The following memorandum is a document prepared by the Secretary-General listing
his expectations of Indonesia concerning security for the August 8 vote. It will not be
officially published by the U.N., but we understand that Indonesia's negotiators have
agreed to the points contained in the document.
Memorandum
The Secretary-General has been entrusted by the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal
to organize and conduct a popular consultation in East Timor by the 8th August 1999. He
wishes to share with the two Governments some elements that are usual requirements in
United Nations operations of this kind. While under the provisions of the Security
Agreement it is Indonesia's responsibility to ensure that a peaceful environment exists
for the holding of a free and fair ballot, the Secretary-General has been called upon to
ascertain that the necessary security situation exists for the peaceful implementation of
the consultation process.
Therefore, the Secretary-General wishes to convey to the two parties the main elements
that will need to be in place in order to enable him to determine that the necessary
security conditions exist for the start of the operational phases of the consultation
process:
1) as an urgent first step, the bringing of armed civilian groups under strict control
and discipline;
2) an immediate ban on rallies by armed groups while ensuring the freedom of all
political groups and tendencies, including both pro-integration elements and also the CNRT
and other pro-independence forces, to organize and conduct peaceful political activities;
3) the prompt arrest and prosecution of those who incite or threaten to use violence
against others. In this connection, it has been noted with concern that public threats
have already issued to the United Nations by certain individuals;
4) assumption by the Indonesian Police of sole responsibility for the maintenance of
law and order;
5) redeployment of Indonesian military forces:
6) free access to the mass media for the United Nations as well as both sides of the
political divide in East Timor;
7) full participation of the United Nations in the Commission on Peace and Stability,
which should provide a forum for all parties to address and resolve effectively issues
relating to compliance with the agreement during the consultative process and for
resolving disputes and frictions on the ground; and
8) the immediate institution of a process of laying down of arms by all armed groups,
to be completed well in advance of the holding of the ballot.
4 May 1999
Return to East Timor and the United Nations
