Dili, 15 March 2000
An International Organization for Migration (IOM) ship carrying some 480
returnees from West Timor docked in Dili harbor this morning (just before
8am).
The security procedures on arrival of the returnees, introduced after last
week s discovery of weapons on board of the same ship, included inspection
of all the baggage on the ship. The East Timor Border Control Service, with
help of UNTAET Peacekeeping Force and CivPol, carried out the inspections.
In the course of the procedure, returnees got off the ship with their baggage
in groups of 30.
They were taken into the immigration and customs clearance area, where they were checked against the ship s passenger list. Following this they were asked to identify their baggage, which was then inspected by customs officers. One airgun and a small quantity of drugs were found and confiscated. Following the inspections, returnees from Dili went to their homes. The returnees coming from outside of Dili went to the transit center, from which they will be taken to their original home.
There were around 20 former TNI and militia members on the ship, who were briefly questioned by CivPol before being transferred to the transit center.
WARNING SHOT FIRED TO DISPERSE CROWD IN DILI
An UNTAET Peacekeeping Force soldier fired a single shot in the air to disperse a crowd of some 500 people that gathered to collect job application forms for the 29 jobs on offer by UNTAET.
The shot was fired when a woman fainted at the front of the crowd, and was almost crushed by the surging mass. A patrol of three Portuguese soldiers attended the large crowd that gathered in front of the building of the future Civil Service Recruitment Center in Dili. When the situation started getting out of control with people surging forward, the soldiers called for reinforcements. After the shot was fired and the crowd backed off, the UN PKF reinforcements arrived and situation was calmed down. Some 600 applications were handed out in the course of the day. TIMORESE JUDGES RECEIVE FORENSIC TRAINING Forensic experts from the UNTAET Human Rights Division started a training course in forensic evidence gathering for the Timorese judges, prosecutors and public defenders.
The training is focused on training in establishing cause of death and proof of identity. The trainees include the currently appointed judges, prosecutors and public defenders, together with the 12 selected candidates for appointment.
SRSG IN VIQUEQUE SRSG
Sergio Vieira de Mello left this morning for Viqueque as part of his program to go to all districts and meet with the local population, get first-hand knowledge of their needs, see projects and hold discussions with UN personnel on the ground. The SRSG was to meet with the community leaders, representatives of the Church, CNRT, Council of Women and the Student Council. Tomorrow morning he will visit the Uato-Lari sub-district. After meeting local leaders, he is expected to address the local population.
DETAINEES IN DILI DETENTION CENTER GO ON A HUNGER STRIKE OVER COLD FOOD
Thirty nine detainees at the Dili Civil Detention Center refused to eat dinner on Tuesday night, saying that the food was causing them health problems such as diarrhea. The detainees didn t complain against the food as such, but with the fact that the food was being served cold. UNTAET CivPol spoke to the food supplier and from now on the detainees will receive only hot meals. Currently, there are 59 detainees in the Detention Center.
