An Darwin woman found not guilty of trying to assassinate East Timor's president two years ago says the country needs to review its judicial system.
Last month a panel of three judges found Angelita Pires not guilty of the attack on Jose Ramos-Horta in February 2008.
Sara Everingham – East Timorese president Jose Ramos-Horta says it is time to break the impasse between Australia and his country over the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field.
East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged Wednesday to increase government investment of the tiny country's oil wealth to boost economic growth and living standards.
Gusmao told international donors at the country's eighth annual development partners meeting that "the people need us to create conditions to improve their livelihoods".
Matt Crook, Dili – East Timor police have declared war on mysterious "ninjas" accused of murder and subversion in a new twist to the young country's struggle to establish security.
East Timor has marked the tenth anniversary of the founding of its own police force. At a weekend ceremony, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said he hoped the handover of all police responsibilities from the United Nations to the Timorese force would be finished by the end of this year.
James Scambary – Here is the destruction of '99; here is the destruction of 2006, and here is the destruction of 2007," exclaims Mateus, a wide sweep of his hand encompassing a densely packed row of derelict, weed-infested houses covered in gang graffiti.
Dili – The tiny, impoverished nation of East Timor is on the cusp of an economic explosion that will eclipse even China in terms of growth, a top UN economist said on Tuesday.
Rory Callinan – The Indonesian soldier alleged to have stabbed Australian journalists to death at Balibo has denied any involvement in the 1975 killings and intends to move back to East Timor, where his daughter works for the government.
Tim Lee – There are two distinct seasons in East Timor – the wet season and the dry season.
For many East Timorese, the time in between includes three to four months known as the hungry months, when last year's supplies of rice and maize have run out and the new season's crops have yet to yield.
The Australian Defence Force Chief says he believes East Timorese forces will be able to take full responsibility for the country's security in the near future.
The number of Australian troops in East Timor has been recently reduced to 400.
H.E. Jose Ramos-Horta
President, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Dili, Timor-Leste
Dear Mr. President,
AI number: ASA 57/004/2010
Amnesty International has written today to President Jose Ramos-Horta to follow up on his meeting on 5 March 2010 in the United Kingdom with Amnesty International's interim Secretary General, Claudio Cordone. The letter also took note of President Ramos-Horta's remarks at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 11 March.
Tokyo – East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta said Tuesday that Indonesia still needs to apologise for its brutal occupation of the half-island even if relations between the neighbours have improved.
"The only thing still missing is an apology... by those who were directing all the suffering," Ramos-Horta told reporters during a visit to Japan.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Australian soldiers in East Timor have been accused of asking Timorese their political views, in violation of the country's constitution.
East Timor's president Jose Ramos-Horta says his country is serious about making sure its interests are not ignored in the development of the Greater Sunrise Gas field.
Sara Everingham – The President of East Timor says it is embarrassing for Australia that Northern Territory police took five years to test remains believed to be those of the country's first prime minister, Nicolau Lobato.
Tito Belo, Dili – The construction of a luxury hotel near East Timor's capital has uncovered machine-dug graves containing remains of people who may have been killed during the country's occupation by Indonesia, scientists said on Thursday.
Dili – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Wednesday denied claims by Amnesty International that he would support a tribunal for abuses committed during Indonesia's occupation.
Amnesty had claimed he was in favour of the establishment of an international tribunal for crimes committed during the 1975-1999 occupation, should the UN Security Council set it up.
Australian human rights activists are outraged that the Australian Government has bestowed Australia's highest civilian honour, the Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during a ceremony at Government House, Canberra.
Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian military on Tuesday said it doubted claims by Amnesty International that East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta had promised to support the establishment of an international criminal tribunal by the UN Security Council over crimes committed during the 1975-99 conflict with Indonesia.
AI Index: ASA 57/003/2010
The President of Timor-Leste has told Amnesty International he would support the establishment of an international criminal tribunal for crimes committed during the 1975-1999 occupation by with Indonesia, should the UN Security Council set it up.
Sara Everingham, Dili – Celebrations for International Women's Day have begun early in East Timor. About 50 people – men and women – participated in a fun run and walk from the centre of Dili to the east of the city this morning.
It was organised by a cross-party coalition of female politicians as part of celebrations leading up to international women's day on Monday.
Sara Everingham – East Timor's latest attempt to create a brighter future has unearthered a tragic reminder of its turbulent past, with the construction of a new luxury hotel and golf course leading to the discovery of a mass grave.
The hotel is sitting on prime real estate in Dili, in the west of the capital at a beachfront location.
Lindsay Murdoch – Three Dili District Court judges have sentenced 24 rebels to jail terms of up to 16 years but their verdicts have raised more questions than they answered about the attacks on East Timor's top two political leaders on February 11, 2008.
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Angelita Pires, the East Timorese-born Australian lover of the slain rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has been acquitted of conspiring to kill East Timor's top two political leaders.
Sara Everingham, Dili – For the first time in nearly seven months, Australian woman Angelita Pires can relax, after being acquitted of involvement in a plot to assassinate East Timor's leaders.
