Precedence: bulk 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 Bantuan Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa Di Timor Timur Briefing Summary for Friday, 23 July 1999 Deputy Spokesman Hiro Ueki began today's briefing with an announcement of the CivPol Police Commissioner's seminar, which was underway. All senior officials of UNAMET as well as regional civilian police commanders are attending. Police Commissioner Alan Mills, Special Representative Ian Martin and other senior officials will address the seminar. Mr. Martin will most likely be transmitting his assessment of the security situation and registration process on Monday, 26 July. Mr. Martin will then give a press conference on Tuesday morning. Mr. Ueki then gave a brief summary of the Secretary-General's report (S/1999/803) which was just made available. The report states that there has been marked progress in UNAMET's operation since his last report of 22 June. The first few days of registration have proceeded relatively peacefully with East Timorese people turning out to register in substantial numbers. He cites a number of other positive technical developments, amongst them that the Indonesian and Portuguese Governments have agreed to deploy 50 official observers each at registration and polling sites, and that the three Electoral Commissioners - Patrick Bradley of Northern Ireland, Johan Kriegler of South Africa and Sohn Bong-Scuk of South Korea - have arrived in Dili. UNAMET is now fully operational and the deployment of international staff is complete but for a final few. Mr. Annan reports that the civilian police component under Commissioner Alan Mills is now fully operational and has established good working relations with the local police, and the Chief Military Liaison Officer, Brigadier Rezaqul Haider, arrived in Dili on July 8th. The 47 Military Liaison Officers in East Timor have established contact with the Indonesian Armed Forces in Dili, throughout the regions and in Denpassar and Jakarta. Other encouraging developments he reports are that there have been no further incidents in which UNAMET staff or property have been attacked or seriously threatened, and that government authorities have made commitments to rein in the militias by disarming people who brandish arms in public. However, he also reports that much remains to be done to realize the assurances from the Indonesian Government on the ground, and activities of militias and security problems continue to be a source of serious concern. The security situation remains serious in the western districts of Liquica, Ermera, Maliana and Suai but that militia intimidation is also prevalent in Viqueque and Manatuto in the east. The Secretary-General expresses concern over the plight of the thousands of internally displaced people - a plight that has both humanitarian dimensions and a direct bearing on the prospects for a free and fair vote. He describes progress towards reconciliation in the DARE II process as encouraging and also refers to the discussions in New York regarding the situation in East Timor after the popular consultation. The Secretary-General states that he remains confident that Indonesia will make a determined effort to ensure that meaningful and visible progress continues to be made, and says he will make another security assessment halfway through the registration process. Copies of the report are available from PIO. A correspondent asked when it was expected that the Secretary-General would decide the date of the ballot. Mr. Ueki said the polling date was still under discussion in New York. Asked what the dates for the campaign period are, the Deputy Spokesman said the campaign period was slightly over two weeks, but that was subject to further confirmation. The firm dates would not be determined until the polling date was decided, he said. A correspondent asked whether there was anything being done by the Indonesian police in terms of patrolling the militia and disarming them. Mr. Ueki said the Indonesian police are mandated to ensure that law and order be carried out. Any incidents involving the public display of arms and intimidation observed by UNAMET are reported by them to the local police. He said, the Secretary-General states in his report that acts of intimidation are continuing, particularly in the western regions. In response to a question, the Deputy Spokesman said the mid-point assessment of the registration process was designed to provide a better understanding of what the conditions were on the ground and to see to what extent acts of intimidation were prevalent. The assessment was also intended to determine whether the necessary conditions for a peaceful implementation of the popular consultation exist or not. Depending on that assessment UNAMET's recommendation may change. A correspondent asked whether UANMET had resolved the problem of registering internally displaced people (IDPs). Mr. Ueki said that matter was still under discussion. He added, "we have been concerned about many IDPs, but it hasn't been easy to determine how many IDPs there are and where. UNHCR and UNAMET have gathered information so we have fairly good figures, and those figures are supplemented by some figures NGOs have provided. Whenever possible, these IDPs should return home so that they can register there, but at the same time many of them are afraid to return to their homes. We have been discussing whether the necessary conditions exist in areas where IDPs can return." Asked whether it was negligent to start the registration process before sorting out the problem of registering IDPs, Mr. Ueki said UNAMET had made certain arrangements whereby IDPs can register by means of an affidavit and allow them to register where they are located. He added, many IDPs have already been registered to vote. A correspondent asked what were the next plans for UNAMET's information campaign. Mr. Ueki said the Public Information Office was actively producing print, radio and TV spots as well as having distributed a considerable number of print material as part of its education campaign. Finally, a correspondent asked how many electoral officers were deployed and in how many towns. The Deputy Spokesman said UNAMET had 200 registration centres throughout the territory and two District Electoral Officers per centre. He added, their main task is to register people but whenever possible they are also helping to distribute public information material. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
