Precedence: bulk U N I T E D N A T I O N S *** N A T I O N S U N I E S UNAMET UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN EAST TIMOR Misi Bantuan Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa Di Timor Timur Briefing Summary for Saturday, 17 July 1999 This is a near verbatim transcript of the daily press briefing given at UNAMET Headquarters, Dili, East Timor, by Spokesman, David Wimhurst. UNAMET is very pleased with the results from the first day of voter registration. Thousands of people were registered yesterday throughout East Timor. There were six registration centres which did not open, the four mentioned yesterday in Zumalai, and two others - one in the Baucau district and one in a place called Alas. Alas is a very inaccessible place and you can't get there by road. We are hoping to go to Alas on Sunday and the centre in Baucau region will open today. It was a question of logistics. So the turnout was better than expected. There were no major incidents reported at all and we are very pleased. It was a good first day for everybody. Questions and Answers: Q: Was the problem in Baucua logistical? Answer: Yes. There was a personnel shortage, but that has been resolved and it's opening today. Q. Will the registration centres that have opened late stay open a day longer at the end of the registration period? Answer: We will discuss that further, but I don't think so. If we think there has been a serious impediment to people registering then we will have to look at that possibility, but we are expecting the Zumalai registration centres to open tomorrow. Q. One of the difficulties the United Nations has spoken about is registering internally displaced people. What did you make of yesterday as far as internally displaced people are concerned? Answer: Some people came to registration centres and explained they were internally displaced. Some of them had documentation and some didn't. For those that don't we issue them an affidavit form - The person who comes is given the form. They take that away and have it signed by a religious leader or village chief. They then come back with the form and a registered voter as a witness and they are then registered. Q. Did refugees actually turn up at the registration sites? Answer: Well, there were certainly some people who don't normally live in the Dili area, but were here because they were displaced, who did turn up. If they register here they can vote here. You must vote where you register. Q. How will the UN deal with the problem of registering internally displaced people where they are - which means they have to vote where they are - they must remain where they are to be able to vote. Answer: The best option for everybody is for internally displaced people to move back to their villages, and then register at the nearest centre to there. Otherwise they must vote where they register. We don't have any numbers of people who are in that situation yet, but it will become clearer as we move through the process. Q. Is it possible to say that if people are internally displaced to, for example, the Sare area and they register there, they will have to stay internally displaced until after the vote? Answer: No. They will just have to vote there. If circumstances are such in the interim that there is freedom of movement, then they can return home, then they can certainly do that. They should be able to freely move back on the day of the vote. That would be possible. Q. In Alas, was it a question of security? Answer: No. It was purely a question of logistics. It is a very difficult place to get to, and we couldn't get our people in. We had to reconfigure our logistics so we could get them in. But that should be resolved tomorrow. Q. Will all registration centres be open tomorrow? Answer: Yes. They should be. Q. How will you get them in? Answer: It's a very tricky area. We will probably use a helicopter. It is in the district of Manufahi. Q. Isn't it totally unrealistic to expect the people to go back, when, for example in Liquica the Besi Merah Putih are still clearly there. How could anyone who has fled in terror be expected to go back there to register? Answer: Obviously they are not going to go back by themselves. This would have to be an assisted operation. It will depend on how the situation improves in the next few days and weeks. Q. Presumably UNHCR would be involved in that. Answer: There was a discussion on Tuesday with the Indonesian Task Force that the UNHCR attended, along with the International Commission for the Red Cross, UNICEF, UNAMET and the United Nations Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It was agreed that this was a serious problem and that the ideal solution is to get these people back where they came from. Q. Are the registration centres in Balibo open today? (Today is the day when the "integration" of East Timor into Indonesia is celebrated and there is a large ceremony being held in Balibo). Answer: Three are not on the advice of the Indonesian Police. We are following that advice, to avoid any possible incident. Q. For how long? Answer: Just for today. Q. Are UNAMET staff still there? Answer: Yes. Q. Are there any special concerns about "integration day". Are you taking any special measures? Answer: We are very well aware that it is an important day for the pro-integration movement and we will do everything we can to ensure that our security is respected. We want to avoid any incidents, and we hope that it all goes smoothly. Q. Have you increased security? Answer: No we haven't increased security. But we have all been alerted to the situation and we will be careful. Q. Any reports of false documentation? Answer: No. We had no reports yesterday that any false documents were presented at any registration centre. Q: The Bupati of Bobonaro told journalists that he would kill all UNAMET personnel if the registration was not conducted properly. Answer: The registration process will be conducted as planned - impartially. The rules we have established for documentation proving eligibility to vote are strict because we want to make sure that everybody who is in fact eligible can vote and get on the list. As for his statement to the journalists, I don't think it will be useful for me to comment on that except to say it's pointless to continue making threatening noises. We are into the process now. The Government has assured us that security conditions will improve and it will be very useful if everybody were to listen to the Government and respected their directives. Q: Is there any concern that a lack of interpreters in some centres can delay the registration? Answer: It's true that if we don't have enough interpreters it does slow things down. But I haven't heard that we have got insufficient numbers to allow the process to continue. We may not have enough in one or two areas, but we are working to get more, obviously recruiting locally to do that. But I haven't heard that that has been an impediment. Q: Is it a concern to the UN that in certain villages people are being told how to vote? Answer: All attempts to coerce people or influence the way they vote are prohibited under the agreement. People have to be allowed to vote freely. We tell everybody don't vote how you are told to vote, vote how you want to vote. Your vote is secret, it is protected, and nobody will know how you voted, nobody will know how your community voted, and nobody will know how your district voted. The only single count is the count for the whole of East Timor, plus the external registration sites, of course. That is our advice to everybody. Q: Is it the plan for the votes to be taken to Darwin to be counted? Answer: No. There will be one central point where the ballot boxes will be opened and the votes will be counted. The external votes will be counted in the centres where voting is taking place. The votes in Australia will be counted in Australia. But certainly the votes casted in East Timor will be counted in East Timor. Q: Is there a chance of extending the registration dates if people are not able to produce the proper documentation? Answer: If people turn up without the right documentation, or insufficient documentation, then they are advised to go back and get the right documentation and be able to present themselves. That is the normal part of the process. We are open for 20 days so they should be able to go back home, get their documents in order and return. Q: So you don't expect an extension? Answer: The Secretary-General has made it clear that he is going to give a mid-term review of the security situation and make sure that conditions exist that will allow us to continue. We very much hope that will be the case. So we will address that problem ten days from now. Q: What is the latest from Zumalai and have those registration centres opened now? Answer: We hope they will be open tomorrow. Q: And how about the follow up to the militia member being killed and tensions as a result of that? Answer: It is being investigated by the Indonesian police. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