Ms Pires was the girlfriend of Major Alfredo Reinado, the rebel leader who was fatally shot during an assassination attempt last year on East Timor's president and prime minister.
Tito Belo, Dili – An East Timor court jailed on Wednesday 27 people for between nine and 17 years over the attempted assassination of President Jose Ramos-Horta and an attack on the prime minister, while freeing an Australian.
Guido Goulart, Dili – An East Timorese court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced 24 rebels to up to 16 years in prison over the attempted assassinations of the fledgling democracy's president and prime minister. Another four defendants were acquitted.
From March 23 until May 3, Zely Ariane will be touring Australia, speaking at Direct Action forums, at universities, to trade union meetings and at other venues. Ariane is the National Spokesperson of the Committee for the Politics of the Poor-Peoples Democratic Party (KPRM-PRD), one of Indonesia's left-wing political parties.
The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of its mission in East Timor (UNMIT) for another year.
Edith M. Lederer – The Security Council voted unanimously Friday to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor for a year and backed plans to reduce its police contingent ahead of a possible pullout.
Clinton Fernandes – Australia conducted two military interventions in East Timor during the 20th century and both have been falsely reconstructed into myths that vary sharply from the historical record.
Ref: IOR 40/2009.177
AI Index: ASA 57/002/2010
H.E. the Permanent Representative
23 February 2010
Open letter to all members of the Security Council: the situation of justice in Timor-Leste
Dear Ambassador,
Dili – East Timor's first anti-corruption commissioner was sworn in Monday during a parliamentary ceremony that was broadcast live around the tiny nation.
But on his first day in the job former human rights lawyer Aderito Soares was obliged to play down concerns that Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's government is not fully behind him.
Lindsay Murdoch – Lawyers representing Angelita Pires, the lover of East Timor's slain rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, say she has been "viciously vilified" by people in positions of power.
The lawyers have also described the refusal of East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta to testify in person at her trial in Dili District Court as a "serious denial of justice".
Dili – East Timorese prosecutors Thursday sought up to 20 years' jail for 28 people including an Australian citizen charged over the attempted assassination of the president and prime minister in 2008.
As an organization that works for human rights, HAK Association is concerned with the situation in Bobonaro and Covalima Districts, especially the population's right to security. HAK considers the reaction of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) to the "Ninja" group as an obligation of the competent organs of the state to comply with their human rights commitments.
Lawyers for a Timorese-born Australian woman standing trial over an alleged plot to assassinate East Timor's President say new evidence has come to light that further undermines the prosecution's case.
Sara Everingham – Lawyers for a Timorese-born Australian woman standing trial over an alleged plot to assassinate East Timor's President say new evidence has come to light that further undermines the prosecution's case.
Angelita Pires and 27 men are on trial for attacks on President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao two years ago.
Adam Gartrell – One of Australia's top forensic pathologists has added to doubts about the official account of the alleged attempt to assassinate East Timor's top political leaders.
Sunanda Creagh, Jakarta – The East Timor government said on Thursday that it still has not awarded a contract to any company to develop a pipeline or LNG facility from its lucrative Greater Sunrise gas field.
Rob Taylor, Canberra – High-profile prosecutions will not end widespread corruption in East Timor and a long public re-education campaign will be needed to fight graft and nepotism, the country's new anti-corruption tsar said on Friday.
Dili – An academic and human rights activist has been named East Timor's first anti-corruption commissioner.
Aderito de Jesus was confirmed as Anti-Corruption Commission chief after winning unanimous approval in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday, government spokesman Agio Pereira said yesterday.
2 February 2010
Excellencies,
Members of the United Nations Security Council
United Nations,
New York, New York, 10017 USA
Hon. Ameerah Haq
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Timor-Leste
Dear Members of the United Nations Security Council,
Dili – The brutal beating of a demonstrator by East Timorese police in front of UN officers raises serious questions about the world body's training of the local force, an opposition lawmaker said Monday.
Malaysia's national oil company Petronas said Tuesday it has been invited by East Timor's government to help develop a disputed oil and gas field worth billions of dollars.
Ben Butler – East Timor could leave the Sunrise gas and oil field in the Timor Sea undeveloped if Australian company Woodside refuses to build a pipeline to Timor's south coast.
"The Government is looking at all options to develop a thriving onshore petroleum industry," East Timorese Secretary of State Agio Pereira said yesterday.
Canberra – Woodside Petroleum Ltd. shares slipped Thursday after East Timor's government said it will block proposals by a consortium led by the Australian oil and gas company to develop a disputed oil and gas field worth billions of dollars.
Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – East Timor's government said Wednesday it will block proposals by an Australian-led consortium to develop a disputed oil and gas field worth billions of dollars, the latest move in a long-running battle over where the resources should be processed.
Rebecca Le May – A stalemate between East Timor's Government and a Woodside Petroleum-led joint venture to develop the $6.6 billion Sunrise LNG and oil project is likely to drag on.
Sunrise lies partly within the Joint Petroleum Development Area while the remainder virtually straddles the territorial waters between Australia and East Timor.