This is a near verbatim transcript of the press briefing given by Ambassador Martin Andjaba, the head of the United Nations Security Council Mission to East Timor and Indonesia after a two-day visit to East Timor and just before flying for Kupang, in West Timor.

Dili, 14 November 2000

Thank you very much. We have come to the end of our visit to East Timor. But I want to again introduce the members of the delegation who are here. I will start with the Ambassador Soderberg of the United States, Ambassador Jerandi of Tunisia, Ambassador Pkuchyinski of Ukraine, Ambassador Hasmy of Malaysia, Ambassador Eldon of the United Kingdom and Minister Cappagli of Argentina.

Our mission has two parts. The first part is here, East Timor. That is to review the implementation of resolution 1272 of the Security Council. That resolution gave the mandate to UNTAET to prepare East Timor and its people for independence. The second part is a visit to Indonesia, that is West Timor and Jakarta. Our mandate there is to review the implementation of Security Council resolution 1319. That resolution set out requirements by the Council for Indonesia to implement certain requirements in regards to the situation of the security in the refugee camps in West Timor.

The other is to bring justice those who are responsible for the murders, the brutal murders of the UN personnel. The other objective is to assure the return, the global return, of the East Timorese refugees back to East Timor.

During our stay here, we have been able to observe closely what progress has been made by UNTAET. We had extensive discussions with the Transitional Administrator, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello. We have fruitful discussions with the members of the Cabinet and Mr. Xanana Gusmão. We also had fruitful discussions with other community leaders and NGOs. Yesterday we had a useful visit to Suai. And we also had a very interesting community meeting with the leaders of NGOs and other community members in Suai. We also were able to visit the site of the tragic massacre of the 6th of September. I must say that it was also a moving experience that this delegation came here at the time of the anniversary of the Santa Cruz killings.

As I said earlier on, we were here to review the implementation of resolution 1272. We are impressed by the remarkable achievements in East Timor. Some of us were here last year in September; we have seen the destruction that took place. And all the achievements that have been done are due to the efforts of Mr. De Mello and his people.

One other important achievement is the establishment of the Cabinet and the National Council. These are very important steps in the process of a transition to independence. Encouraging here also is the participation of women in all these efforts. You might be aware that the Security Council last month passed a resolution encouraging women to participate in all efforts that are made towards conflict resolution, peace building and post-conflict efforts. In all these efforts, the continued support of the international community is critical. As indicated at the beginning of this meeting, of this press conference, I would be glad to take a few questions that you may have and of course we may not have enough time to cover everything.

Q: Ambassador, do you think that two days in West Timor will be enough for you to assess the implementation of resolution 1319?

MA: Well, of course the time might not be enough. But what is important for us is to be able to receive briefings and have discussions with the Indonesian authorities. And for us to also see for ourselves on the ground what the situation is like. It makes a big difference if we had not come at all.

Q: After reviewing UNTAET’ work, do you think the people of East Timor are ready for independence?

MA: Yes, thank you very much. Our assessment here from mainly the discussions that we had with the leaders and with UNTAET, both civilian and military, is that the people of East Timor are ready for independence. Of course there might be problems here and there and those problems are of course important, but I don’t think they should be impediments in the way to independence. So these are our views – that East Timor is able to take over their country. They have suffered a long foreign occupation and domination. And I think the time has come for them to get their independence.

Q: Do you believe that the Indonesian authorities will give you an accurate picture of the situation on the ground both on militia and refugees? And if not, how are you going to go around so you have accurate information?

MA: Well, I do not want to doubt the information that will be given to us. Of course I cannot pre-judge while here what the Indonesians authorities will give when we get there. But it is our hope that we will get all the information that is required as per the provisions of resolution 1319.

Q: What measures can you take?

MA: Take measures? Well, I do not know what do you mean by measures. That means a lot of things. But of course we will be meeting in addition to Government officials. We will be meeting NGOs and other members of the civil society. And also we hope to meet with the refugees themselves to hear from them.

