The Guardian 1 November, 2006
While supposed "gang warfare" has flared again in Dili, the ABC reports that anti-Australian sentiments are growing on the streets.
One complaint is that the Australian Government has refused to place Australian military forces under the control of the United Nations command, indicating that it is the Australian Government that is attempting to push its own agenda aimed at interfering in the elections due to be held in East Timor in the first part of 2007.
The head of East Timor’s armed forces, Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak, has called for an investigation into the role played by Australian forces over the last six months. Their presence has failed to resolve the crisis and in the last outbreak of violence as many as 10 people were killed and others wounded.
Brigadier-General Ruak who, for about 25 years, fought Indonesian occupation as the military leader of Falantil, reports that East Timor’s armed forces, confined to barracks by the Australian forces, have "become prisoners in their own country". He claims that on two occasions he was stopped by Australian troops to check his credentials despite him having complete freedom of movement in Dili.
Cowboy city
He claimed that Dili had become a "cowboy" city with several military commanders giving conflicting orders — one presumably the Australian forces and the other the UN commanded forces.
The present upsurge in the Dili conflict may well be a diversion from the statements of Brigadier General Ruak — his call for an investigation with its implication of interference and one-sidedness in Australia’s conduct over the last six months and that the East Timorese armed forces holed up in their barracks might break-out to resume their duties.
The newly appointed commander of the Australian forces, Brigadier Mal Rerden, was quick to claim that there are no valid complaints against his soldiers and that the Australian forces have operated in a completely professional, neutral and impartial manner. He played down the anti-Australian feeling while claiming that it was being orchestrated by those who had their "own agenda".
Untrue
Brigadier Rener’s claims do not conform with the facts. However they conform very neatly with the campaign of lies and misinformation waged against the former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri by Australian Government leaders and the Australian media — including the ABC. The Australian forces may be "professional" but they are certainly not "neutral" or "impartial".
The United Nations investigation into the events in Dili in the middle of this year reported that there was no evidence of any criminal activity by Mari Alkatiri. The report’s harshest reference to Mari Alkatiri is that he failed to use his authority to denounce the transfer of security sector weapons to civilians, a claim that is said to have been received by the UN Commission of inquiry and acknowledged as "credible information".
The report criticises President Xanana Gusmao who showed little "respect for institutional channels" and did not act to restrain "Major Alfredo Reinado and the men who comprised his group and are reasonably suspected of having committed crimes against life and the person". Reinardo deserted from the East Timorese army and formed the nucleus of the movement against Mari Alkatiri.
Behind the conspiracy and coup against Mari Alkatiri is the issue of oil and East Timor’s international relations. Mari Alkatiri stood up to the standover tactics of Australia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Downer over the proportion of oil royalties due to East Timor.
The East Timor Government is reported to have been considering building a pipeline with Chinese help, and invited 500 Cuban doctors to assist in building a health system in East Timor where none existed before. There is also talk of Sinopec (Singapore) building an oil refinery in East Timor which cuts across the Australia/US and Japanese plans for an oil refinery in Darwin. These heretical ideas are the real reasons for the occupation of East Timor by Australian troops and the refusal of the Australian Government to place them under UN command.
Lora Horta (the son of Ramos Horta) writing in Asia Times said that "Alkatiri has implemented a foreign policy overtly confrontational to the West. His decision to hire nearly 500 Cuban doctors …despite strong objections from the US Ambassador, was highly controversial ..."
The real line-up of forces and the intentions of the Australian military contingent are revealed again in an article by John Pilger in the New Statesman. He writes that when the Australian contingent first arrived "an Australian brigadier flew by helicopter straight to the headquarters of the rebel leader, Major Alfredo Reinado — not to arrest him for attempting to overthrow a democratically elected Prime Minister but to greet him warmly. Like other rebels, Reinado had been trained in Canberra."
To some extent the Australian government has succeeded not only in deposing Mari Alkatiri as the Prime Minister but in having its own placeman, Ramos Horta, take over this position. Horta is at present making a visit to the Pope who he intends to invite to East Timor, no doubt, just in time to influence the outcome of next years’ election. East Timor is a strongly Catholic country.
However, the East Timorese people who stood up so courageously against the Indonesian occupation and later took part in the UN supervised vote for independence, despite the terror imposed by the Indonesian military forces. They may not be so easily misled or come to tamely accept a new colonial occupation, the imposition of a foreign directed government or the seizure of the country’s rich resources of oil and gas, which is the intention of the Australian, US and Japanese colonialists.
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quinta-feira, novembro 02, 2006
Anti-Australian feeling bubbling in East Timor
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3 comentários:
"The United Nations investigation into the events in Dili in the middle of this year reported that there was no evidence of any criminal activity by Mari Alkatiri. The report’s harshest reference to Mari Alkatiri is that he failed to use his authority to denounce the transfer of security sector weapons to civilians, a claim that is said to have been received by the UN Commission of inquiry and acknowledged as "credible information".
Oh really??? What about the part of the report that states that Mari Alkatiri, together with his "crisis cabinet" seriously violated the laws governing the conduct of F-FDTL and that they alone must bear the legal responsibility for that violation?? You seem to have conveniently forgotten that part of the report.
What about the fact that although the Comission did not find hard evidence during their short lived investigation they do however state that there are enough grounds to raise suspicions to Mari Alkatiri's knowledge of illegal arms transfers and recommed more indepth investigations to ascertain the facts. In which case although he did not personally handle weapons he may well have been an accumplice to that illegal activity.
