Matthew Lee, Dili, East Timor – US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised East Timor on Thursday for holding fair elections this year, and said it was up to the government of Asia's newest and poorest nation to decide when and how to seek accountability for past violence during its struggle for independence.

5 September 2012

Ms. Hillary Rodman Clinton
United States Secretary of State
Your Excellency,

La'o Hamutuk is a civil society organization which for more than a decade has been analyzing, monitoring the development process in Timor-Leste and also conducting advocacy and campaigns to stop impunity in Timor-Leste.

On the eve of her visit to Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to commit the United States to support justice and accountability for US-backed crimes committed during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of Timor-Leste.

Joyce Morgan – On a steamy afternoon in Dili, I am heading to a rehearsal of an East Timorese-Australian co-production when my phone rings. The caller has instructions about the route to take to the venue on the capital's outskirts.

"Ask the taxi to come by Banana Road. There's rock-throwing and gunfire the other way," he says.

Warwick Fry – There has been plenty of warm inner glow around East Timor about the exemplary conduct of the general elections in July. But it's not all motherhood and sunshine – the country is far from stable, and basic infrastructure and social programs are missing.

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says East Timor is ready for UN peacekeeping troops to withdraw as planned by the end of 2012. During a two day visit, the UN secretary general also stressed the need to bring human rights abusers to justice, a notion that, for now, is at odds with the country's development plans.

Guido Goulart, Dili, East Timor – East Timor is ready to maintain stability on its own without the hundreds of international peacekeepers who have stayed in Asia's newest country a decade after it declared formal independence, the United Nation's chief said Wednesday.

East Timor's president swore in the nation's new coalition cabinet Wednesday, announcing three additional ministerial posts that the opposition has dubbed an "unnecessary" use of the poor nation's money.

Max Lane – Timor Leste's third parliamentary election since the restoration of independence in 2002 was held on July 7. The largest of the incumbent parties, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), almost secured an absolute majority of parliamentary seats.

Joe Leribun, Jakarta – The government of East Timor did not take over any land in the region of the border in the Nusa Tenggara Timor Province. A problem arose due to a mistake in the surveying of the border so there was some construction erected by some East Timorese that encroached on Indonesian territory.

Yemris Fointuna – The situation on the border of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province of Indonesia and East Timor remains tense following a clash between residents from Timor Tengah Utara regency and Ambenu, Oekussi district of East Timor over territorial claims on both sides.

Dili – National police and NGOs in East Timor have noted an uptick in alcohol-fueled violence, especially among unemployed youths.

Vidal Campos Magno, now 29, grew up surrounded by conflict, was a teenager during the final years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, and then went through the turmoil that followed the 1999 referendum for independence.

Indonesian and East Timorese civilians are guarding a neutral buffer zone between both countries a day after a land conflict sparked a clash there, a local official said on Wednesday.

Peter Alford, Jakarta – Political normalisation is finally at hand in East Timor, despite last weekend's sudden outbreak of rioting that marred at the last moment the young nation's third elections.

Ulma Haryanto – Former East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta stressed the need to maintain border security with Indonesia as a key part of improving the already close relations with Jakarta.

Armindo Maia and Sue Ingram – Hopes and fears of an alliance between Timor-Leste's two major political parties, CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) and Fretilin (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor), appear to have fallen away.

Violence in East Timor was sparked when Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao announced his National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction will form a coalition government with two smaller parties.

Joyce Morgan, Dili – The East Timorese President has called for calm after a night of violence in the capital, Dili, which left one man dead, dozens of vehicles destroyed and has raised questions about the planned withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

Michael Bachelard – Violence erupted in East Timor late last night, apparently prompted by political party Fretilin being excluded from a role in the new governing coalition.

To East Timor, where Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's CNRT party is moving towards forming a coalition government. His party won the most seats in last weekend's election but not enough for a majority.

Guido Goulart, Dili – East Timor's president called on security forces to restore peace and order Monday as violence persisted over the runner-up in this month's election being excluded from a new coalition government.

The Australian government has updated its travel advice for East Timor, warning of the possibility of further violence following a night of unrest.

East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao will form a coalition government with the country's two minor parties. The decision was announced at a special meeting of his CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) in the capital, Dili, yesterday.

Police in East Timor who uncovered a mysterious mass grave at the national government palace last month said Friday they had found the bones of 72 bodies and clues the dead may have been Chinese.

Six weeks ago, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao formally nominated two leaders from our oil and gas sector to develop investment policy for Timor-Leste's sovereign wealth fund. Unnoticed by the media and politicians, this action was not mentioned during the recent election campaign.

The ruling party of East Timor resistance hero Xanana Gusmao has won 30 seats in parliament, according to a final count on Friday from last weekend's vote, and will need to form a coalition to govern.

The government of the Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor) has started legal action against a number of international oil groups, including Conoco-Phillips, in order to recover taxes that the government says have not been paid, according to a statement issued Tuesday in Dili.

