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.

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".

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.

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.

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 – 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Scott Burchill – The report of the United Nations inquiry into Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of East Timor will come as no surprise to activists who opposed the policies of successive Australian governments, beginning in 1975, nor to the people of East Timor.

Edith M. Lederer, United Nations – East Timor's president urged the UN Security Council on Monday to keep a small political office in the country after the UN wraps up its six-year operation in May.

President Xanana Gusmao hopes the office will help with next year's elections and support critically needed police training, as well as justice and finance reforms.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A historian is urging the government to examine the reasons behind Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 and any excesses in its 24-year occupation, so that the country can rid itself of "ignorance and hatred".

Jim Dickins – Police failed to investigate allegations an Australian public servant passed massive bribes to East Timor's Prime Minister.

Documents lodged with a United States court claim an Australian acted as the bagman in a conspiracy involving US energy giant ConocoPhillips. Bribery of foreign officials is a criminal offence punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief on Sunday denied that the country's forces massacred or starved to death more than 180,000 civilians and used napalm against them during its 24-year occupation of East Timor.

Baucau – The people of East Timor are afraid that the names of the thousands of lives lost during Indonesia's occupation of the country will be forgotten in the name of reconciliation with the former occupier. They want their president to provide more information and be more open to dialogue over the issue.

Jakarta – The government played down Friday a report leaked to the Australian media alleging that Indonesia's 24-year-long occupation of East Timor (now Timor Leste) caused the deaths of up to 180,000 people.

Colum Lynch and Ellen Nakashima, United Nations – Indonesian security forces and militias they supported killed at least 100,000 East Timorese people – and perhaps as many as 180,000 – over 24 years through torture, starvation, arbitrary execution and massacres, according to a report presented to the United Nations by Timorese President Xanana Gusmao on Friday.

Debbie Elliott, host:

New York – Indonesian politicians should not misunderstand the move of Timor Leste's independent commission to report its investigation results to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Timor Leste's Foreign Minister Ramos Horta said here on Friday (Saturday in Indonesia).

New York – President Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão of Timor-Leste presented the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, with the final report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR in its Portuguese acronym). In so doing, President Gusmão complied with the UN regulations that established the CAVR in 2001 and with Timorese legislation.

New Zealand should lead the way by offering reparation to East Timor, Green MP Keith Locke said today after details of a damning United Nations report into what happened under Indonesian occupation were published.

Damien Murphy – Australia would be guided by East Timor's attitudes on how it wished to come to terms with human rights abuses that took place before independence, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said yesterday.

New Zealand should lead the way by offering reparation to East Timor, Green MP Keith Locke said today after details of a damning United Nations report into what happened under Indonesian occupation were published.

Sian Powell – Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has been condemned for his tacit approval of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975, his refusal to acknowledge famine on the half-island and his alleged lobbying against its Catholic church leader.