Exigir que se faça justiça, lutar pela soberania do país ou denunciar o golpe de estado que está a acontecer em Timor-Leste, não são prerrogativas das pessoas de esquerda, ou de direita.
Podemos ter opiniões diferentes em relação ao que se passa noutros conflitos do mundo, como no Afeganistão, Iraque ou Líbano, ou na situação política de outros países como os Estados Unidos, Cuba ou Venezuela, onde a diferença das opiniões da esquerda ou da direita divergem.
Mas em Timor-Leste, pouco tem a ver se se é de esquerda ou de direita, quando se acredita que Mari Alkatiri foi, ou é, a melhor alternativa para governar Timor-Leste. Duvidamos que o Banco Mundial tenha uma política de esquerda e foi um dos maiores apoiantes das políticas liberais do governo liderado por Mari Alkatiri.
Mari Alkatiri é dos poucos políticos em Timor-Leste com visão. Talvez o único com capacidade de liderar um governo nas condições em que o país estava.
Caos e desordem, temos agora, como nunca. E sem alternativa à vista.
Os opositores de Mari Alkatiri e da Fretilin comportam-se como terroristas.
As declarações dos líderes da oposição, e dos membros da Igreja que os apoiam, são palavras de ordem de movimentos que procuram atingir os seus objectivos pela violência e pelo terror.
O golpe de Estado contra Mari Alkatiri foi levado a cabo por pessoas sem qualquer respeito pela dignidade da vida humana e pelos valores da democracia.
Lutar contra o terrorismo e contra a injustiça não implica ser de esquerda, ou de direita.
Democráticas, claro.
.
terça-feira, setembro 19, 2006
Sobre a esquerda e a direita
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Speech of H.E. José Luis Guterres, on third Committee of Human Rights
New York, November 17, 2003
Mr. Chairman,
Let me at the outset express my country’s appreciation for the annual Report1 of the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan, who excellently addressed this Committee last week. Timor-Leste values the continuing efforts of the UNHCHR in the promotion and protection of fundamental rights worldwide. The example set by the late Sergio Vieira de Mello continues to inspire us.
We also commend the Reports of all the Special Rapporteurs who provided us with impartial assessments of often sensitive human rights situations.
In this context, we believe that the interactive dialogue which enabled the Committee to engage with the Special Rapporteurs was extremely fruitful.
Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the pillars of democratic societies and their respect and promotion is regarded as a priority in the nation building process and a prerequisite for sustainable development.
Over the last year, Timor-Leste ratified the core universal instruments for the protection of civil and political rights (ICCPR), and economic, social and cultural rights (ICESC) and is committed to implementing the provisions contained in these Covenants.
With respect to the promotion of political rights, the Government initiated the “open-governance” programme aimed at the full participation of all citizens in the domestic political process through direct dialogue between the Administration and the communities.
In relation to the right to health, Timorese authorities have assumed responsibility for providing health services in 13 districts and are expected to grant soon delivery of affordable and cost-effective preventive and curative health services to all communities.
This will match one of the main objectives of the Millennium Declaration Goals. In this respect, we acknowledge the critical support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank as well as the donor countries.
As far as the right to education is concerned, our Government is committed to increasing access to primary and junior high school on an open and equal basis. As a result of this policy, gross primary school enrolments have reached 95% especially for girls and for children from the poorest sectors of the population. With the assistance of UNICEF the Ministry of Education has redesigned the school curricula to include a human rights perspective.
Timor-Leste has also strengthened its co-operation in all fields of education, science and culture by becoming the 189th member of the UNESCO in June 2003.
Mr. Chairman,
As Professor Yakin Erturck stated in her illustrative presentation of her report (A/58/421), violence against women is “a persistent obstacle to the promotion and protection of women’s rights”. A democratic society is built on the respect of the inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms of every person without discrimination of any kind, including on the base of gender.
To affirm this principle, our National Parliament ratified, among others, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol on 10 December 2002 as well as the Declaration for the elimination of Violence against Women announced in Vienna in 1993.
In compliance with the legal obligations emanating from these instruments, the Prime Minister established the Office for the Promotion of Equality (OPE) and with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), will work towards strengthening national capacity to address gender based violence. Furthermore the UNFPA is supporting the OPE through a project “Strengthening Capacity Response to Deal with Gender Based Violence”.
Women’s networks and local NGO’s have played a key role in raising awareness of domestic violence as a crime. Community based women’s groups from all districts were trained in how to raise awareness and the dynamics of domestic violence. The aim is to take the information back to their communities and inform them of the issues.
The National Police Force with the assistance of UNPOL, the UNMISET Human Rights Unit and UNFPA has been provided with training on how to deal with domestic violence cases. The focus has been on clarifying the role of the Police in the absence of clear guidelines.
Although women are crucial actors for peace and reconciliation, they remain one of the most victimized groups during conflicts and are often excluded from peace-building processes. For this reason, Timor-Leste considers that Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) a landmark in affirming the important role of women both in time of conflicts and peace and the need for their full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.
My country will do its utmost to implement the content of the Resolution 1325 (2000) through its laws, policies and practices.
As a co-sponsor of various human rights resolutions including the resolution on the Elimination of all forms of violence against women, Timor-Leste, attaches great importance to the issue of domestic violence, which represents a social problem of worrying dimensions in our country. To address it, the National Parliament is currently debating, as matter of urgency, a draft law that criminalizes domestic violence proscribing punitive measures and establishing adequate legal protection for victims, especially women and children. The drafting of this legislation involved all sectors of organized civil society in particular women’s groups with the involvement of national lawyers and jurists.
Lastly, Mr. Chairman,
My Government attaches special importance to the situation of other vulnerable groups, such as children. In fact, in December 2002, Timor-Leste ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. At a national level, our Government in a joint effort with the UNICEF child protection programme, the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) as well as international and local NGOs continues to raise general awareness about children’s rights to an environment free from violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
These can be considered progress in the promotion of human rights in Timor-Leste but much remains to be done. My Government is firmly committed to the full respect of inalienable right and freedoms and is convinced that is the only through their full enjoyment can development and prosperity be achieved.
-END-
Onde anda a "querida" Margarida?
Precisamos desta tradução e já!
SPEECH OF H.E. KAY RALA XANANA GUSMÃO in London
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House
London, 13th October, 2003
CHALLENGES OF BUILDING A NEW NATION IN THE MODERN WORLD
Sir Roger Carrick,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is always a great honour to come here to Chatham House and have the opportunity to speak about Timor-Leste. I came here precisely four years ago, in October 1999, when my country was still burning from the devastation and destruction and the people were subjugated by pain and sadness.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am here today representing a small country, located at the crossroads of the South Asia and the Pacific, with little more than 19,000 km and a population of around 800,000.
It was under a prolonged period of violence, and by defying terror and repression, that the people seized their freedom. The Timorese were able to prepare themselves for the transitional process to independence, by answering with a clear commitment to the principles of freedom and universal values of human rights.
