Mark Dodd – More than 400 mutinous East Timorese soldiers – a quarter of the country's army – will be dismissed for deserting after protesting over poor conditions and selective promotions.
The mass sacking is a great blow to the strength of East Timor's fledgling defence force and poses a potential security risk.
Reporter: Karen Percy
Eleanor Hall: The Federal Labor Party says it fears there's a security risk right on our doorstep, with reports that hundreds of soldiers from the East Timorese army have left their posts.
In recent weeks the soldiers have been protesting against working conditions and promotion rules within the newly formed army.
The relationship between Indonesia and Timor Leste has again been put to the test with recent border incidents and the submission to the UN Secretary-General of a report on atrocities during Jakarta's rule. Timor Leste Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta discussed efforts to improve ties between the two neighbors with The Jakarta Post's Tiarma Siboro, who is visiting Dili.
Nearly 600 East Timorese soldiers have deserted their barracks this month in protest against alleged discrimination and over-zealous surveillance, an officer in the group says.
The officer, who declines to be named, says a batch of 177 soldiers last weekend joined an earlier 404 who initially left their barracks in Metinaro and Baucau on February 8.
Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indicted for crimes against humanity by Indonesia and East Timor, feared militia leader Eurico Guterres has now been elected regional chairman of one of Indonesia's larger political parties.
Dili – A group of about 350 troops in East Timor who remain AWOL in a dispute with military and civil authorities will be disciplined for their actions, which do not constitute a threat to national stability, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.
Tiarma Siboro, Timor-Leste – Prosecutions of crimes against humanity in Timor Leste will not be affected by the diplomatic approach taken by the country and Indonesia, Timor Leste's general prosecutor says.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The woman, dressed somewhat provocatively, was conversing with some East Timorese militiamen.
She was there not for a pleasure, but to speak on behalf of dozens of East Timorese children and women hopelessly cramped into massive refugee camps near the border town of Atambua, West Nusa Tenggara.
Dili – Stray pigs roaming free in East Timor's capital are a disgrace and must be dealt with before they affect foreign investment, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Monday.
Roy Tupai – Former East Timorese pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres, currently appealing his five-year jail sentence for crimes against humanity, has been elected chairman of National Mandate Party's (PAN) chapter in East Nusa Tenggara province.
Sian Powell, Tampak Siring, Bali – The presidents of East Timor and Indonesia agreed yesterday to publicly ignore the conclusions of a damning UN-sanctioned report that found Jakarta committed war crimes during its 24-year occupation of the former Portuguese colony.
Tiarma Siboro and I Wayan Juniartha, Tampak Siring, Bali – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday that Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao's decision to submit a report – detailing alleged human rights abuses by the Indonesian Military in the former Indonesian province – to the UN was a domestic matter.
Bali – Indonesia's president embraced his East Timorese counterpart Friday, and said a report detailing atrocities committed by Indonesia during its occupation of the tiny nation would not affect ties.
Timor Leste – Indonesia residents asked that Fretilin's crimes against humanity in the 70's be divulged. "It is what is fair, after Timor Leste reported human rights violation by the Indonesian Army (TNI) from the 1970's," said Mateus Maya, Chief of the Timor Union Aswain in Denpasar, Bali, yesterday, 16 February.
In light of Friday's meeting between the presidents of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today called on Indonesia to fully accept the findings and enact the recommendations of Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (known by its Portuguese acronym, CAVR).
Dili – A crisis among East Timor's Armed Forces that erupted last week after hundreds of disgruntled troops left their barracks is still a long way from being resolved, military sources said Tuesday.
Sonny Inbaraj, Dili – Jose Ximenes, news editor of the popular 'Timor Post' daily, shook his head in disgust. "East Timor's independence and peace were achieved at great cost. We cannot remain silent while some of our leaders endanger our press freedom and undermine our hard-won democratic accomplishments," he told IPS emphatically.
Lisbon – East Timor will not seek compensation from Indonesia after the publication of a report blaming Jakarta for over 100,000 deaths during its occupation, East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said in an interview Monday.
Tom Hyland – The struggle for East Timor was played out in the battle for its children, a landmark report has found.
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Siti Bariah buys bananas and sells them in Dili's crowded markets, barely making enough money to feed eight of her children and her ailing husband.
Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Thousands of East Timorese children were shipped to Indonesia during Jakarta's occupation and the fate of many is unknown, says a report that echoes Australia's experience with the indigenous "stolen generation".
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has written to the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao calling for a veto of the penal code proposed by the Government of Timor-Leste criminalising defamation which is due to be promulgated in two days time.
Dili – An inquiry commission began hearings Friday on the complaints of hundreds of East Timorese soldiers who went AWOL to protest alleged discrimination and ill-treatment by commanders.
Dili – Most of the 400 East Timorese soldiers protesting against alleged discrimination bowed to President Xanana Gusmao's ultimatum to return to barracks and dispersed early Thursday from around the presidential palace.
