---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN EAST TIMOR Misi Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa Di Timor Timur Briefing Summary for Friday, 13 August 1999 Deputy Spokesman Hiro Ueki reminded correspondents that the tripartite senior officials' meeting is continuing today in Jakarta. A press conference is planned for 4:30 p.m. this afternoon by both the Indonesian and Portuguese delegations and Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General. Tomorrow marks the start of the political campaign period. In Dili, the United Front for East Timor Autonomy is expected to hold a rally at the Merdeka field in Comoro village starting at 9:00 a.m. The CNRT has notified UNAMET's Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Jeff Fischer, that they have named seven representatives to sit on the regional campaign coordination committees. Those seven regions are Dili, Ambino, Suai, Baucau, Viqueque, Los Palos and Maliana. The CNRT office in Suai is expected to open this morning. Yesterday, the regional campaign coordination committee met in Ermera when they agreed to start their political campaign on 18 August. From that day on, there will be alternative campaigning at various locations. A correspondent asked if there were any statistics, since UNAMET started its operations, on how many people have been threatened or intimidated and reports of such incidents by UNAMET to the Indonesian police. Mr. Ueki said that that information was not readily available. He said, the Secretary-General in his report indicated that there has been some improvement in the eastern region and continuing problems persisted in the west. Whenever UNAMET witnesses acts of intimidation or threats, he said, they immediately notify the Indonesian police to investigate and take necessary action. A correspondent asked if it was possible to get statistics on how many people have been injured or killed. The Deputy Spokesman said he would check to get the latest data UNAMET has compiled. A correspondent asked if UNAMET had any reaction to the newly-appointed Indonesian Army Commander in Dili. Mr. Ueki said UNAMET was not in a position to comment on the rotation or replacement of Indonesian officials. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------- U N I T E D N A T I O N S N A T I O N S U N I E S UNAMET UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN EAST TIMOR Misi Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa Di Timor Timur Briefing Summary for Thursday, 12 August 1999 UNAMET Spokesman David Wimhurst reminded correspondents of the senior level tripartite talks taking place in Jakarta today and tomorrow between Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations. The talks will focus on Phase II - the post-ballot period. Ambassador Marker, the Personal Representative, is expected to meet with President Habibie today at midday. Yesterday, he and Ian Martin, the Special Representative, met with Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Defence Minister General Wiranto and afterwards with Xanana Gusmao. Mr. Martin expressed satisfaction that the talks had gone well. The Security Council was briefed yesterday in New York on the situation in East Timor by the Department for Political Affairs following the report of the Secretary-General. There is a draft resolution in circulation, which is expected to go to the Council shortly. This morning, the Chief Military Liaison Officer, Brigadier General Rezaqul Haider, will be in Bobonaro to witness the fourth and last cantonment organized by FALINTIL. Last night there was a meeting between the parties to approve the regulations for the code of conduct for the political campaign, which was signed earlier this week. The Chief Electoral Officer, Jeff Fischer, has issued a notification about these regulations which says it is the right of the political groups to organize their respective structures, to canvass for support, to arrange and conduct public meetings and to encourage voters to vote in a fair and peaceful way. Under the regulations, regional campaign committees will be established in each UNAMET electoral area. These committees will be composed of one representative each from the UNIF (the pro-autonomy united front), one from the CNRT (pro-independence group), as well as the Indonesian police, the regional UNAMET political affairs officer, the regional UNAMET electoral coordinator, and the regional UNAMET civilian police commander. The primary function of the regional campaign committees is to coordinate the schedule of campaign events in order to prevent conflicts in scheduling and to receive and review complaints of alleged campaign violations. If the committees are not able to reach consensus on complaints, UNAMET's Chief Electoral Officer will review the evidence and make a determination. Penalties of campaign violations include, written notification that they are in breach of the code, public reprimand and/or report to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Campaign events are only allowed to take place between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. A complete set of the regulations is available in the press office in English and Bahasa Indonesia. As of the 7th of August, UNAMET has accredited 1,223 international and local observers, as well as 95 official observers, to monitor the popular consultation. Indonesia and Portugal nominate the official observers. The international observers are nominated by international bodies such as from the Australian and New Zealand governments, the Asian Network for Free Elections, the Carter Center, the Catholic Institute for International Relations, the United Church of Australia and the Asia-Pacific Coalition for East Timor. Local observers are nominated by non-governmental organizations from Indonesia. Accredited observers must be impartial, independent and objective; not say or exhibit anything that shows they are inclined one way or the other in terms of the outcome; obey Indonesian law and any instructions from UNAMET about behaviour during the popular consultation; not tell any lies about anyone; behave respectfully to electoral officers and voters; be identifiable at all times as official observers; must not wear any other symbols or emblems that might be construed as supporting one side or the other; and, must not tell people how to vote or ask people how they voted. There was an incident yesterday in Viqueque which left two confirmed dead and one injured. This incident appears to have been a clash between local militia and students. UNAMET staff were not involved in this incident in any way and the situation in Viqueque this morning is calm. UNAMET is planning a series of voter education meetings in the regions. The first took place yesterday in Dili and was attended by all UNAMET District Electoral Officers in the region. UNAMET plans to go to Los Palos and to Viqueque this morning to discuss the planned voter outreach programme with DEOs. These meetings will review the procedures on exhibition and challenges, which are the next technical phase of the popular consultation, and the implications of the political campaign period which starts on Saturday. Civic voter education will be discussed, as well as polling procedures and the lessons learned from the registration process itself. Tomorrow, meetings are scheduled to take place in Oekussi and Maliana, on Saturday in Baucau and Same, and next Monday in Suai and Ermera. These are internal UNAMET meetings conducted by electoral staff and by voter education experts. Kits for information will be provided to local staff, which they will be able to use during this next ! phase of the campaign. There was an incident in Maubise yesterday, where three CivPol officers travelling in the region for a liaison visit came across a serious road accident. A vehicle plunged off a cliff falling about 20 metres. The UNAMET CivPol assisted in the rescue of the people trapped in the vehicle. A woman and a child were killed in the accident, but the CivPol were able to rescue a male, another child and a baby, with the help of locals at the scene. The CivPol then transported them to where they could get medical attention. Mr. Wimhurst then drew attention to an article that appeared in the Indonesian Observer. The article erroneously quoted him saying the counting of the votes for the ballot will be held in Sydney. The counting of the votes, he said, will take place in Dili. Finally, on housekeeping matters, the Spokesman said it was discovered that an accredited international observer who is also a working journalist was granted a UNAMET press accreditation. Holding an observer and press credential is not permitted, he said. You can either be an accredited journalist or an accredited observer, but not both. A correspondent asked the Spokesman to elaborate on the clash in Viqueque between local militia and students. He said students in the first instance were attacked by militia and that the incident lasted several hours during which time two people were killed. A correspondent asked what role the Indonesian police had in the incident. Mr. Wimhurst said the Indonesian police were not involved in the incident, but they did come to the scene after some time. A correspondent asked whether there was concern about the security situation in Viqueque and for the safety of UNAMET electoral and voter education staff travelling there today. The Spokesman said UNAMET was concerned upon first hearing the reports but has been in contact with the Viqueque office this morning and the situation is reported to be calm. He repeated that no UNAMET staff were in any way threatened in yesterday's incident and that the meeting today will go ahead as planned. A correspondent asked what UNAMET CivPol's role is when Indonesian police are standing by not taking action when violence is occurring. Mr. Wimhurst said in a situation like this UNAMET CivPol would immediately contact the local police and inform them of the incident and encourage and advise them to take appropriate action. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 13 Aug 1999 jam 17:33:33 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
