Timor-Leste people tell U.S. to close Guantanamo prison

During the last few weeks, people all over the world have been asking the United States Government to close the illegal prison it operates on a U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Although many detainees have been released, the U.S. still imprisons 166 human beings -- all men, all Muslim -- in Guantanamo, many for more than eleven years. None of them has been convicted in a judicial process, and their imprisonment violates U.S. and international law, as well as the fundamental principle of "innocent until proven guilty."

For more than fifty days, more than 100 of the prisoners have been on hunger strike. Many human rights activists are fasting in solidarity with them. Although starving themselves may be the only way the prisoners still have to express themselves, people outside Guantanamo's cells also have other means.

English

Tetum

In Timor-Leste, about 30 people wrote a letter to President Barack Obama to appeal that the prison be closed immediately, its inmates released and compensated for the severe violations to their human rights. They also demanded that people who committed crimes related to their illegal arrest, imprisonment and torture at Guantanamo be brought to justice.

They also wrote to Timor-Leste President Taur Matan Ruak and other public officials in Tetum, at right. This letter asks the Head of State to ask the United States, in Timor-Leste's name, to free all Guantanamo prisoners, close the prison because it violates human rights principles, and compensate the victims and ask their countries to welcome them back. Based on Timor-Leste's history, and its ratification of international human rights conventions, the signers hope that President Taur Matan Ruak will represent Timor-Leste's people's request to show solidarity with the Guantanamo prisoners.

When signers of the letter to President Obama delivered it to the U.S. embassy, the embassy respected their freedom of expression and an embassy official graciously accepted the letter and will forward it to the White House. Organizers had spoken with Ambassador Judith Fergin in advance, and she asked Timor-Leste's police to allow the peaceful protest, notwithstanding Timor-Leste's law which bans protests within 100 meters of government and embassy facilities.

Atauro Island, across the sea behind the demonstrators, was used by Portuguese and Indonesian occupiers of Timor-Leste as a political detention center.  Indonesia sent more than 6,000 Timorese people there, where they were often held for many years without charges, just as in Guantanamo. Today, everyone in Atauro is free, and the island is a farming/fishing community and an ecotourism resort.

Has TL become a problem child?

The lead editorial in the March 2013 Petroleum Economist is about Timor-Leste, entitled "Going for Broke." Although an annual subscription to the magazine is very expensive, you can download the complete editorial here or read it below.

The article discusses the failure of Timor-Leste's oil revenues to improve the lives of our people, observing that Timor-Leste, a former "poster child for developing nations" for petroleum management, now "better resembles a problem child."

La'o Hamutuk wrote the same warning one year ago, blogging that Timor-Leste is going for broke. We explained that current spending trends (which were not significantly altered in the 2013 state budget) could empty the Petroleum Fund even before Bayu-Undan is exhausted around 2024. Petroleum Economist is less tactful, urging Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão to "be pragmatic and focus on ensuring Sunrise is developed and the revenues are used to underwrite the sustainable, long-term development of Timor-Leste’s non-oil economy. If this does not come to pass, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Timor-Leste is a failed state-in-waiting."

People pay $2,160 per year to subscribe to this highly-respected, 80-year-old publication because they value the information it contains. We hope that such a credible, prestigious medium will help wake people up to the reality that petroleum wealth is often more of a curse than a blessing.

The complete text of Petroleum Economist's editorial follows.

TL’s wealth: for the past or for the future?

[Liga ba post ida ne'e iha lingua Tetum]

On 5 March 2013, the NGO Belun organized a workshop at Delta Nova, Dili, to launch Belun researcher Constantino Brandão’s report on the social impact of the administration process for veterans’ pensions, (Tetum or English). The event also included a panel discussion and a presentation from La’o Hamutuk researcher Juvinal Dias about the National Impact of Benefits for Former Combatants (PDF Tetum or English, PowerPoint Tetum or English).

La’o Hamutuk explained that 95% of state revenues, including those which pay for veterans’ pensions, come from unsustainable petroleum reserves. Timor-Leste’s limited oil and gas resources are not enough to finance state activities over the long term. When the state spends a lot on one sector, other sectors lose money.