United, during more than two decades, with the main goal of gaining freedom, soon after achieving this, the Timorese immediately had the perception that only differences can constitute the substance of a pluralistic system, based on tolerance and mutual respect, on democracy and on justice. And the result of this tremendous awareness and maturity, was clearly demonstrated in the democratic and truly free two elections, which were held without any kind of disturbance, in August 2001 for the Constituent Assembly and in April 2002 for the President.
Nevertheless, it must be said that it was also within a scene of destruction and death, that the people felt and experienced the euphoria of victory in September, 1999.
A country which has emerged from a long conflict, is necessarily under psychological pressure from the wounds of the political violence of the past. It was and is in this context, that maximum attention was afforded to the need for reconciliation between Timorese, a process which we have been engaged in since the end of 1999 until today.
It has not been an easy task, to imprint again, in the minds of the people, that all and every sacrifice of the past of more than two decades, was extremely necessary to cement the long journey towards independence. It was also not easy to convince the people again not to forget, even more importantly, why they made the sacrifices, which they unequivocally accepted for the supreme ideal of freedom.
Today we are faced with the need for justice. And our concern is totally directed at not transforming justice into an emotional and psychological act to merely satisfy the feeling for revenge, but rather to guide justice as an act of justice itself.
We would not wish to lose the value of the most profound sacrifices consented by the Timorese, in their struggle for freedom. We would wish even that it be understood that the greatest act of justice, for the people of Timor-Leste, was to have their right to be free, their right recognized, to live as a people and a nation.
We would also wish that as an independent and sovereign State, born from the ashes, we, the Timorese undertake, in plenitude, the awareness that the greatest way of honouring all those sacrifices, is the ultimate obligation of working for true social justice, for the gradual and permanent improvement of the standard of living of the population.
Only when, from the rural areas onwards, the populations of Timor-Leste can enjoy the right to decent living, the right to clean water, the right to be free from hunger, the right to easy access to medical assistance, the right to a good network of communication and information, the right to active participation in the development of their communities, would the Timorese have paid their best tribute to their suffering.
But we are, today, the youngest country of the millennium, the poorest in Southeast Asia and one of the ten poorest in the world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In our view, only a system which guarantees the full respect for human rights, can sustain participatory democracy, so as to ensure the involvement of all segments of the population, in meeting their needs and improving their capacity to respond.
Only through a mechanism of active and conscious participation, can there be control over power from the bottom-up. Only a mechanism of democratic control, can impede individuals seizing power for decades and mismanaging national wealth in beautiful but superfluous projects, to the detriment of the already miserable conditions of the majority of the population.
Only democracy can allow an effective combat against corruption and abuses of power by State institutions, thereby allowing the Rule of Law to establish and flourish.
Only in a pluralistic environment of tolerance and mutual respect, only in an environment of living with respect for human rights, can a responsible society rise, fully aware of its rights and obligations, and capable of contributing towards the integrated and integral development of the country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
However, we are at the beginning of the process of building our State. Our wishes and the aspirations of our people constitute the unifying factor of our commitments, which we deem to be serious. These commitments are currently guiding our actions, which are obviously still insecure. Because of this, we must be motivated to develop our capacities, which are still, unfortunately, weak.
We began this process of building, only with minimum infrastructures, and with total dependency on the generosity of donors.
The statistics are shocking and defy our energies. For this reason, an important question emerges: the great challenge of globalization – world economy, poverty and sustainable development.
Our People have expressed their aspirations and conveyed their expectations on the benefits that independence should bring. And these aspirations are transcribed in what we call the Vision for the Year 2020. This Vision can be summarized in the eradication of illiteracy, in the improvement of education and vocational training, in accessible medical assistance to remote villages, in the need for good roads to rural areas, in the eradication of hunger, in the vital need for good and transparent governance, in the combat against corruption, in the promotion of gender and in the development of a democratic society, based on the rule of law. This Vision was achieved through a process of consultation with the population.
However, the actual disparity between the economies of the rich and poor countries is a source of concern for the future of this small nation, which is in search of opportunities for its own economic survival.
It became common to refer to poverty as a social factor that generates conflicts and promotes wars in under-developed or developing societies. And poverty is no more than the unjust or unequal distribution of wealth in the country or between countries.
The causes of poverty are many and diverse, ranging from illiteracy to less favorable potentials in some countries, ranging from less democratic political systems to practices of corruption by those in power, and ranging from financial inability to manage the country to lack of capacity to compete in the international market.
On the one hand, the existing world economic order dictated the rules of the game to which the under or developing countries must abide, in order to simply survive as a nation dependent on continued assistance.
We see big countries fighting with difficulties to manage the development of the nation and we see, on the other hand, small countries trying to breathe the hope of opportunities, which are becoming competitively, less and less.
Here we put forward another question on the sustainability of a process of economic development. Sustainability means the act of generating continuation itself, or in another assertion, of guaranteeing the capacity of ongoing self-sufficiency.
We are trying to understand ‘sustainable development’ by such standards that in some countries, the social and political aspects make it highly unsustainable. Inadequate and/or prolonged wide programs of economic development make as though ‘poverty reduction’ is seen more as a long lasting spectrum rather than a tangible act of the process of reduction of poverty.
On the other hand, we understand that there exists the pressing need for change in attitudes on the part of the politicians and those in power. This is extremely crucial to the democratization of societies. If on the one hand, we agree that the perpetuation of poverty results from the lack of educational level of the population, on the other hand, we believe that the democratic conscience of the people does not result from the absolute fact of knowing how to read and write.
Only the democratization of people can allow for societies to behave according to universal values of freedom, tolerance and democracy. When we ask for conscious and active participation of the people in their communities, we speak in terms of democratic perspective and not in an intellectual one, even though it may be important.
There are countries which export technicians and scientists but, at home, they still face the challenges of poverty reduction. There are countries which were considered successes or economic miracles, according to misguided statistics on ‘per capita’, however, the repressive regimes and the grandeur of the country were measured in the palaces and in the great cities, with the poor clustered together to steal or beg from the rich.
I believe that there must exist a better strategy for this great objective of the millennium – the reduction and I prefer to say, eradication of poverty. One of the conditions is not to have a universal standard when dealing with poor countries, as each country has its own particularities, both in economic and political terms and even cultural which demand more adequate measures.
There are various interpretations on the priorities of Timor-Leste on sustainable development as stated by experts on poverty reduction.
I read an interesting article in Business Week, of October 2002, titled ‘Global Poverty Hot Spots’, covering 8 countries of the various continents where the high percentage of Adult illiteracy ranged from 45% to 58%, in 5 countries. In Timor-Leste, I can affirm that we are not far from this number. The highest percentage of malnourished children was 43% and 46%, in two countries. In Timor-Leste, we are not much better off.
In Mali, for example, 73% of the population live under one dollar a day. In Cambodia, 57% of the population is under the poverty line and, as the poorest country in Southeast Asia, we are not able to present better statistics.
In Timor-Leste, the majority of the population live on less than 50 cents per day. And to send their children to school, they have to pay 50 cents monthly per child and the people simply cannot afford this.
If poverty is a factor which generates conflict, for Timor-Leste it is extremely necessary to create all the conditions needed in order to avoid breeding conflicts, taking into account that the people live in a post-conflict situation.
