Transcript - UNMIT Press Conference

March 15, 2007
Obrigado Barracks
Caicoli, Dili

Allison Cooper, UNMIT spokesperson: Good morning everyone thanks for
coming. We are going to hear from SRSG Atul Khare and then also a statement
from Brigadier Mal Rerden. I just want to point your attention to the table
behind me. There is a lot of information on elections as well as code of
conduct information for you to take away and read. Thank you.

SRSG Atul Khare: Good morning, thank you for coming again today

As I have said before, I have a zero tolerance policy for any misconduct by
UN personnel.

At the last press conference, I had said that I would introduce to you the
two top officers of my Conduct and Discipline Unit. They are Mr. Regu
Thamburan and Mr. Douglas Campos and they are here with us today.

They are ready to receive and follow-up on any complaint, by any one, about
the behaviour of UN staff and they can be reached under telephone number
731 1826, I repeat, 731 1826.

Let me now turn to an issue, which is on a lot of people’s mind: The issue
of Alfredo Reinado.

I have consistently underlined the need for justice and the rule of law so
that impunity does not prevail.

The only message we have always had for Alfredo Reinado is that he has to
face justice; he can do so by submitting himself to justice or the relevant
organs can bring him to justice.

This is a message that I have conveyed whenever the topic came up,
including to a lawyer for Mr. Reinado, who called on me Thursday last week.

There was, incidentally, nothing secret about that meeting – both the
Government of Timor-Leste and the ISF were aware of it -- nor were there
any negotiations.

On another issue, but somehow related, United Nations, UNMIT personnel
involved with supporting the electoral process have returned to Same today.

UNPol and PNTL officers have been present in Same all throughout and have
been exercising normal policing functions since the beginning of this week.

Cooperation between them and the ISF during the operations has been
excellent.

Finally, I am delighted that on the recommendation of STAE, the CNE
announced yesterday that the voter registration has been extended for five
days until 21st of March. We all want the elections to be credible, free
and fair, to be organized under the supervision of independent CNE and to
result in having a restorative and unifying impact to the country.

Thank you and I will now turn over to Brigadier Mal Rerden.

Brig. Rerden: Thank you SRSG. I wish to provide you with information on a
number of claims that had been made and raised in the media which I feel
need to be clarified and provide you with the facts as they happened.

Regarding the claims that unarmed civilians were killed during the Same
operation on 4th of March, five armed Timorese men were killed during the
operation when they posed an immediate threat to the lives of ISF members
involved. The men who were killed, were armed with a variety of small arms
weapons and their weapons have been collected and they are now being
verified against TL records to confirm their origins. The ISF regrets the
lost of life during this incident and again calls on Reinado and his group
of supporters to hand themselves in to the authorities. The ISF acted
appropriately and in accordance with its rules of engagement during the
Same operation. These rules of engagements allow soldiers to defend
themselves and the lives of those whom they have been assigned to protect.
The soldiers responded after being fired upon first. As is normal in these
situations, we are conducting internal investigations and are assisting
UNPol with their investigation into the incident.
Regarding claims that the ISF destroyed houses during the Same operations
on the 8th of March, following the operations, the ISF utilized an
assessment team to speak with the local villagers about any damages caused
during our activities. To date, the ISF has been made aware of relatively
minor damage to several structures, which was caused by helicopter
downwash. The ISF will assist local villagers in repairing the damages and
there is another team visiting there today.
Regarding the ill treatment of civilians claimed during our operations on
the 8th of March, the ISF members undertook specific [inaudible] cultural
awareness training as part of their force preparation activities and the
sensitivities affecting all of the ISF planning. The apprehension
operations are extremely complex and are focused on preventing injuries to
innocent people whilst removing the threat of Reinado and his group of
armed supporters. Several persons of interest were detained during these
operations but they were released after having their identities confirmed.
The ISF uses flexible plastic handcuffs during the detention process to
reduce the potential threat to ISF members. Plastic handcuffs are removed
when the bona fide [identity] of the individuals have been established and
there is no further threat or harm to the ISF members
Turning to progress on the apprehension operations, Reinado is a fugitive
from justice and those who directly support him are breaking the law.
Reinado’s actions compromised earlier negotiations attempts by the
government of TL. Due to his actions, he is ashamed and untrustworthy and
does not deserve support or assistance. Reinado chose to run and hide,
leaving his men behind to fight for him. His actions are not those of a
hero or a leader. Reinado and his group no longer poses a significant
threat. He is now reduced to smalls groups with very limited movement or
support. I encourage all people to provide information to the authorities
about Reinado and his group. I also want to thank all of those Timorese who
have already assisted with the information for the apprehension operation.
The ISF together with TL government and the United Nations call upon
Reinado to hand himself in to the authorities and allow the Timorese people
to continue to resolve their differences democratically and peacefully.