The 2013 state budget appropriates $96 million for veterans’ pensions, which are escalating much faster than health or education expenditure.  Between 2008 and 2012, the Government spent about $199 million for pensions and scholarships for veterans, $24 million for emergency projects that veterans received, and $14 million for ceremonies, cemeteries and the Resistance Museum. In addition, veterans received more than 100 infrastructure projects worth around $78 million between 2010 and 2012.

According to an internal Finance Ministry document that La’o Hamutuk received, the Government expects to continue to pay veterans and their descendants until 2122. This document describes a reference case, which will spend $2.8 billion of Timor-Leste’s resources on veterans’ pensions. If the number of veterans increases and the minimum wage goes up, the Government could expend more than $7 billion for veterans. The Finance Ministry estimates that Timor-Leste’s total petroleum wealth is around $26 billion.

Today Timor-Leste confronts high inflation, around 11% during 2012. We have almost no domestic economy which can absorb state spending which circulates in the country.

In addition to inflation, Timor-Leste’s natural resources are very limited, and the Bayu-Undan and Kitan gas and oil fields will be empty in the next decade. In that decade our population will be larger, with the many children born after 1999 entering the labor force, and Timor-Leste will need to pay for state activities including physical and human development, public transfers, and repayment of debts which we began to incur last year.

Even more worrisome, during 2010-2012 state expenditures increased 31% per year, and our domestic revenues and return on Petroleum Fund investments remain small. If we continue in this direction, the Petroleum Fund will be empty by 2020. Without oil money, what will Timor-Leste use to pay veterans’ benefits? It would be better to invest in educating our children than to spend on former combatants.

La’o Hamutuk suggests that the policy for transferring public funds to veterans should be based on our nation’s economic reality, so that it will benefit our domestic economy rather than stimulating inflation and increasing the burden on poor people who are not among these beneficiaries.

TL nia riku soin: ba pasadu ka futuru?

[Link to this page in English]

Iha 5 Marsu 2013, NGO Belun organiza workshop ida iha Salaun Delta Nova, Dili, hodi lansa sira nia relatóriu peskiza kona-ba impaktu sosiál husi prosesu administrasaun pensaun ba veteranu sira, husi peskizadór Constantino Brandão husi Belun (English ka Tetun). Iha okaziaun ida ne’e, iha painél diskusaun no mós sesaun aprezentasaun hosi Juvinal Dias, peskizadór La’o Hamutuk kona-ba Impaktu Nasionál husi Benefísiu ba Antigu Kombatente sira (PDF Tetum ka English, Powerpoint Tetum ka English).
 
La’o Hamutuk aprezenta katak 95% hosi despeza estadu nian, inklui pensaun veteranu nian, mai hosi rekursu petrolíferu ida ne’ebé la sustentável. Timor-Leste nia rekursu rasik la barak atu bele finansia atividade estadu nian ba tempu naruk, nune’e bainhira estadu prioritiza setór ida, nune’e setór sira seluk lakon rekursu.

Iha tinan 2013, Governu aloka tokon $96 ba pensaun veteranu sira nian, gastu ida ne’e nia kreximentu lalais liu kompara ho despeza estadu nian ba setór edukasaun no saúde. Entre 2008 to’o 2012, maizumenus Governu aloka ona tokon $199 ba pensaun no bolsu estudu ba veteranu sira, tokon $24 ba projetu emerjénsia veteranu sira hetan, no tokon $14 ba seremonia, cemeterio no muzeu rezisténsia. Aleinde ida ne’e, entre 2010 to 2012, liu projetu infrastrutura atus ida ho nia valor maizumenus tokon $78 mak benefisia ona veteranu sira. 

Iha dokumentu internal hosi Ministériu Finansas nian ne’ebé La’o Hamutuk hetan, hatudu katak Governu halo hela projesaun atu selu veteranu sira no sira nia oan to’o tinan 2122. Dokumentu ne’e ilustra ho kazu referénsia ida katak Governu sei gastu biliaun $2.8 hosi total riku-soin Timor-Leste hodi selu pensaun ba veteranu sira. Nune’e bainhira númeru veteranu sira ne’e aumenta, no iha mudansa ba nivel saláriu mínimu nian, Governu sei gasta maizumenus biliaun $7 ka liu ba veteranu sira. Ministériu Finansas estimatiza katak Timor-Leste nia riku soin petróleu tomak maizumenus biliaun $26.

