[Easttimorstudies] A view from the other side of the riots and shootings

Savio savio_lps at yahoo.com
Thu May 4 15:49:31 EST 2006


Dear Colleagues on East Timor study list,

Thanks for this message, it will be intersting to know
 who is hunting who? and Where? I am affraid, some
people try to exchagerate the situation for their own
political interst. I am equally live in Dili at the
moment. 

I agree that there are displace people casue by panic
for what ever reason, people do leave the city by
believing in runmours rather then the appeal from the
President, the Prime Minister, Minister of Interior
etc. 

Savio



--- Damien Kingsbury <dlk at deakin.edu.au> wrote:

> EAST TIMOR STUDIES MAILING LIST
> Dear All,
> 
> This arrived from Dr Jacqueline Siapno a short time
> ago. It may be of interest.
> 
> Damien
> 
> Dear folks,
> 
> I was able to find access to internet today (we are
> not in Dili, but in
> the mountains/districts). Please kindly help me/us
> by trying to get
> alternative information out. According to the
> government version, only 5
> people have died, and 75 wounded. According to the
> petitioners/demonstrators version, 67 people have
> been killed by, possibly
> a hundred. In my previous e-mail, I only reported
> the 8,000 IDPs in Don
> Bosco, who refuse to go home despite a press release
> from Ramos-Horta that
> everything is now "normal, and under control." On
> the contrary. A UN
> Adviser to the government called me yesterday saying
> that things are
> exactly the opposite: nothing is "under control".
> Civil servants have
> stopped going to work -- they have all fled to the
> districts to seek
> refuge. Only the international advisers are still
> going to their offices.
> So how could things be "under control" if offices
> are empty? Dili is very
> quiet -- it is almost empty of population.
> Restaurants are telling their
> clients to hurry up eating, they want to close early
> at night.
> 
> The severe political divisions have now spread to
> horizontal conflict
> between Loromonu/ Lorosae, which initially began as
> conflict between the
> National Police and F-FDTL. This extremely arrogant
> and incompetent
> government, due to its inability to solve what could
> have been a
> manageable problem, has escalated things to this
> crisis. The
> petitioners/demonstrators who peacefully rallied for
> one week, up to
> mid-noon last Friday, are now being hunted down and
> shot as "criminals" --
> major violations of international human rights laws.
> 
> Don't believe what RTTL tells you about displacement
> only in Dili. There
> are large numbers of "hidden displacement" --
> including ourselves.
> Thousands of people are fleeing to the districts,
> but because they are not
> in IDP camps (e.g. Don Bosco, the US Embassy --
> who've sent everyone home,
> or almost everyone -- even UNMISET Political
> Officers became IDPs in the
> US Embassy, how ironic, as apparently the UN has no
> security briefing or
> strategy)these hidden displacements are unseen.
> 
> While officials above keep saying things are now
> "normal", "come down" --
> the situation in the districts is very tense. Nobody
> wants to come down.
> The situation in the mountains is difficult: we ran
> quickly, so we have no
> provisions, no money. Rice is now costing US$20
> instead of $12; mobile
> phone cards are US$12 instead of $10. Gas/car bensin
> is now $1.50 per
> liter instead of $1. Opportunists are taking
> advantage of the situation to
> make profit.
> 
> On the macro level -- the government has been quiet,
> and according to
> their own int'l. advisers -- seem to have no plans
> to resolve this
> situation or negotiate peacefully with the
> petitioners.
> 
> Predictions are that things may get worse.
> 
> Please help us to mobilize news
> internationally/outside. Especially
> alternative news/perspectives. My mobile here is:
> +670-727-0481, but we do
> not always have a signal.
> 
> I may not be able to access internet again so soon.
> 
> Warmest regards,
> J
> 
> P.S. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and
> well-wishes. I hope we
> can go home to our house in Dili soon, safely.
> Please pray for us. I am
> most worried about Hadomi and the other small
> children, as they cannot run
> as fast, in case this conflict gets a lot worse.
> People are preparing to
> climb up higher in the mountains. Please don't
> believe everything the
> government tells you -- try to seek alternative
> news/info -- especially
> from the petitioners/demonstrators side.
> 
> 
> Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury
> Director, Masters of International and Community
> Development
> School of International and Political Studies
> Deakin University
> Ph: +61(0)439638834
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