Second Letter from Timor
Leste – 5 Sept 2009
Friends.
I have been remiss. My last letter was 2 March and I left
many of you in suspense as to whether or not I would be remaining in Timor
Leste. Well, I am still here though it took two and a half months and pressure
from the SRSG (head of the mission) to get me onto Lotus Notes (UNMIT’s email
system) and over 4 months to get business cards. As I never got permission to
drive a UN vehicle, I purchased a little blue jeep and that has made life here
infinitely more manageable, as I can get to supermarkets, a swimming pool,
restaurants, and the office. I am still operating with phone, radio and
computer signed out in someone else’s name; I need to sign a waivers every time
I board a UN helicopters or planes, and if I ride in a UN vehicle outside of
Dili. And, I have still not received a signed copy of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) that UNMIT had to sign – the basis of an extension of my
mission here until the end of November. But… I am still here. Although the
administration of the mission is Kafka-esk, I have an excellent boss with whom
it is a pleasure to work, and some good colleagues. I wake up every morning to
a blue sky and blue sea. It is certainly one of the most pleasant missions I
have done during my past 9 years.
For a few months, I lived in a small house in a Timorese
compound in the center of Dili,– with dogs, and a cat, and children being
bathed in a blue plastic washtub, and roosters crowing, and everyone watching
soccer in the field across from the house in the late afternoon, and on a few
occasions, close to 50 women and children in the court yard with candles
praying to their special saint -- which gave me a bit of an insight into how
ordinary Timorese live. Then, last month, I moved into a rather more “comfortable”
accommodation, though smaller. It has good air conditioning, a modern bathroom,
a toilet that flushes, a hot water shower and a bathtub; a kitchen-living room
with a real stove and oven, a frig, a microwave, cable T; and Internet access
(for which I pay extra but which is worth every penny). It is also very pretty,
near the beach, and very close to where, in the evening, the locals grill fish
on sticks. So for $2 or $3 or $5 (depending on the size of the fish) – I have
the basis of an excellent dinner. I do not intend to move again until I leave.
My initial impressions of the beauty of Timor
have only been reinforced as I have travelled out to the districts. There are
gorgeous beaches, though in many places, you can’t swim because crocodiles
inhabit the waters. For a small island, the variety of vegetation and landscape
is striking – as are the diverse weavings (“tais”) made by women in different
areas. There is some wood carving (mostly on Atuaro
Island and in Oecussi) and an art
school in Dili, though the work is primitive by comparison with carvings in
West Timor and the art produced in Bali and
Java. Not that that has deterred me from purchasing a few things to support the
local craftsmen, artists and the economy. Last week, I was in Baucau, Viqueque
and Los Palos – beautiful names which roll off the tongue now – and, despite
the horrific conditions of the roads, when you lift up your eyes from the
broken tarmac, you see rice fields and buffalo, trees laden with jack fruit, coconuts,
papaya, and custard apples, and splashes of brilliant colored flowers cascading
down walls or growing on shrub like trees on the roadsides. Elegant old
Portuguese houses, intriguing traditional spiritual houses on stilts, and the
thatch of the cottages in which simple people live, (without electricity,
running water or indoor kitchens or toilets). Every so often, you come across
something that you need to stop and photograph -- a group of 15 older women,
singing and dancing with drums, all dressed in traditional tais; a woman
sitting under the shade of a tree and weaving at a loom; a sow and half a dozen
piglets crossing the road; men lovingly carrying and caressing their fighting
cocks.
This coming week, I am going to Maliana and Oecussi. I have still
not been to the mountainous districts of Ermera and Alieu – but hope to get
there before my mission ends. I am actually trying to set up coordination
mechanisms for those organizations (international and local) and government
departments working on protection concerns at the district level – so I have a
reason to travel. And, of course, I always take my camera.
As there is no “crisis” now in Timor Leste, and most of the
IDPs have gone back home – the camps have been closed, though there are still a
few thousand people in transitional shelters – the Cluster system that I have
been involved in setting up is theoretically more about planning for the next
emergency, than for the present situation. But, in reality, the Protection
Cluster is about coordination mechanisms for issues like violence against
women, gender-based or domestic violence, protection of children from abuse and
neglect, access to justice, the right to land and property, and lack of access
to basic services (potable water, education, health care) particularly in the
rural areas. They are more deeply rooted developmental and cultural issues than
humanitarian emergency issues.
There are also a number of disturbing things about TL one
needs to come to terms with. Last week was the 10th anniversary of
the Referendum that led to the independence of Timor.