"133. With respect to the former Prime Minister, the Commission has no material before it on the
basis of which it could recommend that Mari Alkitiri should be prosecuted for being involved in
the illegal movement, possession or use of weapons. Nevertheless, there is information before the
Commission giving rise to a suspicion that Mari Alkatiri knew about the illegal arming of civilians
with PNTL weapons by Rogerio Lobato. Accordingly, the Commission recommends further
investigations to determine whether Mari Alkatiri bears any criminal responsibility with
respect to weapons offences."
Notwithstanding one could safely conclude that violating so seriously the Organic Law of the F-FDTL which resulted in illegal summary deaths of timorese civilians would be considered a crime in any trully democratic country. In that regard the Comission states:
"165. The Commission notes numerous breaches of the Organic Law. Not all required members
were present at the meeting of the Crisis Cabinet at the residence of the Prime Minister.
(...)
167. Furthermore, the Commission has already noted, in paragraph 54 above, that some F-FDTL
officers, namely the Military Police, had been authorized to intervene on 28 April prior to any
Crisis Cabinet meeting. This action was authorized unilaterally by the Prime Minister."
168. The responsibility for the lack of appropriate procedures and control relating to the
calling out of F-FDTL to aid the civil power must fall collectively on those members of the
Crisis Cabinet who were present. However, particular responsibility lies with the then Prime
Minister in his capacity as Head of the Government and as the author of the instructions to
F-FDTL."
So are we just going to turn a blind eye to all these violations of the laws in force just because Alkatiri did not handle any weapons personally. Is that the only thing that can be classified as a crime??
In other words:
Do the above mentioned serious violations of the law constitute a crime for which there would be legal liability answerable in a court of law in a trully democratic country governed by the Rule of Law?
The answer is clear and undeniable. Of course it would constitute a crime answerable in a court of law. Do not try to minimize the seriousness of Alkatiri's violations because his illegal actions in this respect resulted in loss of human lives.
Irrespective of any possible criminal liabilities regarding the issue of illegal weapons distribution, Mari Alkatiri would, in a democratic country governed by the rule of law, have to answer before a court for those violations which were made more serious by the fact that he was the head of government at the time.
If these violations are not dealt with in an apppropriatly warranted manner justice will not have been made and the justice sistem would have failed dismally in assuring people of its professionalism and imparciality.
Muito bom, esse artigo.
Há pessoas que se esquecem que Alkatiri já está sendo investigado pela Justiça, pelo que quaisquer "recomendações", insinuações, suspeitas com ou sem provas, são irrelevantes. Deixemos os magistrados fazer o seu trabalho.
o problema é quem foi já acusado e detido mas não está na prisão - Reinado.
O problema é que quem o devia prender e não prende tem a lata de dizer que sabe onde ele está.
O problema é aquilo que não foi nem está a ser investigado. É isso que TMR diz. Porque é que se criou uma comissão de inquérito internacional para investigar apenas 3 dias de Abril e Maio e não se podem investigar os acontecimentos para além desses dias?
Porque é que não se pode investigar a actuação das forças australianas?
Tmor-Leste é uma jovem nação onde tudo em relaação á governação tem que ser aprendido em termos de governação, formaçåo de uma sociedade cohersiva, abrangente e inclusivê, mas esses acham que já sabem tudo e toca actuar sem rei nem roque . O Povo é pobre e a grande maioria o seu saber está apenas naquilo que aprenderam nas montanhas, nas suas palhotas humildes mas ricas de sentir humano, respeito, sabedoria popular, amor ao próximo ...etc Essas qualidades todas não são respeitadas nem seguidas antes pelo contrário s˜åo ignoradas e abusadas de forma mais desumana possivel, deixando-os passar fome e serem vitimas dos mais horriveis abusos dos direitos humanos.
Muitos que se chamam membros do governo, do parlamento, da chamada elite tiram vantagem dos seu poder e em novo desse mesmo pobre povo generoso e respeitador, clamam que têm poderes para mandar e rapar tudo...e o povo,povo, povo nem sequer sabe de que se trata!
De repente começama ver correrias, tiros, gritos e o que fazem... toca a fugir...e os que sabem um bocadinho mais do que eles que não sabem nada, nem mesmo quem negociou o petroleo do Timor Gap , porque para eles o petrolio sai do buraco ou do fundo do mar não necessário auatorização para se colher um bocadinho no "cacun" ou numa lata vazia. É da Terra ´do Povo, pelo qu posso ir buscar porque MaromaK é que nos deu!....
Mas Há muitos que desafiam a dadiva do Maromak e querem o petrolio só p ara eles ...querem o cacum só para eles , querem mina-nu só para eles, querem o café só para eles ....é então que as necessidades desse povo lá das montanhas e palhotas pobres mas honradas, honestas, respeitadoras e cheias de amor ao próximo é esquecido embora o seu nome seja usado como isco para se caçar muitos pombos e veados .....Pobre povo nas mãos de gentes como o tal chamado governo da maioria eleitos...quando é que foram eleitos para governar? já me esqueci ou não estava cá. Será que houve eleições sem ser as presidenciais em 2002 e as consituinte em 2001? Estou certa não estou? Pois é mesmo esses safados não foram eleitos para governar....triste Povo de Timor nas mãos de desses não eleiots! Que nome é que se dá a esse tipo de governo? Ah! Já sei, governo de Imposição e não de Eleição....
Sonho com uma paz duraodura para a minha terra e para o povo do qual eu também faço parte.
Kuda Talin (Rebo Rebo)
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