When speaking about post-conflict situations, in our case, I have to refer to a recent report released by Oxfam. It is somewhat incredible to know that there are 630 million arms around the world. I believe that more than half of these weapons were sold to poor and developing countries. How can we speak about poverty reduction, if there are no means to stopping the arms trade from developed countries to poor countries?
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are in the difficult beginning of building our nation. But let us continue to try to give what we can to better understand the best way to develop our country.
Most of the time, the policy on cooperation, lacks understanding of the reality of poor countries, leading them to accept assistance, only because they have no choice. While each country needs to find solutions for their own priorities and formulate their own trends for sustainable development, the leaders and nations of the south need to act in a concerted effort in order to achieve the critical goals of peace and social justice, on the basis of being mutually beneficial, by enhancing their cooperation at all levels: in trade, in health, in education, in the development of human resources and in skills-sharing.
In all the international forums of today, it has become a norm to hear and to talk about democracy, human rights, civil society empowerment, and about fighting corruption and nepotism. These are the new ideologies of the South. However, not enough emphasis has been placed on the question of whether poor countries can co-exist with viable democratic institutions, whether one can build a healthy democracy without money, to be able to meet the requirements of transparency, of human and material resources and of a small but effective administrative apparatus.
In order to obtain funding from the developed countries, we need to prove efficiency and transparency, but it is unrealistic to expect that a country will become self-reliant in terms of human and administrative resources, without a real and continuous external support.
We, Timorese, are conscious that independence does not just mean having a constitution, a flag, a President, a Parliament, a Government and all the administrative structure. Independence ought to, and should meet the needs of the people, to enhance the capacity of the nation to face potential drawbacks, to eradicate illiteracy and poverty, to build the foundation of trade and commerce, to promote foreign investment and to create stable employment for its citizens. Without these elements, independence has no meaning to the people and, therefore, both national and regional stability become endangered.
So how can Timor-Leste fit into this modern world, knowing that we are the tem poorest in the world? We can either accept that our fate will be determined by the dynamics of the global market economy or we can take the reigns of our country and confront the challenges posed by the international economy and transform our Nation into equal patterns with other countries.
If one cares to examine the world, it is inevitable to perceive globalization as a trend that deepens dependency of both the poor and developing countries on the developed ones, thus leaving them both in a perennial state of chronic debt. Similarly, the world is currently living in the era of globalization, yet, in some aspects, the poor countries have lagged behind in the era of chronic shortage of clean water and abject poverty. The world is currently living in the era of free market economy, yet the poor countries still lack the necessary human resources and infrastructures for them, even to be able to think about being competitive.
One positive emerging trait from all this is that we no longer perceive development, market economy and the fight against poverty being mutually exclusive. We can see a new trend of internationalism emerging in the world, not as a selective ideological tool, but as a mirror of the sense of humanity, which, until recently, had been concealed by the polarized and ideologically mapped Cold War era.
In order for the poor countries to surpass chronic debt and build competitiveness, the international community is still required to demonstrate a clearer commitment towards developing a new formula of cooperation.
On the one hand, the rich countries must accept the need to write-off the existing debt of the poor countries as being ‘sine qua non’ condition for them to arrive at the desired threshold. On the other hand, both the poor and the developing countries must commit themselves towards enhancing their democratic process in order to ensure the viability of their democratic institutions.
Fighting corruption and nurturing the seeds of good governance at all costs are too important to be underestimated. Otherwise, both the poor and developing nations are at risk of simply becoming dormant and missing the opportunity to break free from chronic poverty, thus co-existing with one another in a diminished status of viability as Nation-States.
For Timor-Leste to mature, it needs stability, both internally and regionally. Timor-Leste needs to be involved in the international arena not, of course, as an economic power, but, essentially, as an active partner in the process of building democracy, of promoting mutual understanding between nations, of developing appropriate tools for creative diplomacy.
Timor-Leste needs to embrace a new form of diplomacy, one whereby the principle of “non-interference” continues to be important but, at the same time, enables us to act together, to work together, as a family of nations, at the regional and sub-regional levels, for the purpose of enhancing mutual benefits. And I am pleased to note that in its recent meeting, ASEAN broke its ‘non-interference’ principle by discussing the issue of Myanmar. I believe this is a very good step forward.
And extending beyond our national borders, we need to reflect on the serious crisis our world faces today. We are in the era of the global village, with global distrust and global challenges. I believe that serious attention must be given to the need of developing a global common vision, one which enables all nations, big and small, rich and poor, to understand and to respect drawbacks, but also to be committed to work together for the sake of the overall global stability and peace.
Thank you very much.
-END-
THE SPEECH OF TIMOR-LESTE EMBASSADOR DR. JOSE LUIS GUTERRES ON 26 MARCH 2003 IN NEW YORK TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ NY, March 26, 2003
Mr. President,
We would like to thank you and the members of the Security Council for this opportunity to address an issue of major concern to the international community.
The agenda before us has been here for many years. The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait, a small and neighbouring country, the record of the same Government in Iraq, in the use of chemical weapons against its Kurdish population, and in the aggression against Iran, are matters of most serious concern to all of us. The lack of serious commitment by the Government of Iraq up to now to fully comply with the Security Council resolutions has contributed to the grave situation we are facing today.
As a member of the Non Aligned Movement, we share the views expressed in the final documents of the Kuala Lumpur Summit, in particular the need for the Iraqi Government to fully comply with the Security Council resolution 1441(2002).
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste issued a statement on March 19th, which, inter alia, expressed its consternation on the inability of the Security Council to reach a consensus on the implementation and enforcement of its resolutions on Iraq. As a small and peace-loving country, we stand for the multilateral approach in seeking solutions to the problems that affect the world.
Mr. President,
It is our hope that in the present military intervention, all sides will respect the International Humanitarian Law, in particular the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol I, on the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war.
We appeal to the Secretary General and the members of the Security Council to continue to focus their attention on this grave situation and to build a consensus not only for the provision of adequate and urgent humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people, but also to bring about a lasting peace with respect for territorial integrity, and to work on scenarios for the post conflict situation.
Timor-Leste knows from its own experience that when the UN system, in particular the Security Council, is willing to act, it has proven to be very effective in the restoration of peace, international legality, maintenance of stability and in creating the sound foundations of a democratic country in which human rights and freedom will flourish.
In this difficult moment, we would like to extend our solidarity to the people of Iraq in their struggle for a lasting peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and national reconciliation.
Mr. President,
We share the convictions expressed here by many countries that we must also address the demands of freedom and independence for the people of Palestine in order to achieve lasting peace, justice and stability in the region. We welcome, therefore, the renewed commitment of the United States of America and the European Union in this regard.
Yesterday, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, made an urgent appeal for unity and common purpose in the Security Council. In echoing his appeal, we urge the Security Council to continue to search for solutions to these and other conflicts with determination and unity; fulfilling their obligation under the UN Charter.
Thank you Mr. President.
-END-
Speech of H.E. the Senior Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. José Ramos-Horta at Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin, 29 November 2002
Can Timor-Leste Become a Model for Successful Conflict Resolution?
