UNIFEM WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL: TIMOR-LESTE

For archived news stories on women in Timor-Leste, visit the East Timor Action Network at: http://etan.org/action/issues/women.htm

2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

2006

Women and Children First
November 11, 2006 – (The Sidney Morning Herald) Rosalina Ximenes’s eyes were downcast as I leaned forward to kiss her lightly on both cheeks. I caught the smoky scent of the firewood she had used to cook her last meal as I pressed the envelope of money into her hand. Rosalina was surrounded by her six children and a gathering of curious onlookers. The grimy face of her second youngest child, Arris, betrayed fear at the sight of me, but none of the horror and pain to which his mother had been subjected since the murder of her husband.

E Timorese concerned for future security, First Lady says
September 3, 2006 – (ABC NewsOnline) First Lady of East Timor, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, says there are concerns among the East Timorese people that foreign forces do not have enough local knowledge to bring peace to the country. A recent increase in violence in the capital Dili comes as up to 57 prisoners remain free after they escaped from jail last Wednesday.

UN's Legacy of Shame in Timor
July 22, 2006 (The Age) United Nations peacekeepers have abandoned at least 20 babies fathered with poverty-stricken Timorese women.
A UN investigation has also uncovered a culture of cover-up, in which babies born to peacekeepers and sex crimes committed by UN staff in the past seven years have been kept secret because of a "fear of shame and embarrassment' in the deeply religious country.

Kirsty Sword Gusmao: Women suffering in silence
July 07, 2006 – (The Australian) Timor woman, Manacled by your misery, Timor woman, Your spirit bound in servitude.
So wrote my husband, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao, in a poem about women's experience of the 24-year war of resistance to Indonesian rule. As tens of thousands of East Timorese women struggle to take care of their families in Internally Displaced Persons camps across Dili, these words assume a new and tragic poignancy.

Plea for Peace
June 2, 2006 - (The Daily Telegraph) The children should be in school, but the schools are shut. And their mothers would normally be at home preparing the evening meal. But yesterday about 100 women and children protested outside Dili's government building to let the men inside know they have had enough of the violence ravaging their country. "Women and children want peace in this nation," said one banner. "We want schooling, we don't want to sleep in the dust and the dirt. We want to play."

Australian Forces Intervene to Halt Fighting in East Timor
May 26, 2006 - (New York Times) Several hundred Australian commandos landed Thursday in the tiny Indian Ocean nation of East Timor to try to quell escalating fighting in an ethnic dispute involving the country's armed forces and police.

E Timor nationhood proves rocky path
May 4, 2006 - (BBC News) The residents of East Timor's normally sleepy little capital, Dili, could have been forgiven for thinking the terrible days of 1999 were back.

2005

WOMEN'S POLITICAL ROLE STILL "MARGINAL"
April 30, 2005 (The Jakarta Post) After 10 years of implementing the declaration of the United Nations conference of women in Beijing, most Asian countries including Indonesia have yet to meet the mandates, particularly in increasing the numbers of women in positions of power.

"NO GO" ZONES TO PREVENT SEX ABUSE BY U.N. PEACEKEEPERS
April 4, 2005 - (IPS) As charges mount of sexual abuse and child molestation by U.N. peacekeepers, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has drawn up a list of "no go" zones barring visits by blue-helmeted soldiers and civilian staff.

2004

EAST TIMOR: SECOND ALL EAST TIMORESE WOMEN'S NATIONAL CONGRESS
August 10, 2004 - (CIIR) The Second All East Timorese Women’s National Congress in Dili was a major event, attracting more than 500 participants from around the country.

TIMOR-LESTE: PROMOTING WOMEN'S POST-CONFLICT PARTICIPATION
March, 2004 – (UNIFEM’s Newsletter Currents) Interview with Milena Pires, UNIFEM programme Coordinator. As Afghanistan goes to the polls this year, there may be lessons or parallels to be drawn from the electoral process in Timor-Leste in 2001, widely regarded as a success, particularly in terms of women's participation.

WOMEN PEACE-BUILDERS CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE FOR PEACE AND NON VIOLENCE
January 27, 2004 - (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Timor-Leste) “Women Peace-builders continue in their struggle for peace and non violence in their communities, countries and region, despite considerable personal, institutional, political and global challenges”, participants at the Pacific Regional Peace Consultation for Women Peacemakers heard today (26 January 2004).



