Wednesday, August 1, 2012
ETAN, Groups Respond to Mystery List of Papua Supporters
A list is currently circulating on the internet which purports to list international supporters of the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdek) in West Papua. A number of the organizations on the list - including ETAN - recently issued a statement.
The list seems to confuse support for the rights of the people of West Papua with support for a particular West Papuan organization, the OPM. Our organizations work on issues and do not take sides among local organizations. We do this out of respect for the right of the Papuan people to organize themselves.
Lists like these seek to blame others for problems created by the Indonesian government’s and security forces' own policies and actions.
see full statement here: http://etan.org/news/2012/07papua.htm
ETAN Observers Report on 2012 Timor Parliamentary election
Links to reports and observations from ETAN's volunteer election observers during Timor-Leste's 2012 parliamentary election.
ETAN Observes with Fundasuan Mahein
ETAN Observes Voting Day in Liquiça
ETAN: Election Observers on the Move
ETAN volunteers assisted the electoral work of local NGOs: La’o Hamutuk, Fundasaun Mahein (monitoring, research and advocacy on the security sector) and Asosiasaun HAK (Association for Law, Human Rights, Justice). Below are the observations and personal reflections of the ETAN volunteers.
ETAN Observes with Fundasuan Mahein
ETAN Observes Voting Day in Liquiça
ETAN: Election Observers on the Move
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
APSOC statement on recent events in Timor-Leste
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[Like others, ETAN is watching the post-election government formation process in Timor-Leste with great interest. We will have more to say for ourselves shortly. In the meantime, here is a statement from our colleagues in APSOC, GPPAC-SEA and IID. More on the recent election from ETAN volunteers can be found here.)
STATEMENT OF CONCERN ON TIMOR-LESTE POST-ELECTIONS EVENTS
We are deeply saddened by the turn of events in our beloved Timor-Leste.After observing a rather peaceful and awe-inspiring parliamentary elections last week, we left the country with the firm belief that indeed the brave but gentle Timorese people have shown the world that democracy is alive and well in their young nation. We went home rejuvenated by the Timorese people's commitment to the sacredness of the electoral process, humbled by their discipline in exercising this fundamental right and awed by the congeniality of the political rivals among themselves during the entire electoral exercise.
We even wished and hoped that other peoples and older nations in the region --including ours-- can learn, nay, copy, how the Timorese people conduct their elections.
We issued a glowing report about this humbling and seminal experience.
One death is too many and we urge all political parties to rein in their followers and accept the election results with equanimity and humility.But following the announcement of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of his party's decision to form a coalition government with two other parties, we are very disheartened to learn about the violence that has erupted in the capital Dili and in some districts like Viqueque. We have received reports of the mayhem having been initiated by disgruntled young followers of one party that was not invited into the coalition, spurred by their party's exclusion and alleged "insults" that was publicly broadcast against them by some members of the ascendant party. We have also learned of some alleged high-handed response of some security authorities to what was perceived as an initial emotional outburst to the alleged "insults" and announcement. As of this writing, we have learned of one death, scores of injuries inflicted on all sides and at least 50 vehicles burned.
Democracy can only thrive with strong checks and balances. But these must be done within the parameters of the law and even in the parliament of the streets if need be, but sans any form of violence.One death is too many and we urge all political parties to rein in their followers and accept the election results with equanimity and humility. We also urge for calm and for the decibel of political rhetoric to be restrained if not muted at this crucial period. If there are major questionable issues about the exercise, we urge that the parties resort to peaceful and legal processes that they have anyway collectively established themselves. We however also call that those responsible for the violence- whether they come from any party or from the authorities, be meted with the full force of the law. This, as we call on all parties to endeavor to work in a framework for the common good, in harmony and complementation, while in partnership or in opposition.
Democracy can only thrive with strong checks and balances. But these must be done within the parameters of the law and even in the parliament of the streets if need be, but sans any form of violence.
We call on all our Timorese brothers and sisters, on civil society, to guard your democracy with vigilance, persistence and resolve. It is ultimately you, the people, who will make your democracy work. You deserve no less.
We call on the international community and in particular the solidarity movement, to offer what it can to accompany the people of Timor Leste in their tedious path to democracy, peace and progress.
We pray that Timor Leste emerge from this momentary hump a stronger and prouder nation.