Thank you so much, Madam, for your kind words and for the invitation extended to me to be here today. I thank the distinguished ambassadors and friends for being here. I was asked to address a topic which is whether - East Timor can serve as a model in conflict management. I might not necessarily satisfy the requirements of this topic but I will maybe just share our experience, our views and you can, from that, derive to any conclusion.
Just a few weeks ago I was accompanying President Xanana Gusmão to the United Nations and to Washington for a meeting with President Bush. And some journalists asked President Xanana Gusmão: "Are you going to raise the issue of Iraq with President Bush?" And President Xanana Gusmão responded in this way: "And do you think President Bush is going to worry about my opinion on Iraq?"
Well, actually President Bush began our discussion by a very forceful introduction about his views on the situation in Iraq. Of course, he didn't necessarily have in mind to ask President Xanana Gusmão to comment on that - but this is only to emphasise our own awareness, our own consciousness that we are an extremely minuscule player in the region and in world affairs. So it doesn't mean - not necessarily - that countries in the region or in the world are going to be too concerned about how we think of the matters in the region.
But if we can - through our own efforts in our country, in Timor- Leste - first consolidate peace and security, build democratic institutions in the country, develop a truly tolerant democratic, pluralistic society based on rule of law, then we can say we have done our bit. Because, if there is a half-island that is peaceful, that is tolerant, if there is a half-island in the world that has addressed seriously the issue of poverty or of domestic violence, that has brought clean water, electricity to its people, maybe that is already a small contribution we can make to the rest of the world - without necessarily having the ambition to do much more than that.
So I can start by saying that first our primary concern and our primary obligation - not only to our people but also to the region and to the international community - is how we build our country, how we satisfy the needs, the expectations of the people, how successful we are in building strong democratic institutions, checks and balances, so that corruption and abuse do not invade East Timorese society.
Yesterday our President Xanana Gusmão made a very forceful speech. Quite unusual - for many observers, they would say - for a President to be so forceful in criticising the government. He actually demanded the resignation of a cabinet minister. And I am saying that because it has been all over in the media and I have been asked to comment. Some people are worried - you know - about the tensions, the conflict between the presidency and the government, the government and the parliament. Not to mention the tensions between the government and our very active, increasingly active, vocal NGO community. Our Prime Minister becomes increasingly irritated with our NGO community. Well, but these are all the necessary and the healthy aspects of democracy. The tensions that exist are there. They are no secrets. Between the President and the government, and between the government and the parliament - even though the government has majority control in the parliament. The government can easily push any legislation it wants through the parliament because it has the clear majority, plus it has the support of two other parties. So it could do anything it wants. But the government found out, the Prime Minister found out, that even his own parliamentarians are very independent-minded. That they don't necessarily always follow the Prime Minister's wishes. So our Prime Minister gets even more irritated with this development. And I find this whole situation very interesting, healthy. Why not? Why wouldn't the President become the spokesperson of the concerns of the people? Why wouldn't he speak out? Why wouldn't he put pressure, constant pressure, on the government? And so these are the tensions that are there. I wouldn't say that our Prime Minister and a few others who worked with him and international experts on the constitution, we planned it deliberately in such a way to really have a system of a balance. Maybe there was some miscalculation by our Prime Minister. He didn't think that the President - you know - could become so independent-minded or maybe he didn't think that his own parliamentarians would become so independent-minded. Maybe it was not calculated but the fact, the end result is positive: It's positive that we have these tensions between the President and the government and the parliament. Because this means: No one has monopoly on power - and with temptation of using and abusing power.
The way the constitution was drafted and voted on by the people gives enough checks and balances, division of power between the various branches of our government. Of course, on top of it we have a President who is extremely popular. The single most popular individual in the country is the President with an enormous moral authority. So he is able to exercise this very special role to make sure that we as a whole, we those who are in government and in other political functions, do not betray the expectation, the dreams, the sacrifices of so many people. Our bishop to make things even more dramatic - one of our bishops, Bishop Belo who shared the Nobel Prize with me also, - resigned a few days ago. He invoked health reasons. Some media speculated that he has resigned because of some conflict with the Vatican over - I don't know: theological or biblical interpretation of human phenomena? I've no idea. The fact of the matter is that he resigned. I was not there on the moment of his resignation. I cannot really share with you how our people reacted. But from my conversation on the phone there was tremendous calm, serenity in the country. Bishop Belo probably has genuine health concerns. As you know he was the leader of the church for so many years in extremely difficult circumstances. And probably he feels that he has to leave and he left.
That the way the people reacted in a very calm, serene way, shows also the strength of the church, shows the positive legacy of the Bishop. That when he decided to leave there is no commotion. There a many priests, church leaders in East Timor who will be able to continue on the extraordinary role that Bishop Belo played in the past. Sharing with you these two particular events - the dramatic speech of our President criticising the government, demanding the resignation of a cabinet minister, and Bishop Belo's resignation - is only to say that a few months after our independence, the hand-over of sovereignty of East Timor, we are going through still a very dynamic democratic process with enormous popular participation.
We have twelve parties in the parliament - the largest is the Fretilin historical party. And there are thirty per cent women in the parliament, the largest number of women in any parliament in the region. And the average of the European Union parliaments is eighteen per cent. Only Norway, Sweden, Finland - maybe the Nordic countries - have a higher percentage of women in parliament.
We have also a very dynamic media- not necessarily always very responsible. If you want to find the more imaginative media in the world, go to East Timor. They make up interviews, the make up stories. If they didn't do an interview with the Minister, they make up the interview. This is an area where one can train our journalists. Please come and do as many trainings as you can. In East Timor they need to learn to write properly, they need to learn not to make up stories, they need to learn to do serious investigative reporting rather than just making up accusations against different individuals. We need real training for our print media particularly. Radio, electronic and television is slightly better because they cannot make up stories, you know, people are watching, people are listening. But the print media has this advantage over all the others that they can make up totally non-existent facts. But I don't want to offend the German print media. I don't want to create any enemies among the German print media. I am talking about our specific experience in East Timor.
Our judiciary is also one aspect of our administration that is not the most successful so far. Our courts hardly function and that has mostly to do with the fact that in the whole country we have very, very few trained lawyers, trained prosecutors. That doesn't mean necessarily that lawyers are the best invention of humanity. But in East Timor we really lack qualified, trained lawyers. Our courts really don't function. We have general support from many countries - from Portugal, from Cape Verde, from Brazil - and the United Nations through UNDP is searching out for more prosecutors and judges to make up for our problems there.
My point is only to share with you that, in these few months, we have learned through our mistakes and weaknesses the enormous challenge of governance.
At the same time as we do that, we try to create an economy where it did not exist to meet the rising demand and expectation of the people.
And at the same time we are working towards normalisation of relations with Indonesia, developing relations with our neighbours, being an active participant in the United Nations system.
I move on to the next point that I want to make and that is our relations with Indonesia.
