SC – Debate on Timor Leste - Ambassador Mayr-Harting
Statement by Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations
New York, 23 October 2009
I would like to join my colleagues in welcoming Deputy Prime Minister Guterres and thanking him for his important statement. I would further wish to thank SRSG Khare for his extremely useful briefing. Austria aligns herself with the statement to be delivered by the Representative of Sweden on behalf of the EU later today.
Let me make the following specific points: We were encouraged by the climate of calm that prevailed during the celebrations on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 1999 referendum. At the same time, we would like to seize this opportunity to remember those, including members of the UN mission, who lost their lives at the time.
We salute the fact that the return and resettlement process of internally displaced persons has nearly been completed. We also wish to congratulate the Government of Timor-Leste on the successful conduct of the recent elections at the community level.
We welcome the efforts to promote inclusive dialogue and national reconciliation. For these endeavours to be successful, some of the root causes of the 2006 crisis still need to be fully tackled. Timor Leste continues to face important challenges in reducing poverty and creating new employment opportunities. The Government of Timor Leste therefore rightly stresses that there is an increasing need to move from conflict prevention to a comprehensive development agenda. UNMIT can play a key role in this evolution. SRSG Khare has already drawn the attention of the Council to the important contribution provided by the European Union and its member states.
We support the authorities of Timor-Leste in their endeavours to build strong institutions that can fight impunity for grave violations of human rights. As the Secretary-General reminded us, further, albeit as yet imcomplete, progress has been made holding accountable those responsible for criminal acts and human rights violations during the 2006 crisis. In this regard, we welcome the recommendations made by UNMIT, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, to strengthen accountability for human rights violations and hope for their rapid implementation.
It is important that the National Police of Timor Leste is making progress in resuming its primary policing responsibilities, including through the Police Training Academy. We also welcome the swearing-in, last week, of international prosecutors and clerks who can support the judiciary of Timor-Leste.
The successful re-establishment of a functioning rule of law system is crucial for achieving long term stability. This requires the continued review and reform of the security sector at all levels. This also calls for the strengthening of the police and the judiciary, the adoption of relevant legislation, such as the new penal code, and a clear division of responsibilities and competencies between the police and the military. In our view the military could, for instance, place a greater emphasis on areas such as disaster relief and international peacekeeping. These are categories of action where the armed forces of smaller and medium-sized countries might be able to provide appropriate training and advice.
Since this is the last time that Mr. Khare briefs the Council in his capacity as Special Representative, I would, in closing, like to join others in thanking him for his important contribution to the peace process over the last three years. We have seen significant changes in Timor Leste since 2006, and this also due to the work of UNMIT under Mr. Khare’s leadership.
The benchmarks UNMIT has established will continue to provide us with an excellent strategic framework to assess progress in the four priority areas, and this will in turn facilitate the review as well as possible future adjustments to UNMIT’s mandate.
