Joint Press Conference - full transcript

12 Mar 2010

Joint Press Conference - full transcript

Dili, 11 March 2010 - SRSG Ameerah Haq and Deputy Prime Minister José Luís Guterres held a joint press conference to discuss the results of the 23 and 26 March Security Council meetings on Timor-Leste, the 12-month extension of UNMIT's mandate and the way forward. Full transcript.

Opening statement by Ameerah Haq: Thank you very much for coming here today.

I am really very honoured and pleased to be here today with Deputy Prime Minister Guterres, so that we can together discuss and share with you the results of our recent trip to New York where we went to present the case of Timor-Leste to the Security Council. And we would like to explain a little bit about what this means for Timor-Leste here.
As most of you know the Security Council and all the Member States of the Security Council and some other countries who are not in the Security Council have expressed great support, unanimously. We have with the Government of Timor-Leste, we have a resolution for the renewed mandate of UNMIT until February of 2011.
Deputy Prime Minister Guterres and myself had many meetings in New York, some of them together, some of them separately.
We both met with the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We met with the representatives of key Member States and also with senior United Nations colleagues.
One thing I can tell you which left a very very deep impression on me in New York was the level of commitment and support by all Member States for Timor-Leste. I think that it was just remarkable that every country that we met with in the Security Council and in the core group for Timor-Leste; there were many words of support and encouragement for Timor-Leste.
The Security Council had before it and it considered the report of the Secretary-General, and that report included the findings of the Technical Assessment Mission which set out a vision of what the United Nations will be doing between now and the year 2012, when it is expected that UNMIT will close its operations here.
We expect that UNMIT will continue this year at its present strength, but that from next year we will gradually start phasing down, and so we will see a gradual reduction in the numbers of UNMIT.
And therefore we want to work very closely with the Government from now on to start our planning, to see how we manage that gradual reduction so that we can make sure that in the remaining period we are providing the kinds of support that the Government wants, which will help to consolidate peace and development in Timor-Leste.
But I also want to make it clear that UNMIT is a Security Council mandated mission. When UNMIT is no longer here, it doesn't mean that there is no presence of the United Nations here. The technical and specialized agencies of the United Nations, like UNDP and FAO and WHO and ILO, all these agencies will continue to work here on development programmes.
So I look forward very much to the dialogue with the Government about how best UNMIT and the United Nations can support the national process in the next three years.
There are great challenges in key areas of socio-economic development to make sure that Timor-Leste has equitable development opportunities for all people. This will require our continued efforts on the part of the leaders of Timor-Leste and its people, as well as the continued support of the international community.
There is a lot of work to be done. I want to say, with the Deputy Prime Minister here, that the United Nations is ready to provide continued support to Timor-Leste, and to walk together with this vibrant nation towards its secure future.
And let me now ask the Deputy Prime Minister, who represented the Government of Timor-Leste at the Security Council, to also share his views.
Deputy Prime Minister José Luís Guterres (note, the Deputy Prime Minister spoke first in English, and then also spoke in Tetum): Madam Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ameerah Haq, Ladies and gentlemen. I will speak briefly in English and then I will translate in Tetum.
It is a great honour for me to be here. I do believe that it is a great initiative to keep informed the people of East Timor about the results of the Security Council meeting we had on the 24 February and the second meeting of the 26th in which the unanimous resolution as mentioned by her Excellency Special Representative was approved by the Security Council.
I share the view expressed by the Special Representative that the results of the meeting were very productive. It reflects the commitment, the strong commitment from the international community to the East Timorese people. As well it has expressed the confidence, hope, that the future, that the people of East Timor will succeed in the construction of a new nation, based on democracy, freedom, transparency and human rights.
All the countries, Member countries of the Security Council, they made the statement and all of them individually expressed their support for the Mission, for the extension of the Mission, as well as their strong commitment to continue that support for the East Timorese people. So as a Timorese I very much, we thank all the Members of the Security Council, as I did mention in my statement on behalf of the Government in the Security Council, to all the countries, and also to some of the countries that are not Members of the Security Council but they did participate in the debate.
The statement that I made, I focused on specific issues, mainly on two areas, economics and finance and the justice sector.
I did also acknowledge the conclusion of the Secretary-General report in which the Secretary-General mentioned that there is a consensus in the East Timorese society that the people of East Timor do support the continuation of the United Nations Mission, UNMIT, in Timor up to 2012.
And I believe that even today all of our institutions from President to Prime Minister, the President of Parliament, our Members of Parliament as well as the church leaders, civil society, and leaders of political parties, they have on various occasions expressed their willingness to continue to count on the United Nations presence up to 2012.
In the time when we visited New York we also had a separate meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, his Excellency Ban Ki-moon, and in the meeting the Secretary-General expressed his continued support for the Timorese people.
I did mention also that we remember his visit a few years ago when he came to Timor and had the humanity to visit the IDP camps in Motael. I just said, Secretary-General, these camps are no longer there, and the Timorese IDPs that lived there for some years, they are now back in their homes.