In July this year President Xanana Gusmão paid a state visit to Indonesia. As I was there with the President and other colleagues I could not help but being overwhelmed and touched by the warmth, the reception accorded to President Xanana Gusmão. Obviously, as we all know, East Timor went through twenty-five years of violence, of suffering, of humiliation. But at the same time you can also understand the other side - and that is that for Indonesia also it was a humiliating experience, when in '99 it was forced to leave the country. And it needs quite a lot of courage for the other side to acknowledge the irreversibility, the reality of Timor-Leste's independence, and so soon after the traumatic events of '99 to seek to meet us half way in normalising relations. In this regard the Indonesian side, starting with President Gus Dur - Abdurrahman Wahid - and with Megawati Sukarnoputri, have shown real leadership and statesmanship.
We have established a joined commission, interministerial, that has had its first meeting in October in Jakarta. And - working with Indonesia, with Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines - we have launched a new subregional organisation called the South West Pacific Dialogue. And that is an Indonesian initiative which we inaugurated also … in October in Yogyakarta. The agenda of the new subregional organisation is subregional cooperation on security issues, people smuggling, drug trafficking , human trafficking, but it is also to address security cooperation to deal with the terrorist threat and so on.
We are opening an embassy in Jakarta. We have already some diplomats there. The embassy will start functioning in January. Indonesia has an embassy in Timor. We are working to continue to strengthen relations with Indonesia, in particular to develop trade and economic cooperation between Timor-Leste and Eastern Indonesia, the islands, the provinces that are nearest to East Timor.
We have also established relations with all ASEAN countries. Some of them have embassies in East Timor. We have embassies from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and soon we will have from the Philippines. President Gloria Arroyo has told me in the Philippines recently that she will be appointing an ambassador to East Timor.
In the region we have also strong ties with China, with Korea, with Japan; besides Australia and New Zealand that I already mentioned. This has been our very, very heavy agenda in the last few months.
On December 10th our parliament will ratify the most relevant, the most important international human rights instruments making East Timor one of the countries that is acceding to ratify the largest number of international human rights instruments: Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on Refugees, Convention against Torture and many others. But we are not only ratifying them, we are conscious that ratification brings also responsibility: responsibility to the people and responsibility to the international community.
We are asking UNICEF, UNHCHR, the UN agencies and donor countries to help us publishing theses treaties - in book-form with illustrations, appropriate for school children because we really want to popularise the international human rights instruments and be part and parcel of the daily discourse of the people, the daily understanding, so that human rights, democracy become part of the culture of the country.
I would like now to touch on one issue that has been very much in the mind of all of us and that is the threat of terrorism in the region and in the world. A few weeks ago I travelled through Denpasar on the way to Singapore, Thailand and Korea. And on the way back we stopped there.
It was most heart-breaking to see the Denpasar airport almost completely empty and we know that at least two weeks ago the hotels had less than ten per cent occupancy. The terrorist threat, the strategy of the terrorists is having its impact. Their strategy is to undermine the economies and the governments of the region. I am talking about our immediate region.
Bali without tourism - if the situation continues they will lose several hundred thousands of jobs and certainly that undermines the stability of the government in Indonesia as a whole and particular in Bali. And the same impact is happening in our economies in the region. I don't know so far about the impact on Thailand itself. But the Thai authorities - as have been the Philippines and Singapore, Malaysia - are all worried about the impact of the terrorist threat. President Xanana Gusmão and myself, we decided on the way back to stop in Denpasar.
We stayed there over night and went to visit the site of the terrorist bombing. Not only to pay tribute to the victims but also to make an appeal to tourists, to people in the region not to allow ourselves to be hostages of the terrorists. If we allow ourselves to be hostages of the fear they want to instil in each of us, we are doing exactly what they want.
Their strategy is to undermine the governments in the region by undermining one of the most important sources of income for the economies of the region. We understand the fears of those who travel and we understand the fears of Western governments that have to issue travel warnings to their citizens: No government, no responsible government is prepared to be indifferent to the terrorist threat and to ignore the need to warn their citizens.
But we must all bear in mind that tourism, the movement of people in today's world, which involves millions and millions of people, is vital to the economies of the world. It is not only Bali that would suffer, it's the whole of Indonesia that would suffer. It will not be only Phuket and Thailand. But it would affect airlines, Western airline industry. It does affect the aeronautics industry. And it affects all the related activities that are linked with tourism, directly or indirectly.
Sometimes I have to say frankly, sometimes when you look at some of the travel warnings you wonder whether these travel warnings are really justified. I do not wish to oversimplify matters. Certainly, we make our decision whether to travel to Singapore or not, to Bali or not. But is Bali today less safe than downtown Los Angeles? Is Bali today less safe than Columbine, Colorado? Is Bali today less safe than the Central Park? We don't hear travel warnings about the United States. I have taken part personally in programs in the United States in healing victims of violence in schools.
In Columbine High School: I went there, I was asked to go there to talk with the families of the two sides: of the children who killed, who killed their friends, their colleagues - to talk with the community. So I am very familiar with the scale of violence in the United States. And yet does it prevent us from going to the United States? Either for tourist purpose or business purpose? Are we being stopped to go to UK or to France or to Germany because of the terrorist threat? Because everybody is under terrorist threat. The factthat there is no travel warning in Germany, or no travel warning in Canada, or no travel warning in the United States doesn't mean that the terrorists are not going to strike. Bali was the one of the safest places. And that's why maybe people were complacent about it. Then it was struck. Being conscious, being aware of all these dangers, the threat that faces all of us, we cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of the terrorists and in the process undermine entire economies and bring even more instability to many parts of the world.
I can talk about this issue rather objectively because, unfortunately, East Timor is not exactly today a major tourist destination. No one is really still going to East Timor.
We are not Bali, we are not Fiji, we are not this very famous place in Miami, Disney World or whatever. So the terrorist threat is not really affecting East Timor but it's heart-breaking and worrying to us observing how it is affecting economies of the region. It is profoundly affecting that extraordinary people of Bali.
We in East Timor so far have been immune. But that doesn't mean that Timor is escaping the terrorist threat. Osama Bin Laden - in at least two statements he made a specific reference to East Timor. The mere fact that Bali is a Hindu enclave in an archipelago that is predominantly… Muslim that in itself is a target for Osama Bin Laden.
Or if you are a moderate Muslim leader you make yourself a target. East Timor by the fact it is a predominantly Catholic enclave and according to Osama Bin Laden taken away from Muslim Indonesia by Western crusaders and this makes East Timor a target. We are aware, we are conscious of that.
But that is not going to stop us from continuing to build our nation through democracy, democratic principles, institutions and tolerance. And it will not push us into demonising every Muslim in the world, into blinding us, into falling into the trap that the terrorist threat is a natural product of the Arab or Muslim world.
My point is that in the fight against terrorism we cannot not at the same time allow ourselves to fall into the tap of demonising other cultures or ethnic groups because - and speaking as a Catholic, as a Christian: well, the history of Christianity is not exactly the most violent-free one. If we remember our history it is not exactly the most violent-free one. So let us not generalise and demonise others.
And I want to say one thing here in connection with this: If the East Timorese people, if the East Timorese leaders can be proud of one that is: Never once in twenty-four years of our struggle we demonised the Indonesian people as a people…Although East Timor is predominantly Catholic and Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, you never saw in our official pronouncements of any sort any manipulation of religion as instruments of our struggle. unfortunately, or tragically, the Suharto regime in Indonesia could be accused of everything.