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE PREVENTION OF ARMED CONFLICT -SOUTHEAST ASIA (GPPAC-SEA)
ASIA-PACIFIC SOLIDARITY COALITION (APSOC)
INITIATIVES FOR INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE (IID)
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Monday, July 9, 2012
ETAN Observes Voting Day in Liquiça
Read full post here
As was explained to us in our STAE training for observers, the voting booths are positioned differently for this election. In previous elections, the voter’s back was to the wall of the room, and s/he was hidden from view by the booth. This time, the booths’ position is reversed – the voter’s back faces the middle of the room, and we can observe the voter’s back as s/he votes. This is to help prevent a number of fraud possibilities: leaving anything in the voting booth that could offer direction to other voters; marking anything on the wall of the booth; photographing or phoning within the booth.
From my observer post in this seaside suco, the voting was free, fair and transparent. No campaign propaganda was evident. Neither Timorese nor UN police appeared in any way intimidating, but played their proper role of being unobtrusively watchful at an appropriate distance from the polling place. Staff were courteous and helpful, but did not intrude. Voters had the necessary privacy for a secret ballot. The integrity of the process – from polling place set-up, to voting, to close of voting, to counting, to transfer of the counted ballots to the District Tabulation Center -- was rigorously maintained and documented.
Liquiça District, Maubara, Suco Viviquinia, July 8 - It is hard to believe that Election Day has come and gone.
by Elice Higginbotham
In this northern coastal suco, west of Dili, Saturday, July 7, parliamentary voting began at 6:00 a.m. in the local public school. STAE staff in bright pink polo shirts and baseball caps set up the polling places in two classrooms. Boxes of sensitive (pads of ballots and voter registration records) and non-sensitive (office supplies) materials were unpacked; corrugated cardboard voting booths were set up in a row at one end of the room. Tables for the staff, who are checking identification, crossing voter’s name off the registration list, and handing out the ballots were set up along one wall. The ballot box itself, followed by a table where each voter dips his right index finger into indelible ink after voting, along with staff for each, were placed at the opposite side. Along the final wall were ranged the chairs for fiscais (accredited observers from each party and coalition on the ballot) and national and international observers. The presiding officer displays the uncovered ballot box, showing it to be empty, then places the slotted cover on top, and fastens it to the box with numbered seals, reading each seal number aloud as fiscais and observers take notes.
by Elice Higginbotham
In this northern coastal suco, west of Dili, Saturday, July 7, parliamentary voting began at 6:00 a.m. in the local public school. STAE staff in bright pink polo shirts and baseball caps set up the polling places in two classrooms. Boxes of sensitive (pads of ballots and voter registration records) and non-sensitive (office supplies) materials were unpacked; corrugated cardboard voting booths were set up in a row at one end of the room. Tables for the staff, who are checking identification, crossing voter’s name off the registration list, and handing out the ballots were set up along one wall. The ballot box itself, followed by a table where each voter dips his right index finger into indelible ink after voting, along with staff for each, were placed at the opposite side. Along the final wall were ranged the chairs for fiscais (accredited observers from each party and coalition on the ballot) and national and international observers. The presiding officer displays the uncovered ballot box, showing it to be empty, then places the slotted cover on top, and fastens it to the box with numbered seals, reading each seal number aloud as fiscais and observers take notes.
Compared to the crowd and noise that often characterize my New York City polling place, the voting takes place in what seems to me like a very quiet, calm atmosphere. |
I arrive with a co-worker from La’o Hamutuk. This is her home suco and her polling place, where she and the other Timorese observers and STAE staff cast the first votes of the day, so they’ll then be free to concentrate on their jobs for the rest of the long electoral workday. At 7:05, as my notes show, the local observers and STAE staff are in line to receive and cast their ballots; by 7:15, the queue controller lets in the first voters who have been standing in long lines outside the classroom door.
The first time I observed at a polling place in Timor-Leste, I worried because it seemed to me that the process of ID checking and marking the voter’s name off the registration list presented the first opportunity for potential cheating – if there’s a crowd around the table with the registration lists, wouldn’t it be possible for someone to slip quickly past the crowd and pick up a ballot without being checked first for valid ID and registration? More careful observation on my part, however, showed that this is the responsibility of the queue controller: s/he limits the number of voters who enter the room at any given time. Anyone standing at the ID/registration check table is clearly seen being served by staff before picking up a ballot.
Compared to the crowd and noise that often characterize my New York City polling place, the voting takes place in what seems to me like a very quiet, calm atmosphere. The voters waiting outside in line are, also quiet, anything but unruly or impatient. Pregnant women and people accompanied by small children are given first priority, ushered politely to the front of the line by the queue controller, as are persons with disabilities. I notice a number of older women who look very dressed up in their traditional colorful kebaya blouses. They, too, receive special courtesy by the polling place staff.
