Date: 9th July 2006
Time: 16:00 hours
Venue: Hotel Timor, Dili
Ian Martin:
Good afternoon. I was to have ended my two-week mission here today and have left for New York, but I am very pleased to say that I am staying on until tomorrow in order to attend the swearing in of the Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers, and indeed I just met with the three of them and they are already getting down to the extremely important business of how the new government is going to work on the recovery of Timor-Leste.
In the course of this mission, we have had very extensive discussions not just with people in government but also with civil society, with the church, with political parties across the spectrum; and I believe that is enabling us to go back to New York and make clear recommendations to the Secretary-General as to how the United Nations can best assist Timor-Leste in the period ahead.
The city of Dili looks better today than it did when we arrived two-weeks ago and during my previous mission, and that's thanks of course to work of the international forces but it's also because the Timorese political actors have succeeded in reaching agreement on a path forward and that's very important, and it's particularly important for those many people who are still displaced from their homes and for their prospects of being able to return in security.
The main areas in which Timor-Leste is looking to the United Nations to assist it in the future are quite clear, I think. They include Policing both in the short-term but also to assist in the development of the PNTL. They include not just assisting the carrying out of Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2007, but also guaranteeing that those elections are regarded as fair by everyone across the political spectrum. They include supporting the administration of justice which now has even greater challenges because of recent events and promoting respect for human rights and although it is not part of our Mission, I am pleased to say that the International Commission of Inquiry has now had its first staff arrive in Dili to begin their important work.
The path to recovery is one that the Timorese political leadership have to continue to find and pursue but the United Nations will stand ready to support the development of democratic institutions and a process of national reconciliation. I hope that a future United Nations mission will work very closely with RTTL and all of you represented here to ensure that there is the best possible public information to people throughout the country because that will be particularly important in the context of elections. And the process of national reconciliation is going to require the maximum participation of women who have shown elsewhere the contribution they make to building peace and work out (inaudible) special efforts to address the needs of youth.
My two missions here have not been easy, but they have been made a lot easier by the excellent corporation and support of the Special Representative, his Deputy and the whole of UNITED NATIONS UNOTIL, and I am going back to New York now still committed to be the best advocate I can for Timor-Leste to the International community. I know from my experience in 1999, how resilient the people of Timor-Leste are and that resilience, I am sure, will enable the country to recover from this crisis as it enabled the country to recover then.
I will be very pleased to answer your questions.
Question:
My name is Melly Saldanha from Television of Timor-Leste. I will read my question in Tetum. Abe will translate for you. My first question to you Mr. Ian Martin: What do you think about Prime Minister Ramos-Horta? What is your opinion about him?
Ian Martin:
Certainly, the international community is going to be very happy to work with Mr. Ramos-Horta as Prime Minister as well as with his two Deputies, but what matters of course, more than the international community, is the confidence of the people of Timor-Leste and I am sure that the new governing team will be able to command that confidence. Of course, we all know that there are continuing political differences that have been sharpened by this crisis, but the place for political differences to be argued about in future is in democratic elections and I think the country now needs a period of calm to prepare for those elections and a period of calm in which the people who have been most affected and displaced by this crisis can recover in their own lives.
Question:
My name is Domingos Saldanha from the daily newspaper here in town, Suara Timor-Lorosae (STL). My question to you Mr. Ian Martin: After a few days you conduct the assessment, perhaps you can tell us your understanding for the solution of the latest crisis and also in relation to the UNTAET Mission that left Timor-Leste four years ago - perhaps are there any mistakes made by the UN in relation to the crisis?
Ian Martin:
I think the first thing that everybody has been reminded of by this crisis is how long it takes to build the institutions of a new democratic state. That can't be done in just a few years. And I very much hope that as a result of our recommendations, the international community will be willing to commit itself to support Timor-Leste in building those institutions not just for one year or two years but for many more years. So the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who has already said that perhaps the UN effort here was reduced in its scale too quickly, and that was not always by the choice of the UN Secretariat but because of the views of some of the governments involved, the member states of the UN. But this is not a matter of going back to UNTAET. There has been a lot of progress in creating the institutions of Government and now it's for the international community to support a sovereign Timor-Leste in resuming that progress.
Question:
My name is Grego from East Timor Sun. My question has something to do with the judicial system. As we all know that there has been many crimes committed. So how the UN Mission, the upcoming Mission, can assist in bringing those who were involved in the crimes to be held responsible. What will be the effort done by the UN to make this a successful effort and whether those who committed crimes to be tried either by the international court or national court?
