Two-thirds of East Timorese asylum seekers living in Darwin have been told they can stay in Australia, subject to further checks.
Federal Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock indicated that more than 1,500 East Timorese asylum seekers were expected to be granted permanent residency in Australia by October.
Dili – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao said Wednesday his government would implement a plan that would make the impoverished nation agriculturally self-sufficient in five years.
"We now urgently need a phased program able to guide towards self-sufficiency in basic agricultural commodities," Gusmao said at a meeting with the World Bank in Dili.
East Timor's court system could take months to clear a backlog of cases relating to the bloodshed before and after the United Nations-backed ballot for independence in 1999.
The landslide vote to break away from 24 years of Indonesian rule unleashed a wave of killing and destruction by gangs of pro-Jakarta militia which were backed by elements of the Indonesian military.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said he would intervene to grant 379 East Timorese asylum seekers permanent residency in Australia. He said he had made the decision to intervene before the Labor Party began suggestions he had been bribed to grant visas.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Pressure for the establishment of an international tribunal to try Indonesian Military personnel accused of gross human rights violations in East Timor will never end following the poor result of a series of trials by the country's ad hoc human rights tribunal, an activist says.
Dili – East Timor is training police not troops to guard its border with giant neighbour Indonesia because it wants a demilitarised frontier zone, President Xanana Gusmao said Monday.
Lisa Clausen, Dili – Domingos Ximenes pulls off his T shirt to reveal a body that tells the story of two decades of war and suffering. On his left arm is a map of East Timor in the grip of a fist; on his right arm and across his chest tumble rough tattoos of a sacred bird, a Bible and crucifix, and a spear.
Kupang – The military in West Timor strongly deplored the East Timor government's inaction over the recent raising of the Aceh Free Movement (GAM) flag in Dili, saying it could affect the two countries' bilateral ties.
The GAM flag was raised in Dili, the capital of East Timor, when the East Timorese people celebrated the small country's first anniversary on May 20.
There can no longer be any doubt that the proceedings in Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court for East Timor are a sham following the extraordinary decision by the prosecution to request the acquital of the highest-ranking defendant Major General Adam Damiri.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A Chinese-Malaysian businessman who won a case of illegal arrest against East Timorese police has been re-arrested and jailed within 24 hours of the court decision.
Dili – Timor Leste's Prime Minister yesterday called for the establishment of an international tribunal in a neutral country to try Indonesian military officers for the bloodshed that swept the territory when it voted to break from Jakarta in 1999.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A court case in which a bodyguard of East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is said to have kicked a Chinese-Malaysian businessman, calling him a monkey, is being closely watched by foreign investors.
London – A weak judicial system in newly independent East Timor undermined human rights there last year, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
The London-based rights watchdog, in its report on 2002, said the new country inherited an incomplete institutional and legal framework which could not fully protect human rights.
As the do-gooders move on, carpetbaggers and corrupt locals are left to count the loot. Eric Ellis discovers that most East Timorese are wondering what went wrong a year after independence.
The United Nations Serious Crimes Unit has indicted General Wiranto, the former governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares and six other senior military officers, for murder and persecution in the lead-up to East Timor's independence in 1999. But with the Indonesian Government unlikely to hand any of the men over for trial, will justice ever be done?
The UN Special Crimes Unit in East Timor has charged former militia commander, Joao Tavares, and four Indonesian TNI, or military, officers for atrocities in the territory before and after a UN sponsored vote for independence from Indonesia in August 1999. They are among 32 people, including 15 TNI soldiers, accused of murder, torture, persecution and other crimes.
John Hamilton – Hilton Lay is a nine-year-old kid with a cheeky grin and one passion in life – Essendon. His proudest possession is a Bombers scarf. He's about as Australian as my own two sons. They, luckily, were born here. But Hilton was born in East Timor, and that's the big problem.
Chantal Rumble – As East Timor celebrates its first year of independence, Batemans Bay human rights campaigner James Dunn has launched a book about the country's extraordinary road to freedom.
East Timor: A Rough Passage to Independence, was launched by NSW Premier Bob Carr in NSW Parliament House last night.
A state-appointed human rights court acquitted the former commander of Indonesian troops in East Timor of crimes against humanity in the territory in 1999, prompting protests by rights groups.
The "dignity and position of Brigadier General Tono Suratman should be restored to him" following the verdict, said Chief Judge Andi Samsan Nganro.
Quinton Temby, Perth – At an international conference on regional security held in East Timor last year, the frustration of many Timorese officials was obvious. It was just over two years since East Timor had voted for independence from Indonesia and been ravaged by its scorched earth retribution. But the frustration wasn't directed at Indonesia.
Twelve months ago there was great fanfare when East Timor was declared the world's newest nation. But today the celebrations were muted as President Xanana Gusamo lamented the nation's problems in his address to the East Timorese people.
East Timor, the world's newest nation, marked its first birthday but President Xanana Gusmao found little to celebrate.
East Timor was Asia's poorest country when it declared independence one year ago, after 31 months of United Nations stewardship and 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule. Gusmao, in a national address Tuesday, summed up the problems bluntly.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – On May 20 last year the Democratic Republic of East Timor became the first new nation of the second millennium.
Michael Casey, Dili – A year after independence, dozens of burned-out buildings dot East Timor's capital – haunting reminders of the country's bloody history.
