No subject

began in the post-independence period. Given the residue of bitterness from 
Indonesia's brutal invasion it was not an easy task. Tensions rose when Jakarta 
demanded reparations for assets left behind during the military withdrawal. The 
new East Timorese government pointed to assets expropriated from individuals 
and the Portuguese state when the Indonesian army invaded in December 1975. 

The issue was resolved by the establishment of a joint commission to deal with 
mutual grievances. It met successfully for two days in Jakarta last October 
under Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and his East Timorese 
counterpart Horta. Five working groups were established: on border issues, 
trade and finance, legal matters, social, educational and cultural affairs, and 
transport and communication. 

The current talks in Jakarta will reflect work begun in that framework. The 
large delegation of Timorese businessmen results from an agreement that 
Indonesian assets in East Timor could be transformed into equity investment in 
the independent territory. They have come seeking business partners on that 
basis. 

Work to demarcate the border, which has not been revised since a Dutch-
Portuguese colonial agreement in the early 20th century, is well under way, and 
is expected to be completed soon. There are some leftover points of 
disagreement. 

A related issue is the East Timorese desire for overland access to the coastal 
Oecusse enclave, which is geographically isolated from the rest of the 
territory. The only access to Oecusse, surrounded by Indonesian-controlled West 
Timor on three sides, is currently by plane or sea. The government is seeking 
Indonesian agreement for an overland transport service exempt from normal 
passport controls so that ordinary people may travel more freely. 

According to the East Timorese Foreign Ministry, a memorandum of understanding 
will be signed concerning the movement of goods and people from the border, 
although no details have been given. 

And then there is the long-standing problem of a substantial number of refugees 
from the 1999 violence who remain in camps on the West Timorese side of the 
border, some controlled by the same militiamen responsible for the bloodshed. 
After a massive effort of several years by the United Nations High Commissioner 
for Refugees (UNHCR), a hard core of about 28,000 remains. They are a potential 
source of destabilization, as several armed border incursions early this year 
showed. Negotiations to resolve the situation have reached an impasse, and 
their concentration close to the border is increasing worries as the term for 
the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers, set for next June, draws closer. 

The war crimes issue
Although Alkatiri has decided not to make war-crimes trials a major issue on 
this visit in order to reinforce positive ties, it is a background issue that 
looms over all bilateral dealings between the new state and the former 
occupying power. 

The prime minister does advocate trials of Indonesians and East Timorese 
accused of atrocities committed during the 1999 referendum. But he believes 
this is primarily the responsibility of the international community - in 
particular, the UN. 

The UN-backed Serious Crimes Unit in Dili has issued 169 arrest warrants for 
persons in Indonesia accused of involvement in the violence. They include 
General Wiranto, Indonesia's defense chief at that time. The Indonesian 
attorney general has not acted on any of the warrants, on the grounds that the 
government does not recognize an April 2000 extradition agreement made between 
the UN and the previous government led by president B J Habibie. 

After Wiranto's indictment, Gusmao traveled to Jakarta to dissociate from the 
legal action, and declare his general opposition to trials. He believes the two 
countries can only move on to a strong relationship if they put the past behind 
them - and believes this is the best way to do it. 

The prime minister disagrees. In an interview with Asia Times Online early last 
month (see Timor PM slams UN on war criminals, May 15) he accused the UN of 
washing its hands of prosecutions. He stated that "whoever committed crimes ... 
in 1999 must be judged", adding that "crimes against humanity are of the most 
serious nature. We cannot treat them with impunity and yet prosecute petty 
thieves." 

He also made it clear that the president was speaking on a personal basis and 
did not represent the government view. "I am the prime minister, and it is the 
government which makes policy," he asserted. 

However, he said he had been misquoted in a more recent interview by an 
international news service, on the eve of his departure for Jakarta, where it 
was claimed he would raise the controversial issue with Megawati. Last week 
panicking Indonesian diplomats requested a clarification of the newspaper 
report. "It absolutely didn't correspond with the truth," Jose Guterres 
said. "He would not be so stupid as to say that on the eve of such a sensitive 
visit." 

The prime minister's assistant added that the question of Aceh would not be 
raised by the East Timorese side, but that if it came up "the prime minister 
will respect Indonesia's territorial integrity, because this is a first 
principle of good neighborliness." 