It could be accused of corruption, of nepotism, of abuse. But it could not be accused of discrimination when it came to violence. Everybody in Indonesia knew what was violence under Suharto -whether you are Muslim, hether you are Hindu, whether you are Catholic from East Timor or you are Protestant from Irian Jaya, West Papua. So we all know what it is when it came to violence. So, Suharto never discriminated when it came to violence.
So the violence in East Timor was not because East Timor was Catholic under Suharto and the East Timorese people understood that very well. And that is why twenty-four years after Indonesian occupation and after so much suffering, and still so many people unaccounted for, normalisation of relations with Indonesia has been very easy, very quick.
There are Indonesians living in East Timor today. Many are coming back, although Timor is the poorest country in Asia. We have now our share of illegal migrants, many of them from Indonesia. Partly not because we are so tolerant but because our border services are so incompetent. They let people in and out without papers, without passports which is a bit worrying at the moment. We do have over a thousand of illegal migrants in East Timor.
How they ended up there only our very competent border services can explain. But the fact of the matter: They are there and they are working illegally: street vendors, restaurants - and there is no physical or verbal abuse against Indonesians who decided to stay there.
I end with one message. I was asked a few weeks ago on …UN Day, 24th of October, to talk about how East Timor can contribute to the United Nations, to ontribute to the world as member of the United Nations.
I said now and I would say today: Not much because of our smallness, our insignificance - but we would join our voice with the voice of many developing countries, with the NGOs around the world, in calling on the rich countries of the North to increase further their share of the development assistance for poor countries: to the minimum zero point seven per cent recommended by the UN.
But that is not enough either because the fifty billion dollars or so that is contributed by the rich countries to development assistance programs around the world is almost completely obliterated by the farming subsidies that rich countries provide to their farmers.
Three hundred billion dollars are estimated by UNDP to be the subsidies by the rich countries to farmers in Europe and…the United States. You have the amount of more or less fifty billion dollars of overseas assistance … to poor countries. You have three hundred billion dollars in farming subsidies in rich countries.
How can a small farmer somewhere in East Timor compete with these huge subsidies? And then we have the debt burden of the poor countries. We can add our voice.
It's not only a moral and ethical issue but it's also a matter of pragmatism and security, a strategic consideration: Maybe it is time that we, the world today -and as we are all shaking by the terrorist threat-, that we realise that we have to engage - all of us - in a better dialogue, better communication, a better vision, a greater courage, more compassion - but not only compassion and vision - but courage and intelligence. In looking seriously at how the rich countries can really address the issue of poverty.
Poverty is not only a moral and ethical issue - poverty is also a security issue. I do not obviously agree with the very simplistic notion that terrorism is caused by poverty. That is nonsense.
Saying that poverty is a source of terrorism, or one fundamental source, is essentially an insult to the poor of the world. Look at Sub-Saharan Africa - there is no more neglected, more humiliated, more looted region of the world than Sub-Saharan Africa. Going back to colonial rule, slavery, Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Southern Africa but also the Horn of Africa, has been used, abused, manipulated by every major power during the cold war.
And yet you don't find local terrorist groups born, operating out of Sub-Saharan Africa. They are victims of violence and instability from within and without. But it challenges the notion, the myth… that poverty breeds terrorism. But if poverty does not cause terrorism, poverty causes instability.
It bring down the governments destabilising the countries. And that is true. And how can we create the conditions to create a better, safer environment for everybody. For the poor and for the rich. The poor cannot prosper without the rich. And let me assure you: The rich will not stay always rich, if regions of the world remain poor. So it is important to write off the debts of the poor countries. Why do the Western banks and governments loan and loan indiscriminately knowing that there is corruption there? Well, you are also at fault … and you collected enough.
So write off the debt, increase market access. Reduce gradually - we are not saying reduce completely or cut off completely - the farming subsidies. You know, we can demand, "yes, you must stop immediately farming subsidies" -but it is not realistic. But we can expect that over a period of years… it can be gradually reduced. So that makes our farmers more competitive with the rest of the world. And that's what we are proposing.
And we propose that a country like Germany, the European Union, really leads a dialogue between the various regions, communities … of the world. In our small way, in our daily lives in East Timor we discover that sometimes you can defuse an intractable issue through dialogue. When you see an angry crowd, you have the courage you go and face them and invite them to dialogue. You disarm them. So at a larger level, national or regional level, the global level, there has to be other creative, dynamic ways to engage the various regions that do not seem to understand each other. How to do it? Frankly, of course, there are so many dialogue initiatives that I am not going to invent a new one.
I just want to add my voice to those who say there has to be greater dialogue to avoid the evil side winning the propaganda war - winning the propaganda war that Americans are against Muslims, winning the propaganda war that Europeans are with Americans against Muslims and vice-versa. It is not the case. That is not true. The US is not against Muslims. When the United States refused to intervene in Bosnia, when dragging its feet for a long time, or when Nato countries were hesitating to intervene in Kosovo they were being criticised by everybody. But then, when they finally intervened, they are still criticised. Well, something wrong there. There is some miscommunication.
It is very, very important that in the fight against international terrorism one cannot lose sight of the need for dialogue. You cannot use only security, military approach to conflicts. You must address the issue of the social and economic dimension. And this is in a small way our experience in East Timor. East Timor has been labelled a success story for the UN. East Timor, yes, it has been very much a success story and thanks to the UN. The UN be justly praised for what is has done in East Timor.
But the UN is the sum of the parts. The parts are the member states. And the member states contribute significantly to that. The European Union and some of its member countries have contributed generously to East Timor, the Nordic countries, Portugal, Ireland, the European Union as a group, Australia, New Zealand, Japan. And different countries have - in different ways - helped to end the violence in '99 and in the reconstruction… efforts. What Timor can show - and I end my comments with that - is that the UN is absolutely the best vehicle for the international community to gather together, work together, to try to address to resolve conflict situations. This success story of East Timor - it was not done out of to one particular country. It was a contributing effort of many.
Some say that East Timor was an Australian imposition against Indonesia. Not true. Many Asian countries used friendly persuasion with Indonesia in '99 to understand that it was time to leave. The ASEAN countries played a…crucial role behind the scenes. China, Korea and Japan. So it was a collaborative effort of many countries that ended the violence in '99. But it was not only governments. Civil societies, NGOs, our solidarity movement were so active, so generous, in so many parts of the world including in Germany. What Timor offers is, yes, the lesson of Timor is a lesson of hope, a lesson of partnership, of collaborative effort of people of goodwill in governments and outside.
Can this be replicated elsewhere? Yes, it can. But I don't want also to simplify to say: "It worked in one place, it works in another." There are specific realities in each country. And one is that I advise the UN: Don't get involved, don't waste the resources, the credibility of the UN, if local actors are not able to have the courage to come to terms and end violence. The UN should not jump into situations where the different factions in one given country are not ready. Because in the end, the success story of East Timor, yes, is tremendously due to the UN but also to the ability of the Timorese people to bury the violence and the past. Because if the people of East Timor were not prepared to bury their differences, no amount of peace-keeping would be able to keep peace in the country. We ourselves must be the primary, the number one peacemakers. The others can help, consolidate peace and rebuild the country. But they cannot fill our hearts with compassion, with love, when we don't have the courage to forgive, to reconcile among ourselves. When leaders are not able to put behind them the rivalries of the past. When leaders are not able to be inspired by the greater good of the country, then the UN should not be there because it would not succeed.