The first time I observed at a polling place in Timor-Leste, I worried because it seemed to me that the process of ID checking and marking the voter’s name off the registration list presented the first opportunity for potential cheating – if there’s a crowd around the table with the registration lists, wouldn’t it be possible for someone to slip quickly past the crowd and pick up a ballot without being checked first for valid ID and registration? More careful observation on my part, however, showed that this is the responsibility of the queue controller: s/he limits the number of voters who enter the room at any given time. Anyone standing at the ID/registration check table is clearly seen being served by staff before picking up a ballot.
Compared to the crowd and noise that often characterize my New York City polling place, the voting takes place in what seems to me like a very quiet, calm atmosphere. The voters waiting outside in line are, also quiet, anything but unruly or impatient. Pregnant women and people accompanied by small children are given first priority, ushered politely to the front of the line by the queue controller, as are persons with disabilities. I notice a number of older women who look very dressed up in their traditional colorful kebaya blouses. They, too, receive special courtesy by the polling place staff.
As was explained to us in our STAE training for observers, the voting booths are positioned differently for this election. In previous elections, the voter’s back was to the wall of the room, and s/he was hidden from view by the booth. This time, the booths’ position is reversed – the voter’s back faces the middle of the room, and we can observe the voter’s back as s/he votes. This is to help prevent a number of fraud possibilities: leaving anything in the voting booth that could offer direction to other voters; marking anything on the wall of the booth; photographing or phoning within the booth.
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| Counting votes at Colmera in Dili on Saturday afternoon (Photo: Simon Roughneen) |
My own worry is about the size and cumbersomeness of the very large ballot, with 21 parties and coalitions listed, each with names, flags and symbols. Is it possible for a voter to find her/his selection, mark it by pen or pencil or (more commonly) by nail-punch (a nail on a string hangs in each booth) without holding it up where some watcher could see the voter’s selection? If voters folds the long ballot to keep as much of it as possible hidden in front of them while voting, what are the chances that the nail may actually perforate two layers of paper, thus invalidating the ballot? These worries do not seem to become actual problems. I can see no one’s selection as I watch her/him voting from my observer’s seat at the opposite end of the room; and the small percentage of invalid, or “spoiled,” ballots seems to indicate that most voters are perfectly able to mark their choice without confusion.
From my observer post in this seaside suco, the voting was free, fair and transparent. No campaign propaganda was evident. Neither Timorese nor UN police appeared in any way intimidating, but played their proper role of being unobtrusively watchful at an appropriate distance from the polling place. Staff were courteous and helpful, but did not intrude. Voters had the necessary privacy for a secret ballot. The integrity of the process – from polling place set-up, to voting, to close of voting, to counting, to transfer of the counted ballots to the District Tabulation Center -- was rigorously maintained and documented.
Read full report here
SUMMARY The West Papua Advocacy Team gives its annual John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award to Anne Noonan and Joe Collins and the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney). Detachment 88 forces gunned down leading Papuan activist Mako Tabuni in what witness describe as an extrajudicial killing. Tabuni was a key official of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), an organization pressing for a referendum on West Papua's status. Indonesia's security forces and Detachment 88, a purportedly anti-terror unit supported by the U.S. and Australian governments, are ratcheting up pressure on KNPB and other Papuan groups at a time of growing tension in the territory. That tension derives in part from an early June assault on the village of Honai Lama by Indonesian military personnel which led to the death of at least one Papuan civilian, the beating of others, and destruction of villagers' homes. The Asian Legal Resource Center warned the UN Human Rights Council of "escalating violence" in West Papua and the failure of Indonesian authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this violence. WPAT urges the U.S. government to suspend support for Detachment 88. WPAT also endorses a Human Right Watch call for the Indonesian government to admit the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.
SUMMARY The West Papua Advocacy Team gives its annual John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award to Anne Noonan and Joe Collins and the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney). Detachment 88 forces gunned down leading Papuan activist Mako Tabuni in what witness describe as an extrajudicial killing. Tabuni was a key official of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), an organization pressing for a referendum on West Papua's status. Indonesia's security forces and Detachment 88, a purportedly anti-terror unit supported by the U.S. and Australian governments, are ratcheting up pressure on KNPB and other Papuan groups at a time of growing tension in the territory. That tension derives in part from an early June assault on the village of Honai Lama by Indonesian military personnel which led to the death of at least one Papuan civilian, the beating of others, and destruction of villagers' homes. The Asian Legal Resource Center warned the UN Human Rights Council of "escalating violence" in West Papua and the failure of Indonesian authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this violence. WPAT urges the U.S. government to suspend support for Detachment 88. WPAT also endorses a Human Right Watch call for the Indonesian government to admit the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.
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| Mako Tabuni. West Papua Media Alerts. |
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