place on 8 July. Although this isan annual ritual, this year the district celebrat-ed particularly vigorously with various tradition-al cultural events and religious processions.

About 500 participants from 12 organizationsattended the Youth Congress in DDiillii in mid-July.The meeting expressed support for Portugueseas the official language and Tetun as thenational language, and the Fretilin flag and the1975 National Anthem as national symbols.

The Commander of UN Peacekeeping Forces(UN-PKF), Jaime de los Santos, visited EErrmmeerraain early July and participated in the opening ofthe two Bailey Bridges on the Hatolia Road. TheBangladesh Engineering battalion, with thehelp of local labour, repaired the two bridges,which will enable humanitarian agencies to re-start their activities in the area.

In other news, 90 water buffaloes, 84 Balicows and 7,690 chickens will be distributed inthe district as part of the World Bank-fundedproject. The poorest farmers will be given pri-ority in distribution.

District News The first Congress in LLaauutteemm of the NationalCouncil of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) tookplace in Lospalos on 3-6 July. Participants fromall subdistricts discussed political, security, edu-cation, culture, health and agricultural issues.The nation state and the choice of political sys-tem were discussed at length, with the majori-ty of participants agreeing that East Timorshould adopt a republican, democratic consti-tution.

Radio Same (99.3 FM) of MMaannuuffaahhii is now onair during evening hours. Television signalscan also be received.

In the OOeeccuussssii subdistrict of Pante Makkasar asuspected case of typhoid fever has resulted inone death in Bunei village. A health care non-governmental organization (NGO) is monitor-ing the village and surrounding areas for fur-ther cases.

Reconstruction of a secondary school andrebuilding of a community centre in Fohoremsubdistrict of SSuuaaii recently began under theTemporary Employment Project (TEP). Thereconstruction work is expected to be finishedby the end of August. Because of the bad con-dition of the road after the heavy rains a fewweeks ago, UNTAET in Suai and the TEP work-ers from the subdistrict used horses to bringthe materials to Fohorem from Tilomar sub-district. So far, about US$3.8 million has beenspent in funding TEPs in East Timor. By 31August, US$4.5 million will have been spent.Approximately 50,000 people currently workunder TEPs territory-wide.

24 July - 6 August 2000 Tais Timor

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The name Tais Timor conjures the image of the careful, time-honoured process that goes into making the traditional Timorese cloth used in all important life events. As the different“ingredients” that make up East Timor come together during the transitional period to rebuild the country, Tais Timor aims to record and reflect those events that weave the beautiful tap-estry that is Timor Lorosa’e.A bi-weekly public information service of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). Published in Tetun, Indonesian, Portuguese and English. Written, edit-ed and designed by the UNTAET Office of Communication and Public Information (OCPI). Circulation 100,000. UNTAET-OCPI, c/- PO Box 2436, Darwin NT 0801, Australia. Tel: +61-8-8942-2203 Fax: +61-8-8981-5157 email: untaet-ocpi@un.org Not an official document. For information purposes only.

Dear readers, I know many of you aroundTimor Lorosa’e still have questions or

are confused about the idea of a “coalition”government. Things like how it would beimplemented. When would it start? Howwould the Timorese participate in this “co-government?”

Well, some of you dropped by my homeand we talked about it. Listen in to my dis-cussion with a few young fellows who want-ed to learn more about this new partnershipbetween UNTAET and East Timor.Alau: Hello Tiu. Diak ka la’e?Tiu: I’m fine, and you? Why are you andyour friends here? Tell me what’s troublingyou.Aniku: Well Tiu, you remember last time Iwas here with my friends discussingUNTAET and what it’s doing in TimorLorosa’e? This time my colleagues and Iwould like to talk about this new coalitiongovernment. Would you mind helping usunderstand what it all means?Tiu: Of course not, fire away.Ameu: Well, this might be a dumb question,but what exactly does coalition mean?Tiu: Ameu, there is no such thing as a dumbquestion. There are a lot of things in life thatwe don’t understand, and it’s quite impor-tant that we make the effort to ensure thatthey are clear to us, both for our own sakeand for the good of the country.