La'o Hamutuk feels that a multi-party state is essential to genuine democracy, to give space for a variety of perspectives to be discussed and considered with public participation. Parliament is the logical place for that to happen, and we are disappointed that there will be fewer parties in the next Parliament than in the past one.

Simon Roughneen – The party of East Timor's prime minister won the majority of seats this weekend in peaceful parliamentary elections, paving the way for him to form another coalition government as the country faces its second major transition a decade after independence.

Joe Schneider and James Paton – ConocoPhillips, a US oil and gas producer, challenged a new tax assessment by the government of East Timor that may add billions of dollars to the Asian nation's treasury.

East Timor is seeking "possibly billions" of dollars from foreign oil companies, including US-owned ConocoPhillips, in unpaid taxes, the government said in a statement received Wednesday.

The government has begun an auditing process, hoping "to recover substantial monies it believes are rightfully owed... under legal obligations", the statement said.

Simon Roughneen, Dili – Saturnina da Silva doesn't have a name for her baby boy yet, born just 12 hours before Saturday's parliamentary election in the tropical half-island nation.

Michael Bachelard – A key civil society group in East Timor has warned against the proposed "government of national unity", saying it would reduce scrutiny of decisions and diminish democracy.

Michael Bachelard and Mouzinho Lopes – East Timor's sometimes fractious politicians are contemplating the extraordinary – forming a government of national unity in which all parties would govern together.

Dili, East Timor, and Jakarta, Indonesia – Not until she was at the deathbed of the man presumed to be her father did Alexhia Cordova da Silva's life start to make sense.

Raised by an elite political family in Jakarta, da Silva had endured years of hushed rumors about her dark, Melanesian features at social events. On the street, "slumdog" and "monkey" were regular taunts.

Tito Belo, Dili – The party of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has won East Timor's parliamentary election, but was short of a majority, provisional results showed on Sunday, raising the prospect of a coalition government in Asia's youngest nation.

Michael Bachelard – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has consolidated his power and extended his lead over the country's opposition, winning the largest bloc of votes in the country's parliamentary elections.

Peter Ker – Academics and other dedicated election observers will not be the only Australians watching today's East Timor election with interest.

Thousands of kilometres away, Perth oil and gas executives will be taking more than a passing interest in the young nation's latest effort at peaceful democracy.

Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor voted on Saturday in a parliamentary election in which Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's party faces a stiff challenge from two opponents as it seeks to extend its term at the helm of Asia's newest and one of its poorest nations.

Helene Hofman, Dili, East Timor – Grace Gunawon, 22, remembers Dili before East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, when it wasn't safe to play in the streets after dark.

But like most of the world, she witnessed the worst of the violence – the clashes in the lead-up to the 1999 referendum on independence and the 2006 gang riots – from a distance.

Vincent Souriau – The abject poverty visible only an hour's drive out of East Timor's capital illustrates the challenge facing the government that takes over one of Asia's poorest countries after elections on Saturday.

Dili – East Timor is about to face a crucial test of its fragile democracy in parliamentary elections that will determine if UN peacekeepers can leave.

The UN, after presidential polls were held peacefully over two rounds in March and April, says it will pull out its remaining 1300 troops within six months if the general election tomorrow goes well.

Dili – The UN peacekeeping force is on track to begin withdrawing from Timor-Leste in October 2012 after a "remarkably peaceful" parliamentary election campaign concluded on 4 July, ahead of the election on 7 July.

Meagan Weymes – The UN, after presidential polls were held peacefully over two rounds in March and April, says it will pull out its remaining 1300 troops within six months if the general election on Saturday goes well.

Michael Bachelard – "If I've got $600 million a year... you'll partake in it," Olgario de Castro reassures his mates, his voice caught by a secret recorder as coffee cups clink in the background.

"I want the money, not the power!" he says at one point and, later, of another deal: "Last minute, we'll find $2 million!"

New Zealand MPs will be among official observers of East Timor's parliamentary elections this weekend. Foreign Minister Murray McCully says five are going, meeting a request from East Timor.

Damien Kingsbury – In 2010, a senior Timorese political figure remarked in private conversation that Timor-Leste had never been better. This particular political figure was commenting on the general state of Timor-Leste since his return in 1999, after a forced 25 year absence from the country.

The East Timor government believes that the choice of the south coast of the country for the new gas pipeline running from the Greater Sunrise field, which it shares with Australia, will prevail.

Police in East Timor have uncovered a mass grave of 52 people at the government palace in Dili, with initial examinations suggesting the bodies are not Timorese, an official said Tuesday.

Construction workers discovered the remains last week in a garden outside the beachfront government palace, which houses the office of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and contacted police.

In East Timor, the politics of language can be a complex and fiercely debated topic. While the official languages are Tetum and Portugese, there are no fewer than 16 other local languages. For children starting school that's a complicated world to understand, let alone navigate, and many are being left behind.

Reporting: Liam Cochrane