Situasaun ne’ebé Timor-Leste enfrenta mak, nivel inflasaun iha Timor-Leste sa’e maka’as, maizumenus 11% durante tinan 2012. Timor-Leste besik laiha kriasaun ekonomia rai-laran ida atu bele absorve gastu husi estadu ne’ebé sirkula iha rai-laran.

Aleinde inflasaun, Timor-Leste mós nia rekursu naturais limitadu tebe-tebes, iha dékada oin mai, ita nia kampu mina-rai Bayu-Undan no Kitan laiha ona. Iha dékada ida ne’e populasaun Timor-Leste mós aumenta, labarik sira ne’ebé foin moris hafoin 1999 sei tama ba kampu laboral, no Timor-Leste presiza rekursu atu finansia atividade estadu inklui selu ba dezenvolvimentu fíziku no umanu, transferénsia públiku inklui atu selu nia tusan ne’ebé ita hahú halo dezde 2012 liu ba.

Iha kazu ne’ebé ekstrimu liu mak, dezde 2010-2012 nivel despeza orsamentu estadu nian sa’e 31%/tinan, no ita nia reseita doméstiku no retornu investimentu Fundu Petrolíferu nafatin ki’ik. Situasaun ida ne’e mak karik la’o hela de’it, ita nia Fundu Petrolíferu sei maran iha 2020. Karik mina-rai maran tiha, saida mak Timor-Leste bele uza atu selu veteranu sira iha futuru? Di’ak liu atu investe atu eduka ita nia oan duke gasta ba antigu kombatante sira.

La’o Hamutuk sujere atu polítika transferénsia ba veteranu sira tenke bazeia ba situasaun ekonómiku rai laran, katak sei fó benefísiu ba ekonomia rai laran hodi la hamosu inflasaun ida ne’ebé boot hodi fó naha todan ba sira ne’ebé kiak no la’ós parte hosi benefisiariu sira.

Ad hoc committee proposes budget revisions

The closed ad-hoc Parliamentary Committee on the 2013 State Budget presented its proposals to Parliament on 14 February, as summarized in the table at left. Their total budget is $150 million smaller than the Government's December proposal, as shown in these revisions in the budget law (also Portuguese).  The most significant changes are:

1. Reduce the Contingency Fund by $8 million, although this potential saving is reallocated to other expenditure lines.

2. Reduce generator fuel expenditures by $17 million, reallocating $15 million of this to road maintenance.

3. Reduce appropriations to the Infrastructure Fund by $150 million (see table at right). The largest cuts are:

• Electricity (cutting $50 million from $174 million originally proposed by Government)
• MDG housing and sanitation (cutting $42 million from $88 million proposed)
• Roads (cutting $29 million from $116 million proposed)
• Public buildings (cutting $8 million from $29 million proposed).

4. Apply $261 million of the cash balance in the treasury (which stood at $819 million at the end of 2012, largely because of excessive transfers from the Petroleum Fund, as shown in the graph at left) instead of raising new revenue or additional transfers from the Petroleum Fund.

5. Reduce planned withdrawals from the Petroleum Fund during 2013 from $1,197.8 million to $787 million, the amount estimated as the sustainable income (ESI).

The budget revision also includes $43 million in additions and reductions to spending from the Consolidated Fund. Items greater than $0.5 million not listed above are as follows: 

Additions

• $3.0m for PDID (small local infrastructure projects)
• $2.0m for PNTL Medals and district petty cash
• $2.0m for CNE subsidies for political parties
• $1.5m for the Los Palos - Lore Road (via the Infrastructure Fund)
• $1.3m for Atsabe and Maliana churches
• $1.0m for Special Economic Zones (ZEE)
• $1.0m for Parliamentary cars
• $1.0m for cooperatives
• $1.0m for Dili District Prosecutor
• $0.9m for rehabilitating Suai Prison
• $0.8m for the new Timor-Leste Cooperation Agency (foreign aid)
• $0.7m to build Dili District Court
• $0.6m for Metinaro ossuary
• $0.5m for CPLP Economic Forum
• $0.5m to pay Singapore hospital bills

Reductions

• $21m in Infrastructure Fund cuts in other sectors (see table above)
• $9.4m of $18.8m reappropriated for unfinished PDD-1 projects
• $3.3m of $18m allocated for the Civil Society Fund under the P.M.
• $2.0m of $10m allocated for "Impact of Special Regimes" in the contingency fund
• $0.5m from Parliamentary travel

The deferral of $150 million in Infrastructure Fund projects will have a significant impact on the State Budget for 2014 and beyond, but Parliamentarians have not received information on how much, or on how much will have to be transferred from the Petroleum Fund from 2014 on.  The Tasi Mane project, which was untouched to show unity to Australia and the oil companies, will also have a huge impact on future budgets.