Ian Martin:
We have looked very closely at the state of the Justice system during this Mission in all its aspects - the courts, the prosecution, the arrangements for defence, and indeed there is a need for a lot of continuing international assistance. That was already true before the recent events, and the recent events mean that there are now additional needs if there are to be prosecutions of serious crimes that were committed in the course of these events. I think that within a period of three months, the International Commission of Inquiry will be able to give the people of East Timor an objective analysis of responsibility of different parties during those events. But then where there is evidence of criminal responsibility of particular individuals, then I think that should be prosecuted within the Timorese justice system but with whatever international assistance and participation is required.
Question:
(Inaudible)...out of question? That means that it is out of question the organising anticipate elections? It's out of question - early elections? (LUSA)
Ian Martin:
Certainly, the view of the UN is that it would be very difficult to hold elections before the rainy season if the only choice is either before the rainy season or after the rainy season. There are a lot of steps that have to be taken. There isn't yet an electoral law, and that requires good consultation with the political parties and civil society. We do believe that elections could be held within the constitutionally required time period, but not very much advanced.
Question:
Mr. Martin, can you give us an idea of how your assessment, how long the UN is still being in East Timor to provide assistance that you mention and what kind of commitment do you need from other countries to sustain this years of presence in East Timor?
Ian Martin:
I think the assistance of the UN and the international community is going to be needed for many years. But that doesn't mean the UN Peacekeeping Mission necessarily has to be here all that time. Arrangements were already being made for many responsibilities to be transferred to the United Nations Development Programme and other UN Agencies whose work is long-term work.
Question:
Sir, the Peacekeeping Mission, do you foresee that it will stay on until at least the elections next year? Beyond that?
Ian Martin:
Yes, I am sure that the next Mission would need to stay until well beyond elections and one of it's key roles will be as I said, not just carrying out policing in the short-term, but helping re-build the PNTL, and that certainly will be a task that will continue beyond elections.
Question:
For the last few years, UN provided the support to the Government of Timor-Leste through what you called 200 post mechanism. As we notice that we have the collapsed government; PNTL was dismantled; my question here is that I would like to find out the result or any kind of accountability of those 200 posts in regards to this crisis - the collapse of the government and also the dismantling of the PNTL. Can you tell me about this?
Ian Martin:
Obviously in a two-week mission, one can't completely evaluate everything that's been done over a period of six years since the UN began working here after the ballot. But we certainly have tried to discuss what may have been the shortcomings of different kinds of international advice in the past and how in the next period international advice can be better offered and organised. And we hope that we can bring about a partnership between the new UN Mission, the UNDP, donors, bi-lateral donors who have provided advice and the government to make sure the government's needs are best met in the period ahead. But it's important not to talk as if everything has been done wrong. There have been very serious problems in the security sector, but with international assistance, the financial arrangements of the government have been rather soundly developed. So, there is a different record in different areas perhaps.
Question:
I have three questions. The first question: will you be the one to lead the new mission, or if you are appointed to be the Chief of the new mission, are you ready for that?
Ian Martin:
The Secretary-General has asked me to carry out two missions. This is the second and when I have completed our report in New York, I will have carried out my assignment. It's up to the Secretary-General as to what happens beyond that.
Question:
[But you are ready to be the Chief?]
Ian Martin:
I can't say more than I have said.
Question:
And the second question is about you mentioned to assist the police, PNTL. So what about the F-FDTL? Do you have any particular programme for that?
Ian Martin:
Yes, thank you for asking that. We certainly had discussions with the F-FDTL about their needs in reviewing their future; they have already been carrying out a study to consider the role of the defence force in future and of course that's become more urgent as a result of recent events. Now, the UN doesn't normally develop country's military forces and indeed here most of the assistance to the F-FDTL has been bi-lateral from particular individual countries. But the UN has been asked to provide certain areas of advice to the Ministry of Defence and to the F-FDTL and we will be considering that.
Question:
And the last question: On the forth-coming election, does UN handle the election - I mean will it be totally organised by the UN or will it be handled by East Timorese government and assisted by the UN?
Ian Martin:
We discussed a number of options with the political parties and now we need the government in the end to make a clear request as to what role they want the UN to play. But I think it's clear that everybody wants the UN to provide not only certain technical advice but also guarantees in some form of the overall credibility and impartiality of the electoral process.
Okay, thank you very much. It's nearly seven years since I announced the results of the popular consultation in this hotel, and I didn't imagine that I would be back in these circumstances, but I hope that the UN can continue to be of service to Timor-Leste in recovering from the very difficult circumstances in which I have returned and as I say, I am glad to be leaving in a better situation than I arrived.
Thank you.