28 March 2001 -- The head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) met today in Dili with former pro-Indonesia East Timorese who are in the territory for a reconciliation visit.
In his meetings with the group, UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello laid out the UN mission's position that all refugees were welcome to return, but that there would be no amnesty for crimes committed in 1999 and that suspects would face the East Timorese justice system, namely the Special Panel for Serious Crimes.
According to UNTAET, the pro-Indonesia group had expressed the desire to "see directly the current situation" in the territory and meet with East Timorese leadership and civil society representatives. Led by Filomeno de Jesus Hornay, the group has stressed that they are in East Timor as individuals, the UN mission said in a statement.
The visit follows last December's reconciliation meeting between UNTAET/CNRT (National Council of Timorese Resistance) and representatives from the pro-autonomy umbrella organization UNTAS in Surabaya, Indonesia.
In other news, pro-independence leader Xanana Gusmão today sent a letter to Mr. Vieira de Mello announcing his decision to resign as Speaker of the Timorese National Council. When asked for his reaction in Dili, Mr. Vieira de Mello said he had not yet spoken with Mr. Gusmão and therefore had no reaction at this time.
Meanwhile, the East Timorese Transitional Cabinet today considered the issue of consulting the people of East Timor on their future constitution. The Cabinet endorsed the Transitional Administrator's policy of supporting the initiatives of non-governmental organizations on constitutional issues, in conjunction with the UNTAET's civic education efforts.
As a complement to the overall effort, the Cabinet recommended that the Transitional Administrator establish consultative mechanisms in the districts, which would seek the views of the East Timorese people on constitutional issues and make these available to the Constituent Assembly. In this regard, the Cabinet explicitly acknowledged that the future Assembly retained the prerogative to establish any mechanisms it wished to facilitate consultation on constitutional issues.
The move follows yesterday's vote of the National Council defeating a draft regulation on the establishment of national and district constitutional commissions.
| Main Page | UN Home Page | Not an official document of the United Nations. Maintained by the Peace and Security Section of the Department of Public Information in cooperation with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. (c) United Nations 2001 |