I thank you.
-END-
New Year's Message from Dr. José Ramos-Horta
January 01, 2003
Much can be said about the deterioration of conditions in the world during the year 2002. We all began the year still in shock from the events of September 11, 2001. The US was bombing Afghanistan, as thousands of US children faced their first Christmas after losing a parent in the attacks.
In the time since, the terrorists struck again, more than once, most notably in the peaceful and gentle Indonesian island of Bali, where more than 180 young innocent people were violently killed for no reason. Violence has been rampant elsewhere in Indonesia. India and Pakistan have walked the brink of nuclear war. The Middle East, despite numerous attempts at cease-fire and negotiations by well intended people, has continued to collapse.
As we enter the New Year, the world remains in a state of suspense, hanging on every word from George W. Bush in his relentless campaign to disarm Saddam Hussein. There have been massive and impressive anti-war demonstrations in many parts of the world. I find the fact puzzling, however, that there has been no comparable protest in recent years, over the massive human rights abuses perpetrated by Saddam Hussein, against his own people.
While we all abhor war, we must at the same time ask ourselves whether ignoring the nature of the Iraqi regime and its long record of human right abuses and aggression enhances the credibility of those who oppose US military action in Iraq. No sane person wants to see bombs falling on civilians and children dying as a result of a political struggle, and my heart goes out to those who speak up for the rights of these people to live. But perhaps in this new year, the anti-war movement would do well to use some of its moral power to pressure Saddam Hussein to disarm and democratize, and grant the basic rights we enjoy which include the right to protest to the people of Iraq.
Another unfortunate hallmark of 2002 was the fact that the gap between the wealthy and the poor in our world continued to widen. The rich became richer. The poor became poorer.
Two things that I hope will command attention in the coming year, two large contributing factors, are the markets for goods from developing countries, and the lack of attention to disease control in the developing world.
The European Union has set a strong example in starting to open their markets for goods from the Least Developed Countries. I hope that the US, Canada and Japan will follow this lead.
However, it's a sad fact for countries such as East Timor that the potential benefits of market access are literally eliminated by the existing practices of agricultural subsidies paid out by the rich countries to their own farmers -- to the tune of US$300 billion a year. This is six times more than the volume of Overseas Development Assistance provided by the rich to the poor countries.
In fact, for every $1 provided through aid and debt relief, developing countries lose another $14 as a consequence of protectionist barriers in the rich world.
The Least Developed Countries are at the same time plagued by diseases that hamper production and cripple their workforces. While much has been done to bring the fight against HIV/AIDS to the world's attention, it is an indictment of mankind that while we have proven that it can be addressedand its impact significantly diminished in developed countries such as the US, a blind eye is turned to the overwhelming spread in underdeveloped countries.
This is not limited to AIDS. Little has been done about malaria, the prominent health risk we face in East Timor. I am convinced that if malaria affected Northern Europe and the United States, it would have been eliminated by now, or a vaccine found.
These are some of the challenges before us as we move into 2003. We should take with us, however, one of 2002's victories, a victory that is not small.
In May of this year, a small country stood up for the first time in 400 years as a free people. A new democracy was born. A new candle was lit in the world.
For twenty-four years, the East Timorese people maintained faith faith in the basic goodness of man, and hope and conviction that freedom would be theirs. They did not waver from this faith while 25 percent of their population was lost to violence, starvation and disease. They did not slide into revenge and hatred. When their faith was challenged, they did not give it up.
I am convinced that it was this faith and conviction that earned East Timor its independence. It was recognized and echoed by others with good hearts, in the United Nations, in the activist and human rights communities, and in other countries around the world.
We are still facing our challenges as a country. We are also turning our attention outward as we participate in addressing international issues and concerns.
It is my wish for the coming year that when people see East Timor, they will recognize what we accomplished by good people coming together, and that the lessons we learned from East Timor will be applied not only to facing our small country's challenges, but to improving conditions in other parts of the world.
My very best wishes to you for 2003, and God bless you in this coming year.
Dr. José Ramos-Horta
-END-
"Mas em Timor-Leste, pouco tem a ver se se é de esquerda ou de direita, quando se acredita que Mari Alkatiri foi, ou é, a melhor alternativa para governar Timor-Leste."
Aqui está a demagogia a funcionar.
Governar não é só negociar petróleo, ou recusar empréstimos do FMI ou do Banco Mundial.
É acima de tudo, satisfazer as necessidades mais básicas dos governados, ir ao encontro dos seus anseios e aspirações.
Quem governa, tem que governar para todos e no interesse de todos.
Ora o grande problema de Alkatiri e da liderança da clique do Maputo, é justamente a sua visão do papel da FRETILIN na sociedade timorense.
O facto de ter sido o partido mais votado em 2001 para as eleições à Constituinte com 57% dos votos expressos, não torna a FRETILIN no único partido, nem significa que a FRETILIN se deva apropriar do estado timorense. É que convém não esquecer que 47% dos votantes, não votaram FRETILIN. Portanto, a FRETILIN não é o país nem o país é FRETILIN.
E essa é que é a grande crítica que se tem que fazer a Alkatiri e ao resto da malta do Maputo.
A sociedade timorense estava a ficar sufocada, asfixiada pela FRETILIN.
Teria Alkatiri dado um excelente exemplo de democracia e calado toda a crítica se tivesse resistido a esta tentação. Se não tivesse permitido que os seus filiados entretanto admitidos no aparelho de Estado, se arvorassem donos e senhores do estado e passassem a considerar o suborno como uma forma normal de complemento salarial. Ou se a FRETILIN não considerasse um direito colocar os seus filiados em todos os empregos do estado.
Tradução:
Discurso de H.E. José Luís Guterres, no terceiro Comité de Direitos Humanos
New York, Novembro 17, 2003
Sr. Presidente,
Permitam-me no início expressar a apreciação do meu país pelo relatório anual do Alto Comissário em exercício para os Direitos Humanos, Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan, que se dirigiu excelentemente ao Comité na semana passada. Timor-Leste valoriza os esforços continuados da UNHCHR na promoção e protecção dos direitos fundamentais em todo o mundo. O exemplo dado pelo falecido Sérgio Vieira de Mello continua a inspirar-nos.
Também elogiamos os Relatórios de todos os Relatores Especiais que nos forneceram avaliações imparciais de situações muitas vezes sensíveis de direitos humanos.
Neste contexto, acreditamos que o diálogo interactivo que possibilitou ao Comité engajar os Relatores Especiais foi extremamente proveitoso.
Os direitos humanos e as liberdades fundamentais são os pilares das sociedades democráticas e o seu respeito e promoção é encarado como uma prioridade no processo de construção da nação e um pré-requisito para o desenvolvimento sustentado.
No ano passado, Timor-Leste ratificou os instrumentos centrais universais para a protecção dos direitos civis e políticos (ICCPR), e para os direitos económicos, sociais e culturais (ICESC) e está comprometido a implementar as provisões contidas nestas Declarações.