In the blackest years of Indonesia's military occupation of East Timor, young 
nationalists at home and abroad argued passionately against the acceptance of 
arguments based on realpolitik, which claimed they were fighting a lost cause. 
They were a tiny territory, their critics argued, with no influential friends. 
That tiny territory is now the much-applauded first new nation of the new 
millennium, but it is quickly learning, as many new nations do, that idealism 
and state power don't mix. 
-- (Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Opinion
June 10, 2003
E. Timor women must tell of RI atrocities 
Karen Campbell-Nelson, Researcher, Commission for Reception, Truth-seeking, and 
Reconciliation (CAVR), Dili, East Timor

Women's experience of the conflict demands special attention and reflection 
because, as the stories of Beatriz and the other women at the public hearing 
suggest, it is different from men's. Stories of rape, sexual slavery, forced 
marriage, and sexual torture -- not only at the hands of Indonesian police and 
soldiers, but also those of the other parties in the conflict, Fretilin and 
UDT -- make clear that women are sexually vulnerable in a way men are not.

Because women are socially constructed as primary caretakers and nurturers of 
children, guardians of the hearth, healers of those in pain, their social 
identity is derived from their biological roles as those who give birth and 
nurse. When they are sexually violated, it is not only their bodies that 
suffer; their very identity as women is attacked. 

This, then, is a part of women's suffering. Many women continue to suffer 
physical trauma -- they cannot give birth or only do so painfully, their sexual 
organs are scarred or damaged. But also damaged is their sense of self. How can 
they come to accept themselves as whole women if they or others feel their 
sexual abuse has soiled their reputation and moral character for life? How can 
they heal? 

"Reconcile" comes from the Latin word re-conciliare. It means "again-make 
friendly". Indeed one of the mandates of the Commission for Reception, Truth-
seeking, and Reconciliation (CAVR) is to facilitate a process whereby relations 
among those estranged from each other can be reformed and enemies can become 
friends once again. 

When I consider the experiences and trauma of women in Timor Leste, my 
understanding of what reconciliation might mean for women is aided when I 
reflect on another word -- integration from the Latin word integrare, to make 
whole. What I observed during the public hearing on Women and Conflict was 
women yearning for integration at three levels. 

First, women who suffered abuse during the years of conflict in Timor Leste are 
at once victims and survivors. We celebrate their courage, fortitude, 
resourcefulness, and strength when we recognize them as survivors. But we must 
also recognize them as victims who long to be healed. 

Listening to women who shared their experiences I was reminded the healing 
process may take a lifetime, but it is supported when women are given the 
opportunity to tell what they know. Telling what they know enables women to 
take steps towards personal integration. 

They need to hear they are valued and loved and to have their questions 
answered. When one participant expressed concerns about the status of her 
marriage since her rape by a militia commander in 1999, it was healing for her 
to hear one of CAVR's National Commissioners, Father Juvito, tell her that rape 
cannot nullify her marriage. 

Telling what they know to others who want to listen helps women place the abuse 
outside themselves where it can be seen, heard, and whittled down, piece by 
piece, rather than allowing it to eat away at them from the inside like a 
silent cancerous growth. 

Second, by telling what they know in public, women also become integrated into 
the truth-seeking and reconciliation process in Timor Leste. However, given the 
burden of patriarchy it is not enough simply to make opportunities available to 
women along with men. 

The opportunities must be especially for women, something that requires 
planning, preparation, and often an inordinate amount of support and 
encouragement for women. The proceedings of this public hearing were broadcast 
live over national television and radio. 

This will hopefully encourage other women to come forward with their 
statements, to tell what they know to members of CAVR district teams throughout 
Timor Leste so that their perspectives and experiences are integrated into what 
would otherwise be a male-dominated process. 

And once women are integrated into the process, the stakes for reconciliation 
are raised. Take Beatriz. Ideally she would receive support for herself and her 
children from the fathers of her children. Since that is not forthcoming and it 
is unlikely the Indonesian military will compensate Beatriz for her suffering, 
then it falls to religious and political institutions in Timor Leste to address 
her situation. 

But what about her friends and family? The men of her community who pushed her 
into unwanted common law marriages, not once, but three times? Beatriz still 
lives in this community and has made enough peace with herself and others to 
continue living there. 

But to integrate women into the truth and reconciliation process demands 
acknowledgement of uncomfortable truths about local communities. The Commission 
might ask itself: What would be a process of reconciliation for healing this 
dimension of abuse? 

Third, the recent public hearing also suggests something about political 
integration. At the conclusion of a testimony by Maria, another woman who was 
yet to tell her story, Victoria, spontaneously arose and came forward, making 
an impassioned confession. 

She admitted to having been involved with the Fretilin fighters who tortured 
Maria. Victoria yearned for public confession and forgiveness. Victoria 
approached Maria and hugged her and Maria hugged Victoria in return. 

