Statement by NGOs to Development Partners Meeting
Statement by NGOs to Development Partners
Meeting
28 March 2008
The NGO community
thanks the Ministry of Finance for this opportunity to
participate, and we appreciate the support and interest from
Timor-Leste’s Development Partners. Please excuse our
omission of individual remarks of respect.
We
would like to highlight two key priorities:
First, the
people of Timor-Leste have suffered since 1999 as a result
of displacement, fear, rumours and confusion. To help
resolve this, our leaders need to be cautious and
coordinated in public statements. We appeal to our leaders
and their advisers and the national and international media
to give clear and consistent messages to reduce public
confusion.
Second, we appeal to all officials to respect
our Constitution’s clear assignments of roles and
responsibilities to different sovereign organs.
We
would like to comment in more detail on four important
sectors:
Justice
We recognise that some progress
has been made regarding justice during the past two years,
including increased prosecution of gender-based violence and
the Council of Ministers’ recent approval of the Witness
Protection Law. We urge Parliament to pass this law as
quickly as possible.
We call for an end to the
on-going cycle of impunity. Whilst we recognise that there
has been some progress on cases from 2006, most cases remain
unresolved. In the few trials which have been completed, not
one convicted person is in a legally recognised prison
facility.
We further recognise the progress on
arson cases from 2007 but wish to highlight that there has
been no prosecution of arson committed in 2006. We urge
donors to recognise the negative effects of the cycle of
impunity and to push for accountability for past crimes,
including those committed during the Indonesian
occupation.
In
2006, juveniles perpetrated many crimes, including serious
crimes. There is no legal mechanism for dealing with these
cases. We recommend that Government creates and that donors
support a formal juvenile justice system, as well as an
informal justice system of restorative justice for juvenile
cases.
Many people observe that those who commit
political crimes go free even though they were recommended
for prosecution by independent commissions. Similarly,
unclear dialogues pre-empt legal judicial processes
contributing to the perception that talking about crimes has
replaced holding perpetrators accountable.
Since
1999, Timor-Leste has experienced numerous national and
international commissions, but very few of their
recommendations have been implemented. Commissions cannot be
a substitute for justice. We call upon the parliament to
urgently debate the CAVR report and call upon the
international community to help implement CAVR’s
recommendations and the recommendations of previous
commissions.
Transparency
Participation is
critical to the development of democracy and, as members of
civil society, we have a right and duty to be involved. We
appreciate the commitment of the Government to a framework
for transparency and accountability, but several challenges
remain:
The consultation process during the
development of legislation is poorly developed. For example,
consultation is often very late, brief, and limited to one
or two organisations. We recommend the early establishment
of a clear, consistent and broad-based process for
consultation on pending legislation.
The
Constitution guarantees access to public information. In
practice, however, access is very limited and public
servants do not know which documents should be made
available, often releasing them only to personal friends.
The 2008 National Budget was not on the website until late
February 2008, and then only in Portuguese and English. In
addition, after legislation is approved, very few people are
made aware of the implications.
We recommend that
Parliament and the Council of Ministers publish a regular
newsletter, in accessible languages, that includes decisions
and pending agenda items, and explains new
laws.
Civil society has been largely excluded from
the current review of the National Development Plan and the
preparation of the State of the Nation report. After nearly
six years of self-government, this analysis must include
perspectives from civil society and the grassroots. We are
prepared to provide support to the sectoral analysis and
request greater involvement in these processes and in
developing the five-year strategic plan.
We welcome
the Prime Minister’s and President’s commitments to
strong mechanisms to prevent corruption. We recommend that
the Office of the Provedor be provided with sufficient
resources, and that alleged corruption be prosecuted
promptly.
Development
Our Constitution promises
decentralisation of government operations and
decision-making, and the process is now underway in eight
districts. We are committed to supporting decentralisation
for the benefit of the poor. We recommend a single simple
coordinated suco planning process where integrated
priorities are identified and fed into ministerial action
planning processes.
We further urge government
departments to coordinate and plan together for district and
suco development initiatives.
Some important laws
will be adopted this year in relation to Suco Councils and
Local Development. We request full public participation in
the consultation and development of these laws, as we have
direct experience of rural realities.
We
acknowledge considerable progress in strengthening the
National Food Security Policy Committee and appointing food
security officers and extension staff to work in the
districts. We recommend that at least half of the extension
workers should be female, because of the unique role that
women play in managing family resources.
When food
production cannot meet Timor-Leste’s needs, we recommend
assistance to local farmers to increase the quality and
quantity of their production, improving longer-term food
security and reducing dependence on imports.
In the
National Food Security Policy Committee’s work with the
National Disaster Management Directorate, we urge them to
establish clear mechanisms to monitor district-level food
security during 2008.
Fifteen thousand people enter
the labour market every year, and the numbers are rising.
In this country where severe unemployment endangers health,
education and public security, job creation must be a
priority. Whilst our private sector is small and lacks
capacity, it must be nurtured, with engagement by all
development partners. As the private sector develops, we
urge the Government to create jobs through public works
projects, but implemented by private sector partners. We
believe that there should be targets for youth employment in
this area.
International agencies in Timor-Leste
spend the large majority of their available funding on
foreign consultants and contractors, and to import supplies.
We ask the Government to join our call on international
partners to increase local spending, helping to stimulate
job creation and build private sector
capacity.
Security
Stable and permanent security
cannot come from police, military or other armed forces
alone. Until problems such as unemployment, poverty,
alienation, trauma, inconsistent law enforcement, weak
judicial system, unclear land rights, and people feeling
excluded from the government are dealt with, no number of
men with guns will make people feel
secure.
Although we welcome improvements in
security, we are concerned about extending the state of
siege and creating a state of emergency. It is dangerous for
curfews and limitations on freedom of assembly to become
“normal,” especially when there’s no logical
relationship between them and the hunt for the last few
Reinado/Salsinha supporters.
Sometimes these
mechanisms are implemented with heavy handed tactics and
top-down instructions. Detailed guidance should be provided
to everyone involved in enforcing the states of siege and
emergency. We urge the government to demonstrate its
commitment to human rights by dealing with abuses promptly
and publicly, and not to prolong abridgements of civil
liberties longer than absolutely necessary.
We
welcome the Government’s National Recovery Strategy to
address the continuing displacement of people across the
nation. While this initiative tries to find sustainable ways
for displaced people to return to communities, we urge the
government to adopt a “whole of community” approach
rather than an “IDP-centred” approach. Poverty in this
country is endemic, and addressing IDP’s needs should not
exacerbate community prejudices and socio-economic
disparities.
In order to hasten development and
resolve IDP displacement, we call upon the Government to
give urgent attention to the issue of housing and land
ownership for all Timorese citizens.
For people to
feel safe, communities must be actively involved in
establishing and maintaining security and stability for
themselves. We recommend that appropriate community policing
and training be used. To the UN, we recommend that the
security sector reform review process consult the people of
Timor-Leste regarding priorities for our police and military
forces.
Once again, we ask Australia and New
Zealand to place their ISF soldiers under UN command.
Further, we encourage all actors in the security sector to
coordinate so that their programmes are compatible and
consistent.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we NGOs are
proud to contribute to reducing poverty, increasing
democracy and developing our nation. In this statement, we
have outlined some factors we believe are essential
achieving stable, equitable development in
Timor-Leste.
ends