SRSG Khare: Thank you. We will take a few questions now, a large number of
questions. Let’s start from here, Lusa.

Journalist Lusa: Question to Brig. Rerden. I noted that the claims you are
clarifying now are mostly and basically from the Australian press
[inaudible]. Do you think that the operations are still having problems in
being understood in the Australian media?

Brig. Rerden: I think perhaps there maybe some, uncertainty about why an
operation which is about stabilizing the security environment and providing
a peaceful environment for the people of Timor to resolve their
differences, about why it is necessary to conduct the sorts of operations
we have over the last week or two? Sadly, we had to because an individual
has seen fit to put himself outside the rule of law and to challenge the
authority of the State of TL. So it is probably not surprising that the
people in Australian don’t quite understand why things have changed in that
way. But after three months of negotiations when an individual decides to
step outside that process and carries out acts of unlawful seizure of
weapons then the circumstances change.

SRSG Khare: I have five questions. Guido followed by Jill and then RTP yes
I noticed that. We take Guido.

Journalist Guido: If in case Alfredo hides in the church compound, does the
ISF use the equipment such as helicopters or armoured, to conduct the
operations like the one in Farol a week ago?

Brig. Rerden: I would encourage Reinado to give himself up so that he
reduces and removes the chance of any innocent people being affected by our
operations, including the structure or buildings of religious worship, it
would be I think a grossly irresponsible to hide himself in such a way and
to endanger such an important cultural site or religious site in such a
way.


Journalist Jill: I have a question for you and the Brigadier. Firstly, for
the SRSG. Would it not be appropriate for the UN to perhaps take some
initiatives and council East Timorese leaders to be a little more flexible
in relation to the proposal of Mr. Reinado’s [inaudible]. It seems to me
that there better solutions for a political problem than a military
solution.

SRSG Khare: United Nations stands for peace. We were trying to bring
Reinado to justice in a peaceful manner along with the government and of
course the National Parliament as and also the ISF. I told the Security
Council on the 12th of February that efforts are underway to ensure that
Reinado submits himself to justice in a peaceful manner. It is clearly
Reinado’s responsibility that we have gotten to the point where we are now.
As I told Reinado’s lawyer that the rule of law and justice must be upheld.
I cannot foresee an agreement between a person who is suspected of having
committed several crimes to having an accord with the State. But this does
not mean that there is no peaceful solution. The solution is that Reinado
must submit himself to justice in a peaceful manner and I trust that if he
is a true leader he will hear this call for the benefit of the people of
TL. And I must add that the UN and myself have specifically noted the
commitment given by President Gusmão in his statement that if Reinado
submits to justice in a peaceful manner he shall be treated with due
dignity as indeed should be the case for all prisoners.

You had two questions. We will take both.

Journalist Jill: You said Mr. Reinado was reduced to small group and he
doesn’t really have a support. We all know that he has the support of the
disenchanted youths of the west and in Dili but in terms of force and
spontaneous and disorganizing [inaudible] but he also has the support of
the former guerrilla commanders of the west who counseled him. They are a
force [inaudible] and are in regular touch with him and the petitioners. Do
you see this as small and insignificantly groups?