2003

A BATTLE ON MANY FRONTS: FIGHTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN TIMOR-LESTE
November 25, 2003 – (UNFPA) In a hot, makeshift classroom in this small town’s police station, police officers from several districts are being trained to protect victims of domestic violence and deal with offenders. The instructor, Domingas Encarnação Soares, a policewoman, is striving to make her colleagues understand that domestic violence must be treated like any other crime.

UNMISET REJECTS CHARGES IT FAILED TO PROBE TRAFFICKING
July 3, 2003 – (UN Wire) The U.N. Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) yesterday said media allegations that the U.N. police have failed to investigate the trafficking of women and organized prostitution in the country are "without foundation."

FIRST FEMALE UN POLICE COMMISSIONER ASSUMES DUTY IN TIMOR-LESTE
June 23, 2003 – (UN) The first female United Nations' police commissioner assumed her functions today with the world body's support mission in Timor-Leste. Sandra Peisley brings to the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) a wide variety of relevant areas of policing, including police training, management, investigations and close protection. She is an Assistant Commissioner in the Australian Federal Police.

EAST TIMOR WOMEN MUST TELL OF ATROCITIES BY INDONESIANS
June 10, 2003 – (Jakarta Post) It is important the women of Timor Leste tell what they know about past violations, to balance the tendency for men to dominate the documentation of history, and to remind social, political, and religious leaders of Timor Leste what is required of an inclusive reconciliation process.

INDONESIA MILITARY ACCUSED OF SEX SLAVERY
April 29, 2003 – (AP) The Indonesian military systematically forced dozens of East Timorese women to become sex slaves for officers during its 24-year occupation of the half-island, a former governor said Tuesday.

UNFPA GIVES MOTORCYCLES TO MIDWIVES IN EAST TIMOR
April 28, 2003 – (UN Wire) The U.N. Population Fund last week delivered 80 new motorcycles to the East Timorese Health Ministry for use by midwives across East Timor. The donation is a bid to cut into East Timor's maternal mortality rate, which at an estimated 850 deaths per 100,000 live births is the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

WOMEN AND CONFLICT NATIONAL PUBLIC HEARING
April 28, 2003 – (JSMP – Dili) Timorese women recently completed two days exposing the realities of human rights violations against women in East Timor over the 25 years of political conflict and war between 1974-1999. In a national public hearing conducted by the Commission on Reception Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), for the first time in Timor Leste's history women were given centre-stage to tell of their experiences.

EAST TIMOR PUBLIC HEARING ON WOMEN AND CONFLICT
April 22, 2003 – (East Timor Truth Commission Press Release) “Over and over again I had to lower myself in front of the Indonesian military. But I am not able to do anything. I am in their power. My body doesn’t belong to myself any longer. But my soul will always remain mine.”

2002

EAST TIMOR WOMEN'S NETWORK DEMANDS JUSTICE
August 28, 2002 - At the office of Fokupers, a women's organization based in Dili, approximately 50 East Timorese women met with Mary Robinson. The discussion focused on the inability of the Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal in Jakarta to bring justice to victims and the need for an international tribunal for East Timor. Ms Robinson promised to continue to advocate for an international tribunal.

Di bawah ini adalah surat yang diberi kepada Mary Robinson dari Jaringan Perempuan Timor Lorosae (Rede Feto). Kemarin kira-kira 50 perempuan bertemu dengan Ms. Robinson tentang ketidak-puasan dengan Pengadilan Ad Hoc dan kebutuhan untuk Pengadilan Internasional. Robinson bilang bahwa akan melanjutkan advokasi untuk pengadilan internasional. 

INDONESIAN MILITARY ACCUSED OF INACTION WHILE WITNESSING RAPE
May 29, 2002 - (Feminist.org) An ad hoc tribunal investigating the involvement of 18 Indonesian military and police officials in massacres resulting in 1,000 deaths during and following East Timorís 1999 vote for independence heard the first testimony Tuesday from an East Timorese...

A CALL FOR JUSTICE IN EAST TIMOR
May 16, 2002 - (Feminist.org) Over 125 women representing 14 countries and 22 US states joined with the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) to urge the United Nations Security Council to establish an international tribunal for East Timor. Since 1975 when the Indonesian military illegally invaded and occupied East Timor, the country has witnessed the killing of over 200,000 people, including the brutalization of women via rape, forced marriage, and forced sterilization.

