Mr. President,
We thank you for organising this open briefing on East Timor. We are pleased to welcome Mr. Sergio de Mello back to the Council and are grateful for his extremely useful briefing. We are also pleased to see Mr. Horta in this Council, today.
2. Three months since the Council last heard from Mr. de Mello, the situation pertaining to the militias has not improved, with disturbing reports of militia incidents in both East and West Timor. The slaying of three UNHCR staff on 6 September in Atambua has highlighted the continuing instability in and around the refugee camps in West Timor. The Council and the international community are justifiably outraged at the fact that humanitarian workers have become targets of threats, intimidation and murder as they undertake to carry out their humanitarian tasks. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia had pronounced on this incident in this Council, recently.
3. These out-of-control militiamen in West Timor are a threat, not only to peace and security in West Timor, but also to East Timor’s own journey towards independence. At the same time, UNTAET continues to remain at considerable risk, despite the improvements on the overall situation since its establishment. It is imperative that these militiamen be effectively disarmed and the refugees protected from their acts of intimidation. Recently, the Council had listened to Minister Yudhoyono, the Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia, on the measures that have been and are being taken by the Indonesian authorities to manage the situation. We believe Indonesia will make good its promise to bring the situation under control. This may take time, but from the interventions made by Council members today, time may not be on Indonesia’s side. Like others, Malaysia looks forward to the outcome of the investigation into the murder of the three UNHCR personnel, as had been assured in President Wahid’s letter to the Secretary-General of 7 September. We trust that the Government of Indonesia will get to the bottom of the incident in Atambua and will take firm measures against those found guilty. We will have the opportunity to raise this and other issues when Minister Shihab meets with the Council, soon. I agree with the Representative of China that we should be more understanding of Indonesia. Indeed, we should be supportive of the Indonesian government, not take a confrontational stance as that will be counter-productive to our efforts. We should regard Indonesia as a partner, with its own problems and constraints, not as an adversary which it is not. Clearly, in the light of the still precarious security situation, the earlier plan to downsize UNTAET will have to be considered with great circumspection until we are sure that the militias no longer pose a serious threat. I would appreciate if Mr. de Mello would share his own thoughts on this.
4. We would like to pay tribute to UNTAET for its continuing work in East Timor and commend the Special Representative and his team for the close working relationship they have forged with the East Timorese leadership in the effective administration of the Territory. We have heard this afternoon that UNTAET continues to make considerable progress on several fronts in the implementation of its mandate. Of particular importance is the decision by the National Consultative Council to approve, last week, a regulation on transitional rules of criminal procedures for East Timor, following months of consultations, including the holding of two public hearings in August and September. Malaysia also welcomes the signing, in Denpasar on 15 September 2000, of a document establishing a joint border committee, consisting of civilian representatives from UNTAET and the Government of Indonesia. Based on our own experience with similar arrangements with our neighbours we are confident that this mechanism will help boost security along the border between East and West Timor. We would encourage UNTAET to forge other bilateral arrangements and mechanisms between East Timor and its neighbour, Indonesia, which will provide a strong and solid foundation for a constructive and harmonious relationship between the two neighbours. We also note other measures taken by UNTAET in other sectors, such as the registration of cars and other vehicles and procedures for land ownership and property disputes, among others. These measures represent further concrete steps towards nationhood.
5. My delegation welcomes the recent decision of the transitional cabinet of East Timor on the establishment of a national defence force based on option III of the independent study by King’s College, released last month. The option calls for a defence force built upon a base of FALANTIL members, who will be retrained, with a professional regular corps of 1,500 volunteer reservists.
6. The briefing given to us by Mr. de Mello has clearly underlined the considerable progress made thus far, but many challenges remain, which would require the continued strong support of the international community and the United Nations, both during the period leading up to the independence of East Timor and beyond. As a neighbour, Malaysia remains ready to contribute to that process, within its capability to do so.