Em relação à promoção dos direitos políticos, o Governo iniciou o programa “governação aberta” com o objectivo da total participação de todos os cidadãos no processo político doméstico através do diálogo directo entre a Administração e as comunidades.
Em relação ao direito à saúde, as autoridades Timorenses assumiram a responsabilidade de fornecer serviços de saúde em 13 distritos e é esperado que em breve disponibilizem serviços preventivos e curativos a todas as comunidades.
Isto vai ao encontro de um dos objectivos principais da Declaração de Objectivos do Milénio. A este respeito, reconhecemos o apoio crítico da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), UNICEF, o Fundo da População das Nações Unidas (UNFPA), o Banco Mundial bem como os países dadores.
No que respeita ao direito à educação, o nosso Governo está comprometido a aumentar o acesso às escolas primárias e às escolas secundárias numa base aberta e em igualdade. Como resultado desta política, as matrículas em bruto nas escolas primárias atingiram 95% especialmente nas raparigas e nas crianças dos sectores mais pobres da população. Com a assistência da UNICEF o Ministério da Educação reforçou o currículo das escolas para incluir uma perspectiva de direitos humanos.
Timor-Leste Também reforçou a sua cooperação em todos os campos da educação, ciência e cultura ao tornar-se o 189º membro da UNESCO em Junho de 2003.
Sr. Presidente,
Como declarou o Professor Yakin Erturck na apresentação ilustre do seu relatório (A/58/421), a violência contra as mulheres é “um obstáculo persistente na promoção e protecção dos direitos das mulheres”. Uma sociedade democrática constrói-se no respeito dos direitos inalienáveis e nas liberdades fundamentais de cada pessoa sem discriminação de qualquer espécie, incluindo na base do género.
Para afirmar este princípio, o nosso Parlamento Nacional ratificou, entre outros, a Convenção para a Eliminação de Todas as Formas de Discriminação contra as Mulheres (CEDAW) e o seu Protocolo Opcional de 10 de Dezembro de 2002 bem como a Declaração para a eliminação da Violência contra as Mulheres anunciada em Viena em 1993.
Em obediência com as obrigações legais que emanam destes instrumentos, o Primeiro-Ministro estabeleceu o Gabinete para a Promoção da Igualdade (GPI) e com o apoio do Fundo do Desenvolvimento das Nações Unidas para as Mulheres (UNIFEM), trabalhará para o reforço da capacidade nacional para responder à violência com base no género. Além disso o UNFPA está a apoiar o GPI através do projecto “Fortalecendo a Capacidade de Resposta para Lidar com a Violência Baseada no Género”.
Redes de mulheres e de ONG’s locais tiveram um papel chave em elevar a consciência da violência doméstica (ser) um crime. Grupos de mulheres baseadas na comunidade de todos os distritos foram treinadas em como elevar a consciência e as dinâmicas da violência doméstica. O objectivo é levarem a informação para as suas comunidades e informá-las das questões.
À Força Nacional da Polícia com a assistência da UNPOL, A unidade de Direitos Humanos da UNMISET e a UNFPA tem sido fornecido treino em como lidar com casos de violência doméstica. O focos tem sido na clarificação do papel da Polícia na ausência de linhas de direcção claras.
Apesar das mulheres serem actores cruciais na paz e na reconciliação, permanecem um dos grupos mais vitimados durante os conflitos e são muitas vezes excluídas dos processos de construção da paz. Por esta razão, Timor-Leste considera que a Resolução do Conselho de Segurança 1325 (2000) é um marco na afirmação do importante papel das mulheres ambos em tempo de conflitos e de paz e na necessidade do seu completo envolvimento em todos os esforços para a manutenção e promoção da paz e segurança.
O meu país fará o máximo para implementar o conteúdo da Resolução 1325 (2000) através das suas leis, políticas e práticas.
Como co-patrocinador de várias resoluções sobre os direitos humanos incluindo a resolução sobre a Eliminação de todas as formas de violência contra as mulheres, Timor-Leste, presta grande importância à questão da violência doméstica, que representa um problema social de dimensões preocupantes no nosso país. Para o responder, o Parlamento Nacional está a debater correntemente, como matéria de urgência, uma proposta de lei que criminaliza a violência doméstica prescrevendo medidas punitivas e estabelecendo protecção legal adequada para as vítimas, especialmente mulheres e crianças. O delinear desta legislação envolveu todos os sectores da sociedade civil organizada em particular grupos de mulheres com o envolvimento de advogados nacionais e juristas.
Por fim, Sr. Presidente,
O meu Governo presta importância especial à situação de outros grupos vulneráveis, como as crianças. De facto, em Dezembro de 2002, Timor-Leste ratificou a Convenção dos Direitos das Crianças e os seus Protocolos Opcionais no envolvimento de crianças em conflitos armados e na venda de crianças, prostituição infantil e pornografia infantil. A nível nacional, o nosso Governo num esforço conjunto com o programa de protecção de crianças da UNICEF, a Missão de Apoio das Nações Unidas em Timor-Leste (UNMISET) bem como ONG’s internacionais e locais continua a aumentar a consciência geral sobre os direitos das crianças a um ambiente livre de violência, abuso, exploração e discriminação.
Estes podem ser considerados progressos na promoção de direitos humanos em Timor-Leste mas muito permanece por fazer. O meu Governo está firmemente comprometido com o respeito completo dos direitos e liberdades inalienáveis e está convencido que só através do seu usufruto completo é que se pode alcançar o desenvolvimento e a prosperidade.
-FIM-
Totalmente de acordo com o texto.
O problema nao era de esquerda ou de direita mas sim por causa das egigencias dos colegas dentro do mesmo partido para que se ocupassem os lugares vitais mesmo que eles nao tem capacidade para estes postos . Nunca egiste em qualquer parte do mundo que uma nacao ou seja um partido e liderado por 5 ou 6 presidentes ao mesmo tempo , um pouco estrnho a egigencia desses colegas , mas era isso que acontece agora em Dili
"Os opositores de Mari Alkatiri e da Fretilin comportam-se como terroristas."
"Se a Fretilin perder havera derramamento de sangue" (Mari Alkatiri)
"Quando a Fretilin ganhar vai fazer limpeza" Mari Alkatiri (2001)
"So a Fretilin pode criar estabilidade ou instabilidade" (Mari Alkatiri)
"vamos a guerra" Jacob Fernandes, Vice President do Parlamento
O que deviam era ver-se livre do ministro da Justiça, Domingos Sarmento que só está a criar problemas ...
"Mari Alkatiri é dos poucos políticos em Timor-Leste com visão. Talvez o único com capacidade de liderar um governo nas condições em que o país estava."
Tanta visao que nem sequer "viu" que as decisoes que tomou a tres pancadas e em violacao das leis vigentes do pais foi precisamente o que gerou a crise.
Grande visao realmente!
Quanto ele ser o unico com capacidade de governar, apos quatro anos de governacao os resultados estao a mostra para todos verem.
Anónimo das 10:27:19 PM: como sabe a crise foi cozinhada pelos actuais PR e PM. Tão simples como isso.
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