Brig. Rerden: I was talking about the support groups of the actual armed
members of his group. I hope he has been given council by the wise and
experienced former guerilla fighters because I am sure they would be
advising him that in his current circumstances the best thing for the
people is for him to give himself up to the justice process.

Journalist from Kyodo: I want to know more about the operation conducted in
Dili. Were you looking for Alfredo? And I was talking to a mother that she
and her children suffered a lot in this operation, her children are now
traumatized with the operation even she said the forces did not respect her
as a woman and the forces did not have pity on the children. They treated
the children and the woman really bad. She said the forces must conduct the
operations in a more wise manner in order to respect the woman and
[inaudible] for the children.

Brig. Rerden: I remind you that our operations are to apprehend an armed
group of men who have fired at the authorities. These are complex
operations and we take every effort to minimize the impact on innocent
civilians. My soldiers have had specific training and will take every
possible step to ensure that any civilians they encounter during their
operations are dealt with respectfully and appropriately. And it is our
concern for the civilians as you highlighted that causes us to continue to
ask Reinado to give himself up to save innocent civilians from the impact
of these activities.

Journalist RTTL: I have two questions. First we know that UNMIT and the ISF
are trying to conduct the operations to ask Reinado to surrender or to
apprehend him and at the same time from the part of TL authorities is
trying along with the church to find, have some kind of talk with Alfredo.
Do you think these two things can be in line to find a peaceful solution
and secondly what is the result of the investigation on the incident that
took place at the airport a few weeks ago and thirdly in regards to the
provision of security for the presidential candidates.

SRSG Khare: Let me answer all three questions. But let me begin with the
presidential candidates first. I had written to all presidential
candidates as I had told this press conference earlier that as soon as
their candidature is confirmed by the Court of Appeal they would be
provided security by UNMIT. Some of the candidates have already accepted
and security arrangements are in place. A few of those have indicated that
it would only be required during the campaign period and we respect that.
There was one candidate who was worried that we are going to charge them
some money for this provision and we had to tell them that this is not the
case, this is the contribution of UNMIT and the responsibility of UNMIT to
provide security to all. Coming now to the investigations in the incident
at the airport IDP camp, I presume you are talking about that. It is, the
investigation of course is continuing, it will take some more time.
Obviously as you know the result of the investigation is the property of
the Prosecutor General of TL, the government of TL and would be shared with
them in an appropriate manner.

Coming finally to the last question on Alfredo Reinado, I’m delighted that
the government is exploring all avenues to convey the same two messages,
which I outlined earlier. These messages area very clear, Reinado should
submit himself to justice unconditionally and that once he submits to
justice he will be treated with dignity as indeed all other prisoners
should be treated with dignity. I now have a lot of questions, RTP AP, Lusa
and we will end there because these conferences are getting longer.

Journalist Lusa: Two weeks ago, Mr. Reske-Nielsen talked about the
situation of the IDPs. What are the exact numbers of the IDP’s now? How
many people still require humanitarian assistant?

SRSG Khare: The exact number of IDPs on any particular day tends to
fluctuate, depending upon the security situation and the perception about
security among the population. It is indeed true that the number of IDPs
increased during the second week of February. As far as I am aware the
government has decided to continue with the distribution of food although
at the same point of time efforts are being made to determine the most
vulnerable but as of now the distribution of food to the IDPs continue. The
regular meetings of the inter-ministerial committee shared by the Minister
of Labor and Community Reinsertion which are being held on these issues
continue and we will return back to the issue of the IDPs in our next press
conference when we will have some more, better information about the
situation both on the challenge of distribution of rice as also, there are
some reports about locusts eating crops, having been seen in Bobonaro and
Ermera. And finally to close the topic I believe that at the end of March,
that means say about two weeks from now, the blanket food distribution
would be reevaluated again.

Journalist AP: Recently Mr. Alexander Downer, told the media that Alfredo
would be arrested before the elections, what do you think, are you able to
do so?

