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OATH GENERAL PROSECUTOR FOR EAST TIMOR
Mohamed Chande Othman, from Tanzania, was sworn in today as the General Prosecutor for East Timor by SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello at the Governor’s Office.“This is yet another important milestone in the transition. With the appointment of Mohamed Chande, we are reinforcing the capacity of the judiciary in East Timor to cope with a responsibility that, thank God, is not numerically what you have been exposed to in your previous functions as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,” the SRSG said. “Yet it is fundamental to the credibility and the integrity of the new judiciary that we are establishing in East Timor.”
In addition, SRSG said that UNTAET counted on Mohamed Othman in helping to establish the new special panel for serious crimes, which will look into the excesses committed in the country, in particular last year.
Before joining the mission, Mohamed Chande was serving as Chief of Prosecutions at the Office of the Prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a position he took up in 1996.
Among other positions, Mohamed Chande also served as Head of Delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent in Vietnam and in Guinea.
The General Prosecutor has two deputies, one for ordinary crimes and another for serious crimes. “This means that we are a very small step away from the establishment, hopefully soon after full independence, of the Office of the Attorney General of East Timor,” said Gita Welch, Cabinet Member for Judicial Affairs.
BANGLADESH SOLDIER FLOWN TO AUSTRALIA
The body of Abdul Aziz Miah, a member of the Bangladesh Engineer Battalion, was flown today to Darwin and will be sent home to Dacca very soon.
The 36-year old soldier, a father of two, died yesterday as a result of an explosion of a suspected grenade on a beach near the Jesus statue in Dili. He was with a group of 15 engineers assigned to clear the beach, to ensure that it was free of unexploded ordnance, after an explosion in the same vicinity which injured three Portuguese soldiers on 1 July.
The clearing operation on the beach has been suspended. The area is to be fenced off and with a written warning in Tetum, English and Portuguese to prevent further accidents.
NCC APPROVES NEW REGULATIONS
The National Consultative Council approved two regulations yesterday, one on Supplementary Appropriation – US$100,000 that is needed to unload, store and transport goods donated by the People’s Republic of China ; the other to amend regulation number 1999/3.
Paragraph 8.2 of section 8 of regulation 1999/3 on the Establishment of a Transitional Judicial Service Commission reads: “The commission shall receive and review individual applications of international legal professionals for appointment in judicial or prosecutorial offices” for panels on serious criminal offenses.
On 10 August, there will be a public hearing on the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
MAKHOTA HOTEL UNDER RECONSTRUCTION
The reconstruction of Makhota Hotel, the place where the results of the popular consultation were announced on 4 September 2000, will start soon.
The property has been leased by UNTAET’s Land and Property Office of the Dili District to Fundação Oriente – Orient Foundation – for temporary use of 12 months.
There is no dispute of ownership; the Dili District did not receive any property claims other than the one who received the authorization of use.
The Foundation has indicated its intention to refurbish the entire building to be a hotel again. Considerable local employment will be generated during the reconstruction phase and the hotel will provide 200 jobs when operational at the end of the year.
“MILSAS” IN WEST TIMOR VIST LOSPALOS
A group of 10 to 12 former members of Milsas, the civilian Timorese recruited by the Indonesian Armed Forces as reservists, and other leading figures from Lospalos are expected to come to East Timor next week for a pilot “come and see” visit to the district.
The group is from Lospalos and is expected to fly directly from West Timor to the district and stay for two days.
On 1 August, the ad-hoc committee organizing the visit – comprising Falintil, UNTAET, CNRT, Peacekeeping Force and UNHCR – went to Lospalos and met the local community to finalise agreement on the names and on the visit.
Currently, there are some 2,600 Milsas in West Timor refugee camps, plus extended families – a total of 20,000 to 30,000 people. This specific Lospalos group represents 60 family heads and some 600 Timorese.
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER’S VISIT
The Australian Defense Minister John Moore visited Dili today for a one-day visit. Upon arrival, the minister flew directly to Balibo, in Maliana district, to visit the Australian Battalion of the Peacekeeping Force. He then had lunch with the SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello and meet with the Australian contingent before going back to Australia.
TRAINING PROGRAM
In the month of August, the East Timorese members of the judiciary will be attending three training workshops organized by different partners of UNTAET Judicial Affairs.
The first is organized by the International Development Law Institute (IDLI), and is on basic problems and questions raised in civil cases around contracts. The theoretical training will be combined with case studies. The second part will focus on criminal law. They will study five cases.
Judges, public defenders and prosecutors will attend and participate in this training seminar.
Another two-week long training program is organized by the Federal Council of Justice of the Brazilian Federal Jurisdiction and it will take place at the Dili District Court. The lecturers and coordinators are Brazilian judges and prosecutors.