IEC COMPLETES COMPILATION OF FINAL VOTERS LISTThe Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced today that it had finished compiling the voters list for the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections and that as of 23 August, copies of the final list will be available in every polling center throughout the country.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Carlos Valenzuela said the final electoral roll to be used for the 30 August elections includes the names of 409,019 voters. A total of 26,331 eligible voters that did not appear on the preliminary voters roll were added to the list following the Exhibition and Challenge period that ended 27 July.
Valenzuela today reiterated that any eligible registered voter whose name does not appear on the final voters list will be able to vote providing they show proof of registration dated on or before the 23 June 2001 civil registration deadline.
The final voters list shows Dili district to have the highest number of registered eligible voters (78,212) and Aileu district the fewest, with 15, 846 eligible to cast ballots.
The Constituent Assembly elections will result in an assembly to be composed of 88 members: 13 will represent each of East Timor’s districts; the remaining 75 will be allocated to parties and independent candidates based on a nation-wide proportional representation system.
UN PEACEKEEPERS ACTED “WITHIN REASONABLE GROUNDS”
An investigation team consisting of United Nations Military Observers has concluded that UN peacekeepers from New Zealand acted “within reasonable grounds” when they fired back at a suspected militia, who was later identified as a soldier with the Indonesian armed forces, TNI.
The investigation established that the exchange of fire, in which the Indonesian soldier died, took place across the border but that the New Zealand Peacekeepers had remained on the East Timorese side of the border at all times. The Peacekeepers had earlier set up an observation post in the area of the incident, following reports of activity by suspicious armed persons.
The incident took place on July 28 some four kilometers southwest of Tilomar in Suai district. The investigation concluded that the deceased man was an Indonesian army sergeant who was out of uniform but carrying a service rifle close to the border contrary to orders from his superiors.
Soon after the incident, Force Commander Lieutenant General Boonsrang Niumpradit contacted Major General William da Costa, the Udayana (Bali and West Timor) commander to extend his condolences over the death of the TNI soldier.
LOSPALOS TRIAL PARTICIPANTS VISIT CRIME SITES
Forty people involved in East Timor’s first Crimes Against Humanity trial last Friday traveled to Lautem district, in the Eastern part of East Timor, to visit the crime scenes outlined in the indictment.
The group was comprised of members of the court including judges, prosecutors, defenders, and seven of the ten suspects currently standing trial in Dili. Three suspects declined to take part in the crime scene visit.
The group visited Lospalos town, Louro and Com, including to the spot where a group of clergy, church workers, a journalist, and a youth were murdered during an ambush on a minibus near Verokoko village.
Among the purposes of the trip was to allow the court to better visualize the crime scenes and the defendants present to point out details that could help their respective cases.
Ten alleged members of the pro-autonomy Team Alpha militia are currently on trial on Dili. An eleventh suspect, Indonesian Syaful Anwar—the second-in-command of the Indonesian Kopassus special forces in Lautem district when the crimes took place—was indicted by the Prosecution but is currently at large.
The charges relate to 13 murders carried out in four different incidents, and the attack and burning of a number of villages and subsequent deportation of their inhabitants. All the incidents took place between April and September 1999.
Statements from all the accused present in court have now been heard, and the Prosecution is currently calling on witnesses relating to the torture and murder of a Falantil member in Lospalos town.
The Special Panel for Serious Crimes, which consists of one East Timorese and two international Judges, can try cases of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Murder, Sexual Offences and Torture, carried out between 1 January and 25 October 1999. The Special Panel was set up in June last year.