Ann Harrison – The citizens of East Timor who perished during Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of their tiny island nation might have died unaccounted for – as many civilians do in military conflicts around the world. But a group of determined programmers and statisticians refused to let that happen.
Dili – Hundreds of East Timorese troops who gathered outside Dili's presidential palace Wednesday to demand the dismissal of a senior commander have left the complex and will meet President Xanana Gusmao later today to discuss their grievances, officials said.
Jon Lamb – Journalists and human-rights organisations within East Timor and internationally are increasingly concerned about the consequences of a new penal code on defamation, which includes the penalty of up to three years' imprisonment for defaming a public figure. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri signed an executive decree approving the proposed law in December.
Dili – President Xanana Gusmao sent copies Wednesday of the East Timorese Truth Commission's report on a quarter century of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, mostly committed under Indonesian occupation, to foreign embassies, international institutions and human rights groups.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) has urged Xanana Gusmao, President of Timor-Leste, to veto the criminal defamation provisions contained in the country's new Penal Code.
The following is an open letter written by Progressio, TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign and the Campaign Against Arms Trade.
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 1AA
3 February 2006
Dear Mr Straw,
East Timor's Interior Ministry on Friday summoned Indonesia's ambassador in Dili to express concern over the alleged rape of an East Timorese woman last month by Indonesian soldiers in the border area.
The 2,500 page document of the Commission for Reception Truth and Reconciliation has just been released at the United Nations and the full contents are now widely available on the internet. The report, which New Zealand helped to fund, documents 24 years of crimes against humanity in horrifying detail.
A report to the United Nations has accused Australia of violating its international duties by lobbying Jakarta to delay East Timor's independence ballot in 1999.
A Foreign Office minister yesterday denied that the Government misled the relatives of a Bristol cameraman killed in East Timor. Douglas Alexander also rejected calls to meet senior politicians in Indonesia to discuss the death of Brian Peters and four other journalists in 1975.
The federal government has sidestepped accusations it wanted East Timor to remain a province of Indonesia and delay its bid for independence.
The final report of East Timor's truth and reconciliation commission says Foreign Minister Alexander Downer wanted to delay the 1999 poll by several years.
Dili – East Timorese officials strongly criticized a New York-based human rights group Thursday for publishing on the Internet without authorization an official Timorese report on crimes against humanity that has embarrassed Indonesia.
Joseph Nevins, New York – The logic of reparations for war-related crimes has a long history. It has become especially powerful in the aftermath of the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust as a way to address both past and associated present-day injustices.
Canberra – Australia wanted East Timor to remain an Indonesian province and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer lobbied Jakarta to delay a vote for independence, a report to the UN has found.
Sian Powell – In September 1999, a young East Timorese woman was brought to a militia post in Gleno. In the days immediately after the independence ballot, she was at the mercy of men who had lost the fight to keep East Timor within Indonesia.
Sian Powell, Jakarta – Relations between Indonesia and East Timor have soured, with Jakarta canceling President Xanana Gusmao's visit to deliver a report alleging Indonesian crimes against humanity.
Mr Gusmao had planned to deliver the 2500-page report to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tomorrow on his way home from the UN in New York.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Human rights activists have criticized the government's defensive stance on a report by an independent commission, which claims that up to 180,000 people died during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor (now Timor Leste).
The Timor Leste government submitted the report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Saturday (Indonesian time).
Jon Lamb – On January 12, Australia and East Timor signed a deal establishing a 50-50 split of royalties from the lucrative Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.
Colum Lynch, United Nations – US political and military support for Indonesia was vital to its ability to invade East Timor in December 1975 and to sustain a brutal 24-year occupation that cost the lives of at least 100,000 people, parts of a Timorese inquiry made public Tuesday show.
Washington – US-supplied aircraft played a crucial role in enabling the Indonesian military to crush East Timorese resistance to its invasion and occupation of the territory in the late 1970s, according to a report by an East Timor commission.
Sydney – A new report backing claims that Indonesian soldiers deliberately killed the Balibo Five journalists has sparked fresh calls for Australia to hold a full judicial inquiry into their deaths.
Guido Guilliart, Dili – An internationally funded report supports claims that Indonesian soldiers intentionally killed five foreign journalists who were covering Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor.
The East Timorese have two tetchy, uncharitable neighbours in Indonesia and Australia, neither willing to lend a genuine hand to the nation, says Peter Kammerer
Washington – East Timor needs a continued United Nations presence after the scheduled pullout of the UNOTIL mission in May, particularly to prepare for elections and train police to prevent border tensions with Indonesia, President Xanana Gusmao has told the UN Security Council.
Colum Lynch, United Nations – An internal UN probe of the department that runs international peacekeeping operations has uncovered extensive evidence of mismanagement and possible fraud, and triggered the suspension of eight procurement officials pending an investigation, according to UN officials and documents.
Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesia's own military films provide the proof that the Soviet equivalent of napalm, opalm, was used on the people of East Timor during Jakarta's 24-year occupation of the former Portuguese colony.