Unemployed men hang out on Dili street corners hawking phone cards, oranges and cigarettes. In the countryside, residents live on as little as 55 cents a day. Clean water and electricity are luxuries most do without.
Maumeta – Cancio dos Santos readily admits he joined pro-Jakarta militias and torched three homes in East Timor when it voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.
As popular discontent continues to fester over unmet economic expectations in East Timor, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has rejected criticism that his Fretilin government is too centralised and intolerant of opposing views. At the same time, he's also taken a swipe at Canberra, accusing some of wanting to make the world's newest nation a mere extension of Australia.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The prime minister of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, which celebrates one year of independence next Tuesday, has said he is determined to bring to justice Indonesian officers who committed war crimes in the territory.
John Martinkus – General Taur Matan Ruak, the former guerilla leader who now heads East Timor's defence forces, has called on residents of the world's newest nation to ignore rumours that the first anniversary of independence on May 20 would be marked by militia attacks.
Dili – As Indonesia marks five years as a democracy, its former territory of East Timor is celebrating its own landmark: one year as an independent nation.
But persistent poverty, anger at the slow pace of nation building and the struggle to come to terms with a brutal past are likely to overshadow any celebration next Tuesday.
Canberra – Aid funding will increase but assistance for East Timor will be slashed under the Budget released tonight. In a sign of the government's continuing use of aid to help fight terrorism, much of the increase has been tied to the efforts of neighbouring countries to improve their governance and policing systems.
Joe Cochrane – When Indonesia and Australia agreed in 1989 to jointly exploit East Timor's offshore oil and gas fields, the countries' foreign ministers sealed the pact by sipping champagne in a private jet high above the Timor Sea.
Oscar Jukes, Darwin – East Timor's parliament is discussing a new law that would allow the interior ministry to deport any foreigner who engages in political activity or even attends a political meeting or demonstration.
Tony Stephens – Teresinha Maia's grandfather, Loloulo, helped Australian commandos fight the Japanese in Timor during World War II. Believing he had saved their lives, the Australians gave him a slouch hat. Loloulo wore it for years. It rests now in what Mrs Maia calls a holy place in East Timor.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – An Indonesian official has described the former East Timor governor Mario Carrascalao as unstable, following his allegations that the Indonesian Army systematically forced Timorese women to be sex slaves for officers and then killed their husbands.
Guido Guilart, Dili – The Indonesian military systematically forced dozens of East Timorese women to become sex slaves for officers during its 24-year occupation of the half-island, a former governor said Tuesday.
East Timor's Serious Crimes Unit is losing its high profile chief – Siri Frigaard. She completes her mission this week, raising concerns about the unit's long term future. The United Nations is already cutting the number of international prosecutors from 13 to nine and says it can't guarantee any support for the project beyond June 2004.
New York – The United Nations Security Council has approved a one-year extension of the UN mission in East Timor, while diplomatic sources caution that the new nation could experience massive difficulties after the world body pulls out next year.
Nigel Wilson – Negotiations are going ahead on the terms that will secure long-term gas supplies for Bayu Undan's $1.8 billion liquefied natural gas plant planned for Darwin.
New York – The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss a one-year extension of the UN mission in East Timor, a recommendation by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – More than 500 East Timorese people still taking refuge in West Timor held a protest recently in front of the East Nusa Tenggara provincial legislative council, demanding the Indonesian government compensate them for the assets they left behind in East Timor.
For the first time, the East Timorese Government has begun taking control from the United Nations over its border with Indonesia.
East Timorese and UN authorities have today opened a new facility at Batugade to streamline immigration, police and border patrol operations along the border with West Timor.
Jakarta – Two international human rights groups have strongly criticised a United Nations commission, saying it failed to demand justice for victims of atrocities in East Timor.
Amnesty International and the East Timor Action Network took issue with a recent statement from the UN Commission on Human Rights about Indonesia's trials of suspects in the 1999 bloodshed.
The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) strongly criticized the UN Commission on Human Rights for turning its back on the East Timorese people and jeopardizing current and future UN missions.
The Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, have condemned the UN Commission on Human Rights for failing to ensure that the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights in East Timor are brought to justice and for agreeing to drop the issue from its agenda next year.
Dili – A moral and spiritual "darkness" still haunts East Timor's Catholics, the bishop of Dili said at the Easter Vigil service.
Dili – The head of the United Nations' civil police department urged East Timor Thursday to rapidly draft and approve legislation for its police forces. Calling on Dili for action "as quickly as possible", Kiran Debi challenged a seminar in the East Timorese capital "not to waste this opportunity" because "you are losing time and put the future at risk".
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Activists have urged the international community to ensure that justice is served against all perpetrators of the gross human rights violations in East Timor, now that hopes for a fair trial have evaporated.
In East Timor, continuing militia infilitration has put a spotlight on the United Nations failure to properly secure the border. Local police say militia groups have returned to East Timor, through numerous tracks along the West Timor border. The warning comes as the UN forces prepare to withdraw, leaving border security to the local police.
Jakarta – People in the East Timor regency of Belu expressed disappointment over the country's recent ruling to impose a US$25 visa on visitors from Indonesia, which it borders.
A number of local figures warned on Tuesday that the visa ruling, which took effect on April 19, would burden East Timor more than it would Indonesia.
Next month – our northern neighbour is celebrating it's first birthday as a free country. But while there's much to celebrate – the country's justice system is struggling. Critics say the government isn't doing enough – to bring those responsible for past violence – before a court of law.