Amnesty International, to mark the anniversary, brought out a report “We Cry
for Justice” calling for the Security Council of the UN to establish an
International Criminal Tribunal with jurisdiction over all grave human rights
violations surrounding the referendum and the previous 24 years of Indonesian
occupation to end the culture of impunity that prevails. Approx 1,400 people
died in 1999 in the period leading to the polls and the carnage that followed
- estimated to be about one per cent of
the total killings (140,000) that occurred during the 24 years of Indonesian
military rule. And, thus far, only a few low level perpetrators have been tried
and convicted. None of the major figures accused of orchestrating the violence
have been brought to justice. The response of Nobel Laureate President Jose
Ramos Horta was not unexpected but nonetheless deeply disappointing – “let’s
put the past behind. There will be no International Tribunal. …. I have faith
that Indonesia progresses on
consolidating democracy and rule of law, and that Indonesians will bring to
justice those who committed serious crimes in Indonesia and in Timor-Leste from
1975 to 1999.” He also called on the United Nations to disband the Serious
Crimes Unit which was established to investigate the 1,400 killings that
occurred in 1999. While one can understand his desire to make nice with Big
Brother Indonesia
whose shadow still looms over TL, the readiness of the Timorese leadership to
let impunity prevail is unacceptable and very disturbing.
This point was driven home last week – on 30 August – when the
government released an indicted militia commander, Maternus Bere who had been
apprehended (on a warrant for crimes against humanity) when he crossed the
border into Timor Leste at the beginning of August. Bere was charged by the UN
Serious Crimes Unit in 2003 with the extermination of civilians in the town of
Suai (200 people were massacred there) and other crimes against humanity, including
torture, forced disappearance, deportation and persecution. He was handed over
to the Indonesian Embassy in Dili and it is very unlikely he will be prosecuted
in Jakarta. The
release took place on the 10th anniversary of the referendum. Then,
when students held a peaceful press conference to protest the decision, three
were arrested and detained for 72 hours.
A somewhat different subject, but also particularly
disturbing, was the criminalization of abortion in the recently adopted
Criminal Code. Given the influence of the Catholic Church, this was again not
surprising. But, what was so galling was a subsequent amendment adopted by
Parliament. In its original formulation, there was at least the possibility of
permitting an abortion in cases of rape or incest, on the grounds that the mental or physical health of
the mother was at stake. The amendment proposed and adopted removed that
possibility making the termination of a pregnancy possible ONLY if there is a
threat to the life of the mother. Moreover, it requires a decision of a panel
of three doctors, with a fourth prepared to do the abortion, and with doctors
given (encouraged?) to exercise the right to conscientiously object to doing
it. This amendment was introduced by Parliamentarians on the urging of bishops
and nuns who came to lobby for it. Given how few doctors there are in Timor, it makes it virtually impossible for any poor
woman from a rural area to get a safe termination of pregnancy. For example, on
the island of Atuaro – 25 kilometers off the coast
from Dili, there are 10,000 inhabitants. There is one Health Clinic in Vila (the main town) with
a Cuban doctors there three weeks out of four. For women from distant villages
to reach Vila
can be a 5 hour walk.
How difficult life can be was brought home to me when I
recently visited a woman’s shelter in Baucau housing two young girls – one
thirteen, one fourteen, each with an infant, in each case, the result of incest
/ rape by the fathers. What option is there for these girls except to return to
their homes, and their fathers. The likelihood that anything will come of the
attempt to prosecute the fathers is very low. Normally, such cases are simply
swept under the carpet by the “traditional” justice system that is totally
stacked against women. And, economically, what possible options can such girls
have.
So – a pretty pretty place. But, scratch beneath the surface
and the poverty and misery are very evident. As always, I realize how lucky I
have been to have been born in Canada
and to have Canada
to return to.
And, as some of you know, I did return for two weeks in late
June, early July – to see my gorgeous then 8 month old granddaughter Arianna,
and of course, her beautiful mother Roxanna and my son Jesse -- and to attend
the 50th anniversary of my graduation from High School – believe it
or not!!! And what fun that was. I have also had two brief trips to Bali – a
different kind of beauty – and one quick trip to Darwin. In October, I intend to have two
weeks in Australia
to see a little of the land of Oz before I depart from this part of the world.
Where my next assignment will be I don’t know. But, I imagine I will take on another
assignment in January. Meanwhile, drop a note if you have the time. Go to
“Facebook” to look at my photos. One day I will take a course in photography.
For now, its hit and miss but lots of fun.
With warmest regards
