Bahasa Indonesia Headlines ­ Thursday 5 April 2001

1. PKF Increases Security At Border
2. GNR Handled 133 Cases After Six Months Of Operations 
3. Civic Education Carried Out By Timorese People 
4. Political Parties Must Use Registration Forms Provided By Electoral Commission

1. PKF Increases Security At Border (Suara Timor Lorosae, Front Page headline)

United Nations Peacekeeping Forces have increased security at the border with West Timor after several incidents over the past few days.

There were a series of attacks at the PKF post in Suai and a grenade throwing incident in Nunuura, Bobonaro district on Monday. Meanwhile, the victim of a shooting in Nunuura, Rozana Dos Santos, died yesterday because of serious injuries to her legs.

Rozana was shot by unknown attackers while she was asleep.

Civpol spokesperson Luis Carrilho said Civpol was still searching for evidence with regard to the shooting and had yet to make any arrests. He said Civpol and PKF were still investigating the matter.

It is suspected that a group of militias were behind the attacks and were out to create trouble in the period leading up to the August 30 election.

PKF spokesperson Captain John Liston said more patrols at the border were being carried out after unidentified gunmen lobbed a grenade and fired live rounds in five locations on Monday. Liston added that PKF was ready to face any security threat at any time ­ now and the period leading up to the elections.

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2. GNR Handled 133 Cases After Six Months Of Operations (Suara Timor Lorosae, Front Page second lead)

Commander of the Portuguese National Republican Guard (GNR) Contingent Major Antonio Oliveira said after six months of operations in Timor Lorosae, under the auspices of the United Nations, the Rapid Response Unit of the GNR had made 133 arrests and carried out 80 operations at the Mercado Lama area. They also had 19 joint operations with Civpol and the PKF.

Besides Dili, the GNR had also carried out operations in Viqueque, Liquisa, Maliana, Bobonaro and Baucau. The GNR also carried out 1,960 patrols in the various trouble-spots in Dili.

In the meantime, the Portuguese Rapid Response Unit have completed their tour of duty and are due to return back to Portugal via Baucau port to Darwin and then flown to Lisbon. The new RRU contingent will land in Baucau and then will be flown to Dili. From Comoro airport, they will then walk to the GNR Headquarters in Hudilaran.

3. Civic Education Carried Out By Timorese People (Suara Timor Lorosae, Front Page Third Lead)

The UN Transitional Administration (UNTAET) launched the civic education program in the middle of last year. But it failed to fully take-off because of dissatisfaction by various civil society groups ­ including donors.

“It was felt that because civic education involved large segments of society, it had to be done by the Timorese people themselves and not dictated by UNTAET or the international community,” said the Director of Civic Education in the ETTA Cabinet Colin Stewart. Colin addressed the National Council yesterday.

Colin said that a National Committee had been established to work on civic education. The Catholic Church, CNRT, local NGOs, the university, primary and secondary schools together with the Students Solidarity Council are in the National Committee, said Colin.

Colin said donor support was important for the civic education process and they had to be convinced that the process involved the Timorese themselves and that the Timorese were also participating in the decision-making process.

4. Political Parties Must Use Registration Forms Provided by Electoral Commission (Timor Post, Front Page headline)

Political parties in Timor Lorosae must have at least 500 signatures in order to be registered legally for the 30 August election. The independent electoral commission also said the signatures must be on the official form from the commission.

This was stated by the Chief Electoral Officer Carlos Valenzula in an interview with Timor Post.

“The registration form must be obtained from the electoral commission in order to prevent manipulation,” added Carlos.

Carlos also stressed that there will be no external registration of voters.

“All registration will be done in the country.”

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