Briefing by Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ian Martin Tuesday, 27 July 1999

This is a near verbatim transcript of the briefing given at UNAMET Headquarters, Dili, East Timor, by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, Mr. Ian Martin.

Mr. Martin: Good Morning. In the last hour the President of the Security Council has informed the Security Council of the following letter from the Secretary-General, which I will read to you.

"Dear Mr. President,

In my letter to you of 14 July regarding the East Timor popular consultation process, I informed you of my decision to begin the registration on 16 July, on the condition that meaningful, visible improvements in the security situation would be observed in the immediate future.

I am pleased to report that the 200 registration centres throughout East Timor have now been open for the first ten days of registration, with only occasional temporary closures due to local security problems. In that ten-day period 239,893 East Timorese have registered, 233,716 of them in East Timor itself, and the remainder at external registration centres.

Security conditions in a number of regencies have shown signs of improving. This positive development is in part due to the greater cooperation now being shown by the Indonesian authorities, in particular the police, with their UNAMET counterparts.

Overall, however, security conditions still remain inadequate. Ongoing intimidation by armed militia groups remains particularly prevalent in the western districts of East Timor. One serious consequence of this situation is the continuing inability of tens of thousands of internally displaced people to return to their homes in safety. The areas from which the largest numbers have been displaced, particularly Covalima, Bobonaro and Liquica, remain under the tight control of the militia. UNAMET, UNHCR and the local authorities are cooperating to promote the ability of the displaced to return to their domiciles and ensure their enfranchisement, but further action to bring armed groups under control is essential.

The people of East Timor are showing laudable determination to participate in the popular consultation despite continuing intimidation. I therefore intend to continue registration on the understanding that the Indonesian authorities will work with UNAMET to achieve the further necessary improvements in the security situation and urgently address the problem of internal displacement. The completion of registration and the continuation of the popular consultation process will depend on my being satisfied that these improvements are achieved and sustained. As I am sure the Council realizes, conditions required for a largely technical exercise such as registration are notably less stringent than those which will be necessary for campaigning in the run-up to the consultation.

I have informed the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal of my decision. My Special Representative will continue to keep me apprised of the situation in East Timor and I will keep the Council fully informed of developments."

There is one other matter I want to inform you of before I take your questions. As you may know, UNAMET officials led by our Chief Military Liaison Officer, Brigadier General Haider, went yesterday with a representative of the Commission on Peace and Stability to a meeting with FALINTIL leaders. They met with the Field Commander of FALINTIL, Mr. Taur Matank Ruak. Their discussion focussed on FALINTIL's intention to undertake cantonment of its forces, and to invite UNAMET to observe that on the participation of FALINTIL in the Commission on Peace and Stability and on arrangements for registration. This was a very useful first high-level discussion with FALINTIL; we have had a number of more local meetings. And it is a process, which will be continuing. So, now I am open to your questions.

Question & Answer:

Q: How specifically do you propose to deal with the problem of the internally displaced people (IDPs)?

Mr. Martin: We are looking hard at identifying where there are major groups of IDPs, and, of course, discussing with them whether it is their intention to return to their home areas or to what extent they want special arrangements made to enable them to register where they are currently. We are not in a position to open additional registration centres, but we are in a position to strengthen, in a later part of registration, those centres where the numbers may exceed our original expectations. At the same time, we are in discussion with the authorities. There is another meeting this morning in order to discuss security arrangements for those who do want and are planning to return.

Q: How confident are you that in the next few days you will be able to register the approximately 60,000 IDPs in East Timor?

 Mr. Martin: I can't be confident at this stage. It all depends very much on the success of efforts in the next few days.

Q: Are we right to assume, through this document, that the Secretary-General is reserving the right to extend voter registration and to delay the vote?

 Mr. Martin: The Secretary-General is fully responsible for the arrangements for the popular consultation process. Although he and we are working within the framework of the agreement, whatever measures are necessary to ensure a fair process will be taken.

Q: Following the latest discussions that are going on in New York, what is now the thinking on who will be managing security for East Timor immediately prior to the announcement of the vote and in the weeks after the vote. There is talk about plans for a general uprising by pro-autonomy people in the west and in Dili, and what are the arrangements for the UN to handle that possible scenario?

 Mr. Martin: The responsibility for security immediately after the ballot is the same as immediately before the ballot. It rests with the Indonesians and particularly with the Indonesian police. But the United Nations police have an important role in advising and accompanying them, and the discussions in New York will focus on the ways in which the United Nations presence might be strengthened and reconfigured for what we are calling phase II - the period after the ballot. The Indonesian Government's representatives in the first round of those discussions were open to constructive planning for that phase, and that planning continues in a further meeting in New York probably at the end of this week.

Q: In what circumstance, can the UN unilaterally make the decision to bring in peacekeepers?

 Mr. Martin: At the moment all the United Nations plans assume the consent and agreement of the Indonesian authorities and we trust there will be that agreement to whatever is necessary.

Q: Given the continued concerns that the Secretary-General expressed in his letter to the Security Council, is it realistic to still be shooting for August 21st or 22nd for the date of the ballot?

 Mr. Martin: That date has certainly been called into question by the further delay before we opened registration on the 16th of July. Discussions are now going on with the Indonesians and the Portuguese in New York in order to make a final decision on the ballot date. I cannot tell you anymore until those discussions have taken place.

Q: If the ballot does take place towards the end of next month, is it now almost inevitable that there will be some level of intimidation, that there will still be armed militia roaming around, and it will not be possible to eliminate this problem?

 Mr. Martin: Obviously it is going to be very difficult to bring about ideal security conditions in that time. But we expect the Indonesian police to make considerable further efforts to substantially improve the situation over its present conditions. The Indonesian police in East Timor are being further reinforced and they are consulting with our civilian police commissioner as to where it is most important to reinforce their local presence to address particular security problems.

Q: Are you satisfied with the activities of the Indonesian authorities to date, particularly the police contingent in Covalima, Bobonaro and Liquica?

 Mr. Martin: There is a lot more progress we need to see. It is clear that militia are still, on some occasions, observed in public with weapons and that militia training is still going on in public. Although most roadblocks have been removed, we have recent indications of militia roadblocks in Liquica. Certainly, those three regencies are at the top of the list of where we expect to see much stronger efforts by the Indonesian police. Q: Can you confirm that the UN is working on a three-to-four day evacuation plan for all non-essential staff if there is serious trouble after a vote and a vote that goes towards independence?

 Mr. Martin: No, I cannot confirm that. I can confirm that every United Nations mission is required to have an evacuation plan, which it hopes never to put into effect.

Q: There are reports from the local people saying that the police who are arriving in East Timor are actually military soldiers. Do you have any information about this?

 Mr. Martin: We have heard those rumors but we are not in a position to confirm them. Obviously we will look closely at any specific allegations that are brought to us. Thank you.

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