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 Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa Di Timor Timur Briefing Summary for Friday, 6 August 1999 UNAMET Deputy Spokesman Hiro Ueki said that as of the end of registration day on 4 August 439,580 people had registered. In East Timor itself 427,190 people had registered. All registration centres were open today, the last day of registration in East Timor. Tomorrow the Special Representative, Ian Martin, will be meeting with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, at UNAMET headquarters at 10:00 a.m.. Yesterday, there were two separate incidents, which affected the registration process. One happened in Ainaro where at about 10:00 a.m. yesterday UNAMET personnel were invited to attend a meeting of approximately 50 university students which was conducted at a marquee erected by the students in the township of Ainaro. The marquee was located approximately 25 metres north of the entrance to the Ainaro registration centre. The students invited UNAMET personnel - one DEO and two CivPol - to explain the registration and consultation process to them. At approximately 11:20 a.m., a group of about 20 men came to the front of the marquee dressed in civilian clothing. They seem to have been led by an elderly male wearing a khaki vest with an Indonesian flag over the breast. He began shouting in Tetun and waving his arms in a gesture that UNAMET staff interpreted to mean "get out". The other men then began to yell as well. Students then ran forward to where UNAMET personnel were standing. The group of 20 men then began to turn over the plastic seating and proceeded to hurl large chunks of concrete directly at UNAMET personnel, as well as at the students. The UNAMET personnel defended themselves. During this incident, one CivPol officer was hit by a large piece of concrete on the left shoulder and was slightly injured. Polri was alerted and arrived at the scene within 4 to 6 minutes. They were slow to act even on the insistence of CivPol that the perpetrators be arrested. UNAMET personnel sought Polri assistance regarding the identification of the male leader. However, no satisfactory result was obtained. In brief summary, this was a vicious and swift attack, which appeared to be well organized. The entire attack lasted no more than 4 to 5 minutes. Other than the one CivPol, no other UANMET personnel and no students were injured. The marquee did suffer some damage as a result of the attack. The second incident happened at Batugade in Bobonaro regency. Yesterday at 2:45 p.m. at Batugade High School, where a UNAMET registration centre is located, a truck came with about 50 to 100 militia members. Some were armed with traditional weapons. They immediately ran into the registration centre, passing Polri who were guarding the centre, and attacked two local UNAMET staff [interpreters]. Eventually, Polri entered the centre. The group subsequently left the building and, after negotiation, the compound. However, they gathered across the street from the registration centre where they remained until the evacuation of UNAMET personnel at 4:30 p.m. under Polri escort. UNAMET is very concerned about these incidents and as a result one UNAMET team was sent to Maliana, then on to Batugade, and another team this morning to Ainaro to assess the security conditions in these locations. Four registration centres were closed in Ainaro yesterday as a precautionary measure following the incident. The four centres have reopened for business today. In the event that the conditions do not permit registration of those who have stood in line today, for instance, if it got too dark to register, some measures will be taken so that registrants can come back tomorrow morning to register. A correspondent asked if there was any damage done to the registration centre at Batugade. The Deputy Spokesman said no damage was caused to the registration centre there. A correspondent asked the Deputy Spokesman whether he had the name and nationality of the CivPol who was injured in Ainaro. He said the CivPol is from Australia but did not provide his name. A correspondent asked if UNAMET felt there was enough time to disseminate information before the campaign period began next week. Mr. Ueki said District Electoral Officers will be employed to engage in voter education. They will be distributing information materials being produced by UNAMET's Public Information Office and will be explaining to voters what the voting procedures are, the consequences of the vote and the fact that UNAMET will stay in East Timor after the vote. The Deputy Spokesman was asked whether he knew which militia groups were responsible for yesterday's attacks. He said the Mahidi militia operated in the area of Ainaro and said he would have to get back to them on the militia in Batugade. A correspondent asked whether UNAMET was making efforts to inform the East Timorese population of the consequences of the vote. The Deputy Spokesman said that it was, in fact, part of UNAMET's information campaign to inform the East Timorese of their choices in the ballot and to spell out what the consequences of a vote either way will be. He said these messages would be relayed up to shortly before the 30th of August, when the ballot will take place. A correspondent asked when the political symbols would be finalized. Mr. Ueki said discussions on the symbols were still underway and he hoped that there would be an agreement shortly. A correspondent then asked whether the campaign period was still scheduled to begin on Wednesday, 11 August. The Deputy Spokesman said UNAMET hoped that the code of conduct for political campaigning, as well as the start of the political campaigning, would be announced on Monday. Asked whether this meant that political campaigning might not start on 11 August, Mr. Ueki said that it was what he implied. Finally, a correspondent asked if there were any problems in getting both sides to agree to the code of conduct. Mr. Ueki said both sides put forth their views and the code is nearly finalized. There is one remaining point but it is expected to be resolved today or over the weekend, he said. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