And also I expressed to the Secretary-General, that if sometimes he is in the region, he is always welcome to Timor, to visit Timor. I do know that he has a very busy schedule, but there is a permanent invitation for the Secretary-General of the United Nations to visit Timor. He is a good friend of East Timor and also a good friend and a great supporter of many peoples and countries that continue to suffer today. He visited Haiti, soon after the earthquake, where he visited so many refugees and people who have suffered, and recently he was in Chile.
So just to mention to you that in spite of many issues, important issues that in difficult countries in difficult situations like in Sudan, the DRC and other places, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Security Council, Members of the Security Council, they continue to support East Timor.
I am happy that you have organized this meeting and later on I will answer to any questions that you might have.
UNMIT Spokesperson Gyorgy Kakuk:
SRSG, Deputy Prime Minister, thank you very much. We arrive at the question time, so please, ask your questions...And I would like to ask you to introduce yourself.
Question: Good afternoon, I'm Tito Filipe from Radio Timor-Leste. The President just made a comment, from a meeting in London. He said that he would support the establishment of an international tribunal. What is UN position on this?
Ameerah Haq: I think the President actually issued a statement subsequent to that. You're talking about his meeting with Amnesty International, yes. Now I think on the United Nations part, and I'll let the Deputy Prime Minister address the issue of the President's statement, from the United Nations position I think we've made it very clear: as you know, in my statement to the Security Council, that we have always said that there should be no impunity, especially for serious crimes which include crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
So as UNMIT, and also the Secretary-General of the United Nations, we've always made this position clear on numerous occasions. I think there is always a debate, and this debate continues, on what the most effective way to address impunity is. And I think that it is absolutely important that national leaders must be at the centre of this debate, And the UN doesn't presume to tell the national leaders what to do in this situation.
But the United Nations position always is that justice is an integral part of peace, and, you know, that justice is an integral part of peace is a long-standing position. And I think this was also reiterated by the Deputy Prime Minister.
Deputy Prime Minister José Luís Guterres (responded in Tetum first, then he spoke in English): Yes, thank you for the question. If you open internet you can see many newspapers with this question.
First we have to know that the President already did a press communiqué clarifying what he has mentioned to Amnesty International. Many times also, just not far away but in Timor, the President has mentioned clearly that he is not in favour of establishing an international tribunal. And then he mentioned examples of a few countries, very respected countries in the world, and one of them that is not very far from us, in Africa, South Africa.
Apartheid was considered a crime against humanity, and for many years the United Nations approved many resolutions, condemning apartheid as a crime against humanity. And when President Mandela was released they did not ask for an international tribunal, but they started an international process, and they created a truth commission, which was chaired by Bishop Desmond Tutu. He is also very well known and respected, an international religious leader. After many years, I can say for sure because I know and I had lived in South Africa for some time...and I do know the commitment, strong commitment by the leaders of South Africa: they are against impunity, they are for human rights, and they have built a country that is today, that is one of the economic power-houses in Africa, and they have a successful democracy. And Mandela, President Mandela remains today the most respected leader of this generation.
On East Timor I can say that we have worked with Indonesia, our neighbour, and we had the courage to address the issues of the past, very difficult issues of the past with courage, and also forward looking. It is not an easy question for anyone, if you look at the history. Many countries in the past, they had wars and they made wars and then peace, but very few of them have had the political will to work together, sit down together and analyze what has happened in the past, talk about the crimes, the impunity, the torture and the suffering of the many people of their countries.
So in East Timor, we did that. I did mention to the Security Council that we are also against impunity, we are for human rights, and that justice and the reconciliation is part of our system of values. But most important in the statement of the President is that he said what was written, that if the Security Council decides to create the international tribunal, he is not opposed to it. But he doesn't believe that anyone in the Security Council...will try to create an International Tribunal for East Timor. So I think that that's what I can say. (He then gave the same response in Tetum).
Gyorgy Kakuk: Thank you, next question...yes
Question: My name is Sentino .... (inaudible) You have mentioned that you went to New York to report on the situation of Timor-Leste, that everything is okay here in Timor-Leste, and the fact that UNMIT will be extended until 2011. But the facts show that we still have the presence of the International Stabilization Force in Timor-Leste: how does it have the impact? I mean, on the current situation in Timor-Leste? What will be the near future arrangement with these countries that provide their forces to Timor-Leste.
Deputy Prime Minister José Luís Guterres: Okay. Briefly in English, I think that's an international issue, a bi-lateral issue, multilateral. Thank you for your question.
First, the ISF came to Timor at the request of the Government, the President and the President of National Parliament, during a difficult situation in our country. We have many times publicly expressed our thanks for the support that those women and men from different countries such as New Zealand and Australia who came to East Timor to help build peace and stability in our country.
The situation has improved, so the number of ISF troops in Timor also have been reduced, and as long has the situation maintains peace and a stable environment, I believe that they will reduce more their presence in Timor. This issue has been tackled by the Government Departments of Defense and Security, as well as the President's Office. I believe the continuation of their presence not after 2012, will be decided...by the Government, according to the laws of our country.
