INTERNATIONAL DONOR’S CONFERENCE SET TO BEGIN IN NORWAY International donor countries will convene in Oslo, Norway, tomorrow for a two-day conference to review the progress of the transition in East Timor.

The main meeting, co-chaired by UNTAET and the World Bank, will focus on the steps to be taken in the run-up to East Timor’s 20 May independence, the recently launched national development planning process and fiscal strategy.

The conference is being hosted by the Government of Norway and will be attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UNTAET SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, World Bank President Jim Wolfensohn, East Timor’s Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri and its Foreign Minister, José Ramos-Horta.

This international event follows meetings in Tokyo (December 1999), Lisbon (June 2000), Brussels (December 2000), Dili (March 2001) and Canberra (June 2001).

DSRSG MEETS WITH HUMAN RIGHTS VICTIMS TO DISCUSS JUSTICE

UNTAET’s Deputy SRSG Dennis McNamara today attended a dialogue session with victims of human rights abuses and the families of human rights victims to discuss the justice system’s progress in conducting investigations, producing indictments, and prosecuting those responsible for human rights abuses.

In an address to some 150 people from throughout East Timor, the DSRSG said he understood the frustration felt by many East Timorese over the slow pace of the justice system, but gave assurances that UNTAET is committed to enacting changes that will make the system more responsive and effective.

McNamara outlined the progress UNTAET’s Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) has made to date, noting its issuance of indictments relating to 33 cases in which 82 individuals have been charged with various serious crimes including taking part in the directed campaign of murder, persecution and deportation of the civilian population in 1999.

However, the DSRSG said the SCU has suffered from a lack of funding which he hoped would soon be alleviated by increased donor support. McNamara outlined a number of changes being enacted to improve the SCU’s effectiveness.

These changes include decentralizing the SCU’s work by creating Prosecution Teams which, directed by a lead prosecutor, will decide on the basis of information collected from communities on where to focus investigations. Investigators are being permanently placed in Oecussi, Bobanaro, Suai and Manafui districts, and the SCU will expand this to at least four more districts over the next two months.

The DSRSG assured participants at the dialogue that recent refugee returns, including increased numbers of ex-militia, will lead to new investigations based on evidence provided by communities, and outlined how the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation will work to accomplish its goal of reconciliation with justice for perpetrators of less serious crimes.

Jacinto Alves of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, Prosecutor General Longinhos Monteiro and Vice Minister for Justice Domingos Sarmento also participated in the dialogue.

In a related development, verdicts are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow in East Timor’s first Crimes Against Humanity trial, known as the “Lospalos case.”

Any sentences reached are expected to be handed down by the three-judge Special Panel for Serious Crimes immediately after the verdicts are announced.

The ten men whose verdicts will be delivered were allegedly members of the pro-autonomy Team Alpha militia. 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.

PORTUGUESE PATROL BOATS FOR ETDF TO ARRIVE TOMORROW

The Portuguese government will tomorrow deliver two modified Albatross patrol boats to East Timor that will soon be manned by 50 specially trained East Timor Defense Force Marine Officers.

The 22-meter boats are being delivered by a vessel that left Portugal in mid-October and which will deposit them by crane just off Dili’s port. Each boat is fitted with a 20mm Oerlikon gun and can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots.

The Marine Officers who will operate the boats are the first officers and privates of the East Timorese Navy and have undergone training with Portuguese specialists since last February.

The patrol boats are part of a US$2.2 million Portuguese aid package to the East Timor Defense Force Navy.

INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION BEGINS SEMINAR

The Independent Electoral Commission today began a three-day seminar in Dili focusing on Electoral Systems and Conflict Mediation.

The forum, which is being held in recognition of International Human Rights Day and supported by a grant from the Japanese government, aims to promote debate and greater confidence in elections as a means of reducing social conflict.

Speakers at the symposium include Joaquim Fonseca of Yayasan Hak, an East Timorese human rights group; Professor Geoffrey Gunn of Nagasaki University, Japan; Michael Maley of the Australian Electoral Commission; Professor Ben Reilly of the Australian National University and the United Nations University; Ms. Bong-Scuk Sohn of the Republic of Korea’s Electoral Commission; and Professor Jack Vowles of the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

The speakers will address the history of conflict in East Timor and how electoral systems have been designed in other countries to reduce social conflict.

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY PASSES FIVE MORE ARTICLES

The Constituent Assembly has since Friday passed an additional five articles of East Timor’s draft Constitution.

Articles seven, eight and nine, passed Friday by wide majorities, include guarantees to protect fundamental rights and the State’s respect for the rule of law; to defend the right of people to exercise their power through universal suffrage; and stipulate that East Timor shall maintain privileged ties with countries whose official language is Portuguese.

Articles ten and eleven were passed today, also by significant majorities.

Article ten states that East Timor will extend its solidarity to the struggle of other peoples seeking national liberation and will grant political asylum to those persecuted seeking to achieve these aims. Article eleven acknowledges the struggle of the East Timorese resistance movement in achieving East Timor’s freedom.