A coalition in this case is a partnershipbetween UNTAET and East Timorese politi-cal leaders. UNTAET is indeed handing overleadership positions and giving EastTimorese a stake in how Timor Lorosa’e isrun, while East Timorese will bear some ofthe responsibility for the policies and deci-sions made by the administration. So yousee, both sides are finally putting into prac-tice what each has often publicly stated theywanted.Aje: But Tiu, why now? Why didn’t they dothis from the beginning of the mission? East

Timor would have been much different bynow, right?Tiu: You may be right, East Timor mighthave been different by now. But remember,UNTAET is here under the authority of theUN Security Council’s Resolution 1272,which stressed the need for the TransitionalAdministration to consult and cooperateclosely with the East Timorese and to looktowards developing local democratic institu-tions.

In less than year after arriving in TimorLorosa’e, UNTAET’s decision-makingprocess has evolved from input from theTimorese through the National ConsultativeCouncil (NCC) - which had only 15 membersand included international representatives -to a cabinet in which four Timorese and fourinternational members will share responsi-bility for running the government. The NCChas also been transformed into a 33-memberNational Council that is wholly Timorese andthat represents all segments of society -women’s groups, student organizations, eachof the 13 districts, to name a few.

The transformation of these bodies is areal effort to prepare Timorese to take overthe governance of the territory whenUNTAET leaves.Atoi: Can you tell us what are UNTAET’sother objectives for bringing more Timoreseinto the government?Tiu: Of course. You guys might have heardSergio Vieira de Mello’s live interview withRadio UNTAET on 14 July. He said thatthere would be recruitment of up to 10,000East Timorese into the new Government’sCivil Service. They’ll receive training andwork alongside international staff to gainpractical experience. Timorese will also grad-ually be put in charge of certain governmentdepartments.

You guys have to understand, this is thefirst time in the history of the United Nationsthat it is sharing transitional leadership with

the leadership of the local community.Dua Kay: OK, that’s great. But why can’t itbe done faster? We’ve waited 500 years tofinally be able to have control over our ownlives.Tiu: Young man, it is quite easy to say that,but not so easy, of course, to actually turnour wishes into reality. It needs a process oforganizing and managing. The importantthing about the length of the transition peri-od, Mr. Vieira de Mello said in his radiointerview, is that there is a danger whenyou’re moving too fast or too slow. He saidthat the timeframe suggested by CNRTPresident Xanana Gusmao and Vice-President José Ramos Horta regarding theholding of elections and the proclamation ofan independent state of East Timor was rea-sonable. That means some time next yearTimor Lorosa’e will begin the process of set-ting up its very own country.

Well guys, listen, it is very important toget information about what is happeninghere in Timor Lorosa’e.

And you all know that the NCC meet-ings are open to the public, so you guys real-ly should go over and listen to the discus-sions, and determine whether your voice isbeing represented. And from that, you canregister your criticisms or suggestions.

Anyway guys, sorry, but I’m in a hurryto join a meeting in the office today. Butwe’ll talk more soon.

Goodbye!

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East TTimorZZebra BBaucau and Kakusanfought out a goalless draw inthe final of the first-ever CopaVoz De Esperanca and it wasdecided that they would be jointwinners of the competition.Black SSttone was awarded the“fair play” trophy and strikerJeka of Kakusan was judgedbest player. The tournament’stop goal-scorer was ZZebra strik-er Victor with 19. The awardceremony took place on 30 July.

World SSport NNewsSoccer ttransfer mmarketBenfica cleared speculation overthe transfer of two of its playerswhen Jose Luiz Vidigal left toplay for Napoli and NunoGomes agreed to move toFiorenttina as a replacement forBatistuta, who left for AS RRomafor a record US$37 milliontransfer fee.

Not to be outdone by rivalsRoma, Lazio upped the recordby signing Hernan Crespo from

AC PParma for US$54.6 million.Then on 24 July Portuguesenational mid-fielder Luis Figobecame the world’s most expen-sive player, moving fromBarcelona to Real MMadrid forUS$56 million.

Manchestter UUnitted turned downbids from Milan and Barcelonafor right-winger DavidBeckham. Man UU has repeated-ly said Beckham is not for sale.Barca’s new management alsoraised the issue of persuadingZinedine Zidane to play at Nou

Camp, while the De Boer broth-ers seem to be among those onthe club’s “for sale” list.

Juventtus completed a deal toacquire French national strikerDavid Trezequet from Monaco.

BoxingLennox Lewis remained worldheavyweight champion anddeclared himself the world’sbest fighter after knocking outSouth Africa’s Francois Botha inthe second round in London on15 July.