When the women who spoke came together from different corners of Timor Leste 
and began telling what they know to each other, it became apparent to them that 
what was common about the violations they suffered was that they were 
politically-motivated, were instigated by men, and mostly perpetrated by men. 

Although some women, such as Victoria, were drawn in as perpetrators, the 
political, social-economic, and personal disintegration due to conflict in 
Timor Leste must be seen as driven by men of all political persuasions and in 
that sense, no men won as a result of the conflict. 

Without the stories of women to balance those of men, whatever political 
integration may exist for Timor Leste will not be total. The truth will remain 
distorted and reconciliation may only contribute to a future in which men's 
friendly relations allow the violation of women's human rights to continue. 
Reconciliation in Timor Leste must seek to make individuals, communities, and 
the nation whole. 

After years of so much fragmentation this is not easy, but it must be done for 
shattered lives and communities cannot be swept away like glass. Some women 
began piecing together fragments when they spoke of gender-based violence at 
this public hearing. 

The process remains a fragile, yet beautiful one. Listening to these women tell 
what they know was at once a painful and strengthening experience that helped 
me to better understand how such a small country could survive such a history 
of pain. 

If the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, then Timor Leste's future 
promises to be a great one as long as the women's parts are told, reconciled, 
and integrated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
International Herald Tribune
Banks come to the rescue of threatened forests  
David Kaimowitz – IHT
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 
-- No loans for shady firms
 
Bogor, Indonesia A recent pledge by 10 of the world's biggest banks not to lend 
money for projects that harm the environment in developing countries is good 
news for forests and other fragile ecosystems. Among those agreeing to follow 
the new "Equator Principles" code of conduct for private lending, sponsored by 
the World Bank, were Citibank, Credit Suisse, and ABN AMRO.

Assuming the banks keep their word, the initiative should make it much less 
likely that they will lend money for pulp mills, logging companies, cattle 
ranches, soybean farms or oil palm estates in Asia, Latin America and other 
parts of the world without first checking whether such projects might damage 
natural forests and endangered species.

The banks' move follows closely on the heels of an announcement a few weeks ago 
by the European Commission that it will press banks to be more careful about 
funding companies caught up in illegal forestry activities. The Europeans have 
become increasingly worried that such activities are not only destroying many 
of the few remaining undisturbed forests, but also costing governments billions 
of dollars in unpaid tax revenues and contributing to violent conflicts in 
places like Liberia, the Indonesian province of Aceh and the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo.

The European Commission has put banks on notice that under existing money-
laundering legislation they could be held liable for giving loans to companies 
involved in bribery, fraud and other practices often associated with illegal 
logging. It also encouraged European governments to include illegal logging 
more explicitly among the crimes covered by their money-laundering laws.

What such steps have in common is a growing recognition that private lending is 
just as powerful a global force as trade and investment in reshaping people's 
lives and the way we treat our natural environment. It usually takes big bucks 
to cause large-scale environmental destruction, and that means some bank puts 
up the cash.

Environmental activists are increasingly targeting banks with their campaigns, 
governments are holding them more accountable and consumers are beginning to 
ask what banks are doing with their money. At the World Economic Forum this 
year in Davos, Switzerland, instead of just focusing on companies that chop 
down trees or run sweatshops, environmental groups used the occasion to issue 
their first high-profile declaration focusing on private lending institutions. 
The activists called on banks to adopt environmentally and socially responsible 
policies.

But it is not only such pressure that has made banks sit up and listen. Many 
bankers are coming to realize that paying attention to the environment makes 
good business sense. Projects embroiled in controversies are less likely to 
turn a profit and companies engaged in shady forestry practices rarely publish 
reliable accounts. After getting burned on a couple of bad multibillion-dollar 
loans, such as one to the Indonesian pulp and paper industry, the bankers are 
starting to catch on.

Private banks and government loan guarantees are also getting more attention 
these days because governments can focus on them without getting entangled in 
the thorny issues surrounding trade restrictions. Although many governments 
sympathize with environmentalists' calls to stop imports of illegal timber, 
most are wary of taking any action that might be construed as violating 
international trade agreements.

What governments can do, without restricting trade, is to encourage banks to be 
more cautious, strictly enforce existing money-laundering laws and refuse to 
guarantee loans that are bad for the environment.

Seeing private companies, government agencies, environmentalists and the World 
Bank all taking concrete positive measures in the same direction gives real 
cause for hope.

For those of us sitting in Indonesia, where the haze from burning forests on 
the island of Sumatra is already signaling the start of another season of 
destruction, the good news comes not a moment too soon.
-- The writer is director-general of the Center for International Forestry 
Research in Bogor, Indonesia.