But we have always, as Timorese, we have to remember that those people have left their homes and their families to come here to help East Timor to establish a country that the entire people can live in peace, harmony and a stable environment. The issue of ISF presence is a bilateral issue, but also they have been cooperating with UNMIT in East Timor.
I hope what I mentioned in my statement in the Security Council, that I hope that in 2012 the soldiers and women and men in Timor from the ISF they can go back to their families, in their own countries, respective countries - they deserve it, and after a successful mission in East Timor.
So I know that sometimes on these issues we speak about what our people believe in the sense that we have a tradition of, we know we have to not forget our friends that in the most difficult times help us. So as a sign of this our neighbors in Australia, New Zealand, as well as Indonesia, they have, we have very good relations with them. We are very happy with how our relations with the neighboring countries have been evolving.
Question: My name is Recordina Coberal, I'm from TVTL. You mentioned that UNMIT will be here in Timor-Leste until 2012. What will be the reason for this? And also the second question that I would like to raise here, in regards to the security that is provided by UNPOL - at the grassroots level people complain about the UNPOL's performance, they find that UNPOL could not manage to normalize the situation when the situation becomes bad. My question here is what will be the commitment from the part of UNMIT to tackle this challenge or this matter in order for UNPOL to perform more effectively?
Ameerah Haq:
Thank you, thank you very much.
The mandate...technically the Security Council right now has extended the mandate for UNMIT for one year. The Security Council reviews the mandate on an annual basis, so right now the mandate of UNMIT, by Resolution 1912, which was adopted on the 26 of February, extends the mandate of UNMIT up to February 2011.
But this resolution was formed on the basis of a report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council where...the view is general that there is stability in this country, that institutions are being formed, the Government is functioning, the elections have taken place, in a very safe way. And most recently the suco elections. So I think there is a recognition of the good progress and stability that there is.
Now, what the Security Council does and the role of the Security Council, based on these reports and their assessment of the situation, is to decide whether member nations want to continue a peacekeeping operation in the country. And based on all the indicators that we have right now they seem to think that by 2012, with things going the way they are right now, that by 2012 there is really no more reason to continue a Security Council mandated presence here, with a small military liaison group, the large police component, and the civilian component that we have.
And that is based, as I said, on an assessment of all the indicators and where Timor-Leste is. So that is good news I think, that is seen as a recognition of the progress that has been made that the Security Council feels ready to say that by 2012 the Mission should withdraw, and the sovereign government and all the security institutions and everything else will be ready as they are developing right now to deal with the responsibility.
So that is the reason...for 2012...I think that's an assessment, that by 2012 things should be at a position where the United Nations Mission can withdraw, and as I said that should been seen as a mark of confidence by the Security Council in terms of the way development, and you know the development of all sectors in Timor-Leste is progressing.
On the issue of the UNPOL that you have mentioned, particularly that at the grassroots level people think that UNPOL is not providing the kind of performance, of UNPOL been up to the expectations, I think we have been very frank about our own limitations and shortcomings, we have mentioned that in the report as well.
But I think that the important question is that it is not so much about UNPOL right now. Because I think the important thing that we must look at...up to the year 2012, is right now we have already started a process of handing over, as part of the UNMIT mandate, policing responsibility. The primary policing responsibility was with UNPOL, but in order to enable PNTL to stand up as a robust police force and to have, most important, what you're talking about is that most importantly they must have the confidence of the communities.
The communities must feel confident that the police are here to be able to protect us, and that is why there was a lot of discussion in the Security Council, and in meetings that we had, that over in the course of the next three years as we are handing over district by district, to the PNTL, that we bring the right kind of people, who can train and who can mentor and who can support the PNTL to be an effective police force with the orientation towards community policing.
When we look at the analysis of the crimes that are reported most of them are domestic assault, or domestic violence. So it means that there has to be a lot of confidence. I think that as I said we have recognized what the shortcomings may have been in UNPOL's performance, but the important thing is that it is the national police force that must be trained and must have the confidence of the people. And there again I think that we will be working very closely with the Government in the next two or three years to see that we are bringing the people with the right skills profiles who can train and teach. And the Security Council resolution that has been adopted also mentions very much the emphasis now on the skills development, as we are handing over district by district to PNTL.
José Luís Guterres: Thanks for the question. In 2006 the perception in the Security Council in New York, and I was ambassador of Timor-Leste to the United Nations at that time, was that East Timor was already a very successful mission and we didn't need any more police or military presence. And then after the crisis that we have suffered, today with many countries, there is a perception in New York that the UN withdrew from Timor and reduced its forces from Timor too soon.
And it was difficult at that time to convince Members States to maintain UN presence in Timor. Believe me that it was not easy; it was not easy at all. And today the United Nations Member States are willing to maintain these troops, the presence to maintain the presence of United Nations, UNMIT with its police component.
Every UN member