WOMEN WORLDWIDE CALL FOR AN INTERNATIOAL TRIBUNAL FOR EAST TIMOR
May 13, 2002- (ETAN) Officials, Scholars And Activists Say Justice For Crimes Against Timorese Women Needed Now.Women from across the world said in a statement today that an international tribunal was the only way to hold accountable those most responsible for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor.More than 125 women from 14 countries and 22 U.S. states signed the statement, which was released by the East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) less than a week before East Timor becomes the first new nation of the millennium.

TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN PEACE MISSION AREAS TO BE DISCUSSED BY INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS AT MEETING IN TURIN
May 8, 2002 - (UN Information Service) The trafficking of women in peace mission areas and how to tackle it will be discussed by international experts at a meeting this week in Italy.  The two-day conference "Trafficking, Slavery and Peacekeeping:  the Balkans Case" is being organized by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in collaboration with the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at the American University from 9-10 May at the UNICRI headquarters in Turin, Italy.

EAST TIMORESE WOMEN ON THEIR WAY UP
February 1, 2002 – (ETAN) I recently overheard my partner Pamela describing the situation of women in East Timor to a friend who had just arrived. She went through the various successes that women’s groups have had in recent politics, the constitution-writing process, and the efforts to stop violence against women. Then, to wrap up she said, “So, the way things stand, the situation is not horrible.”

EAST TIMORESE WOMEN’S FIGHT AGAINST VIOLENCE
January 1, 2002 – (ETAN) In late 1998, several East Timorese women’s organizations brought together a group of women, all of whom were victims of Indonesian-military violence. On the 9th and 10th of November 1998 at a public event in Dili, the victims told their stories to a crowd of hundreds. Then, with the help of various solidarity organizations outside of East Timor, the stories were published, together with stories of other women survivors of Indonesian-military violence, in a book in English called Buibere (Rebecca Winters, East Timor International Support Center, Darwin, Australia, 1999). Buibere means “woman” in Mumbai, the second most common language in East Timor.

2001

WOMEN FROM AFGHANISTAN, KOSOVO AND EAST TIMOR ASK FOR INCREASED PROTECTION FROM ABUSES DURING WAR
November 3, 2001- Women peace leaders from Afghanistan, Kosovo and East Timor today spoke to Security Council Members about violations committed against women during and after war and women's role in peace negotiations and peace-keeping efforts. International experts Elisabeth Rehn, former UN Under-Secretary General, and Maha Muna from the NGO Working Group on Women, International Peace and Security also addressed Council Members at the meeting in New York.

WOMEN LEADERS FROM WAR-TORN AREAS TO ADDRESS UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
October 28, 2001 - Day-of-news press conference with women peace leaders from Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor and the Democratic Republic of Congo on the outcome of their meeting with the Secuirty Council Members. In a closed meeting on the morning of October 30, called an Arria formula, women leaders will speak to Security Council Members about violations committed against women during and after conflict and revisit resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WIVES IS STILL RAMPANT IN REFUGEE CAMPS IN WEST TIMOR
October 16, 2001 - (EASTERN INDONESIA WOMEN'S HEALTH NETWORK - JKPIT) The impact of drought is seriously felt by the refugees in West Timor, especially those living in Belu district.

Where are East Timor's women leaders?
August 21, 2001 - (CIIR) Where are East Timors women leaders? CIIR election observers to focus on women's participation. As the people of East Timor prepare to elect the countrys first national assembly since independence CIIR is sending an all-women team of observers to focus on womens participation. Catherine Scott reports.

2000

HEALTH: U.S. SEEKS ANTI-AIDS MEASURES FOR PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
July 6, 2000 - (IPS) The United Nations, fearing the spread of AIDS among peacekeepers, has purchased over 1.5 million condoms for distribution to U.N. troops in Sierra Leone and East Timor.   

1999

DIPLOMAT RAISES FEARS OF GENOCIDE IN TIMOR: CANADIAN SAW FEW MEN AMONG 25,000 REFUGEES IN CAMPS
September 16, 1999 – (Toronto Star – Ottawa Bureau) Canada's ambassador to Indonesia has raised the spectre of genocide in East Timor after reports that Timorese men are being separated from women and children refugees.

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