SRSG Khare: You know obviously this is a press conference of UNMIT and ISF
and we would not comment upon the statement which had been made by
respective leaders of other countries.

Journalist: Alfredo continues to be a threat to the elections. Does the ISF
guarantee that he would be arrested?

Brig. Rerden: Our operations to apprehend Reinado and his group are
continuing. As I said in my statement our operations already have reduced
Reinado such the he is no longer a significant threat. But I stress again
as the SRSG has stressed that the achievement of a peaceful outcome rests
with Reinado and he has the option and the opportunity to give himself up
to the authorities now.

Journalist Radio RTTL: The message of appealing including your appeal would
not change Alfredo’s mind to give up. So what are you going to do?

SRSG Khare: There are two answers that I want to give and I think it is
better that they are understood clearly. It is not a question of mode or
feeling it is a question of the law and justice. Either Reinado has to
submit himself peaceful to justice or the relevant organs have to bring him
to justice and much as I prefer the first option as we have heard very
clearly from the commander of ISF that the second option of bringing him to
justice continues.

Journalist: I would like to ask this question to Brig. Mal Rerden. During
the operations four of Alfredo men were killed but there was rumor that an
Australian force was also killed. Is it true?

Brig. Rerden: I would just clarify for you as it was announced in previous
press conferences that there in fact five of Reinado’s armed men who were
killed as a result of our operation on the 4th of March. There were no ISF
troops who were injured or killed during the operation.

SRSG Khare: Last two questions.

Journalist: Mr. Rerden you mentioned that you appeal for the people to
provide information to the ISF and you also mention that Alfredo no longer
has the influence so that means, does it means you now [inaudible] in your
operation to apprehend him and his group?

Brig. Rerden: Obviously I cannot go into specific details of the
operations, as always there is an important need to protect the security of
our operations. What I can say is that any information provided by people
which leads to the apprehension of Reinado or his group would be acted upon
very quickly.

Journalist: Brigadier General, I understand that you saw the most recent
footage of Reinado. What assessments do you [inaudible] about the location
and condition of Reinado and also how do you feel personally that he is
using the same uniform as you.

Brig. Rerden: The images of Reinado struck me as being exactly the image of
a fugitive. He look like he was worried, he look like he was gaunt, lacking
in food, someone who is under a great deal of stress. In regards to his
wearing of the uniform, firstly my personal opinion is not really relevant;
it is simply a matter to state that this uniform is the uniform of the
Australian Defence Force and it is not appropriate for anyone else to be
wearing it.

Journalist: Regarding to this treatment with some journalists and
civilians, civilians have been searched and a journalist searched and
camera taken, some of the journalist faced some problems during the
operation on Sunday in Palapaso as well. One was not allowed to talk on the
phone. Are there any clarifications?

Brig. Rerden: As I have stated out, operations are being conducted to
apprehend armed individuals who have fired on the authorities. This level
of threat requires a very controlled military operation to ensure the
minimum possible impact on the civilians in the area and therefore it is
necessary initially to detain individuals in the immediate area and to
ensure that they are not going to present a threat to the ISF or to other
civilians. Once their status has been confirmed, their identity confirmed
and there is no evident of remaining threat then they are releases. With
regards to the media and access to the high threats operations I would
highlight that we restrict the movement of the media and all other
civilians into this area for their own protection.

Journalist: What about the confiscation of the tape recorder. This is not a
lethal weapon?

Brig. Rerden: Details of our operations in terms of information and in
terms of items that we may seize during those operations are not able to be
discussed in any detail at the moment because they are contributing to an
ongoing operation.

SRSG Khare: Well I think we close the press conference here. And since I
formally close the press conference, I want to say something, today is,
since the three months that I arrived it is now my 14th weekly press
conference and in the next press conference I really want to encourage the
sole woman, Timorese journalist that I see every time to ask the first
question no matter what question you want to ask, first question not matter
what. Thank you.