| Subject: AU: Diggers in Timor 'sex' clash
The Australian
Diggers in Timor 'sex' clash Mark Dodd 21mar05
AUSTRALIAN soldiers drew arms to protect themselves from Jordanian
peacekeepers after a Digger blew the whistle on other Jordanian soldiers'
sexual abuse of East Timorese boys.
Corporal Andrew Wratten had to be evacuated and Australian commandos
sent to protect Diggers in Oecussi, an East Timorese province in
Indonesian West Timor, after he told the UN of the pedophilia that
occurred in May 2001.
The Australians drew their Steyr assault rifles after being confronted
by Jordanians armed with M-16s, in an escalation of verbal threats
triggered by the later betrayal of Corporal Wratten by a Jordanian officer
in the Dili headquarters of the UN Transitional Administration in East
Timor.
Corporal Wratten, who was working at a fuel dump in the enclave, was
told by a group of children that Jordanian soldiers had offered food and
money in exchange for oral sex and intercourse.
The allegations involved East Timorese minors, all boys, the youngest
of them just 12 years old.
"Wratten informed PKF (peacekeeping force) that he had been
receiving complaints from local children about Jorbatt (Jordan Battalion)
abuse," said a senior UN official who was based in Oecussi at the
time.
"A Jordanian officer in HQ informed Jorbatt that he had ratted on
them. Wratten and his guys manning the helo (helicopter) refuelling pad in
Oecussi town started getting threatened.
"There was one occasion where Aussie Steyrs were pointed at
Jorbatt and Jor-batt M-16s pointed at Aussies."
A secret report into the abuse, obtained by The Australian, led to the
expulsion of two Jordanian peacekeepers after an investigation ordered by
then UNTAET chief, the late Sergio Vieira de Mello, in July 2001.
East Timorese human rights workers have confirmed the story. However,
retired Australian major-general Roger Powell, the deputy UN force
commander at the time, did not return The Australian's calls.
"As far as I understand, De Mello was very sensitive at the time
to the harm such reports would have on the reputation of UNTAET, PKF
and by default himself," said one Western security analyst, based in
East Timor in 2001.
Jordan's key role in Middle East peace negotiations added extra
sensitivity.
In July 2001, a UN police specialist child interview team flew to
Oecussi and spoke to 10 witnesses, including seven minors and three
adults.
"The unacceptable sexual conduct alleged was that a minor had
sperm around his mouth," the resulting report says.
The board of inquiry found in its report that Jordanian troops
regularly offered food and money in exchange for sexual favours from women
and boys, including the procuring of prostitutes from across the border in
West Timor.
It found it was highly probable that widespread sexual misconduct had
occurred after the Jordanians took over from the highly regarded
Australian paratroop battalion in early 2000.
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