Update 19 February: Thanks to the efficiency of closed-door processes, the Parliamentary plenary approved the budget on 18 February, two days early, by unanimous vote.  The only amendments were those agreed by the ad hoc committee.

Konvite ba media briefing kona ba Tratadu CMATS

Ita boot bele hetan aprezentasaun husi briefing ida ne'e hanesan PowerPoint ka PDF. 
You can download an English translation of the presentation from this briefing as PowerPoint or PDF.

Loron 23 Fevreiru 2013 sei sai data inísiu ba Timor-Leste ka Australia atu halo notifikasaun hodi termina Tratadu CMATS (Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea/Aranjamentu Maritima balu iha Tasi Timor) hafoin tratadu ne’e vigora dezde 2007.  Ita boot bele hetan informasaun baziku iha ne’e iha Tetum no English, ka iha ne'e ho detallu liu.

Durante ne’e iha kobertura barak hosi media kona-ba asuntu CMATS ne’e, no La’o Hamutuk hakarak atu apoiu jornalista sira hodi hatene liu tan informasaun kona-ba vantajen no dezvantajen karik Timor-Leste termina Tratadu CMATS. Nune’e ami hakarak konvida ita-boot sira husi Media ne’ebé interese atu komprende asuntu ne’e atu bele mai tuir briefing no diskusaun ne’ebé sei realiza iha:
Loron    Kinta-Feira,  21 Fevreiru 2013
Fatin     La’o Hamutuk, Rua dos Martires da Patria, Bebora, Dili, Timor-Leste
Horas   Tuku 14.00 to 16.45

Bele konfirma ita-boot sira nia partisipasaun ba +670 7734-8703 ka juvinal@laohamutuk.org.

La'o Hamutuk sei organiza enkontru ida tan ba públiku kona ba tópiku CMATS no fronteira maritima iha semana ida ka rua. Bainhira ami konfirma data no fatin, ami sei fahe informasaun klaru.

Secret committee weakens transparency

[Liga ba blog ida ne'e iha lingua Tetum]

On February 6, 2013, Timor-Leste’s Parliament gave general approval to the 2013 State Budget. Forty MPs from the Coalition voted in favor, and 25 from Fretilin abstained.

On the first day of detailed discussion, Parliament decided to establish an “Ad Hoc Committee to Collect and Analyze Proposed Consensus Amendments to the Proposed State Budget.” This Committee includes the President and Vice Presidents of Parliament, six MPs from FRETILIN, one representative of each of the three parties in the Coalition and the Presidents of every standing committee.

The ad hoc Committee will compile and discuss proposed amendments, presenting those which receive consensus for approval by the plenary without substantive debate. The Committee will work for three days, and is closed to the public. Journalists and civil society organizations are not allowed to observe, and the only participants are Government ministers, experts and advisors.

La’o Hamutuk thinks that although this Committee gives more space and legislative power to the opposition to contribute than in the previous Parliament, the lack of public access it weakens Timor-Leste’s budget process transparency.

Up to now, La’o Hamutuk has been proud that Timor-Leste, especially Parliament, has become a model of budget transparency for other countries. Our Parliamentary budget debates are very open, with live radio and television coverage, and civil society groups like La’o Hamutuk are allowed to participate in Committee discussions. However, the secret meetings of this ad hoc Committee make us afraid and sad, as this reduces Timor-Leste’s transparency in the eyes of the world.

The just-released 2012 Open Budget Survey measures transparency in the state budget process of many nations, and rated Timor-Leste at 36 out of 100, slightly better than our score of 34 in 2010. Although it’s a little improved, Timor-Leste’s score is still lower than Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. We’re somewhat better than Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, which shows that Timor-Leste gives a bit more information to the public. A non-transparent budget process weakens democracy, because citizen participation in the decision-making process is limited. In addition, less transparency makes it easier for leaders to divert state resources to a special interest group or individual, or to corruption, preventing the public from receiving state benefits and condemning them to poverty.

For more information about the 2013 State Budget, link to La’o Hamutuk’s website.