Q: What punishment should the Security Council give to Indonesia? And what can be done for UNHCR to go back to West Timor?

MA: On the last one, we hope to secure the agreement and understanding of the Indonesian authorities so that the UNHCR can go back to the refugee camps and do its work. One of course to prepare for the repatriation of refugees and all other issues that have to be done in the camps. So we are going to have discussions with the authorities there on that. We want the UNHCR and all other humanitarian agencies to get back to West Timor to the camps so that they can assist the refugees, in particular with the repatriation of the refugees back here to East Timor.

On the first one, yes, I know you asked that question yesterday and I avoided discussing it with you simply because our mandate here is very clear. We are not here to punish Indonesia or to recommend the Security Council for punishment. As I said in the beginning of this press conference, our mandate is to review the implementation of resolution 1319. And I am sure as a journalist you must have seen that resolution. And I am sure you know what the provisions of the resolution are. So there is no punishment in the resolution. So that is outside our mandate.

Q: There is an ongoing political conflict between RDTL and CNRT. First, do you recognize this group, RDTL? And secondly, have you met with their representatives or do you have the intention to do so?

MA: We have not met with those personalities. But certainly it is the right of the people of East Timor to exercise their right, their political right to form the organizations and of course in any set up, democratic set up, there must be some political oppositions. I think that is not foreign to this country. This country is at the beginning of democracy and I think that these are good signs perhaps for democracy that is beginning. But I cannot say much on this because this is the right of the people of East Timor themselves to do what they really want. What we are here to do – and the rest of UNTAET mission under De Mello – is to assist them to achieve their freedom and independence.

Q: Does the time of the election depend on the return of refugees?

MA: Of course it would be a good idea to have elections with all the refugees back. But I don’t think it should be make conditional. There are problems still. Other areas should be advanced as we go along.

Q: What is UNTAET doing regarding the repatriation of refugees still in West Timor?

MA: Well of course quite a number of refuges have already come back. But there are still many of them remaining. What we have been able to establish here is that UNTAET has the capacity to receive the refugees back and they gave us this briefing in detail as to how far they are prepared at any given time to receive those refugees back.

Q: Ambassador, how can you promise the East Timorese that you believe justice will be done when you were just told by UNTAET in Suai that there weren’t enough resources to carry out investigations of serious crimes?

MA: When that point was made to us an explanation was given as to the reasons why. And I think that there are limitations as I said in the beginning. The administrators are not in a position to administer everything successfully. So what is required now is for the international community to support the efforts here so that all these things that are being done here will be successful including the administration of justice.

SRSG Vieira de Mello: I would like to say that we are co-operating with Marzuki Darusman [Indonesian Attorney General] in Jakarta. He has the Suai massacre among the five serious crimes that he is investigating. He has sent a team of 30 investigators here to whom we have given full support. We have provided these investigators with all the evidence that we have managed to collect on the Suai massacre. So we will now wait and see whether Indonesia – whenever the human rights tribunal is established, which we hope will be soon – takes that case to court and tries the suspects that have already been named by Marzuki in his first list of 22 suspects.

Q: How important is for the United Nations to go to West Timor in full time? I hear there are plans for the UN to go part time? The other question is on Suai. You went to the site of the Suai massacre and yet that massacre is not one of the four cases which are being investigated by the war crimes tribunal here. Any feelings about that?

MA: On the last point, we had discussions here of course with UNTAET, Mr. De Mello and his people. We have made our point known to them on that and they are going to look into it. On the presence of UN security in West Timor that is one other issue we would like to take up with the Indonesian authorities so that we know when it will be possible for them to go to West Timor.

Q: How are political considerations affecting your mission?

MA: Well, we know the situation in Indonesia and we take that into account. We will try by all means to have co-operation from them. This is what we want. We don’t want any confrontation. We want co-operation with the Indonesian authorities so that everything can be done to address the issue of refugees, the most important issue and to bring them back to East Timor.

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