S/PV.4244 Security Council

The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in the course of its prior consultations. Following consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council. “The Security Council welcomes the report of the Security Council Mission to East Timor and Indonesia (S/2000/1105) of 21 November 2000, and endorses the recommendations that it contains. It notes in particular the view of the Mission that a strong international presence will be required in East Timor after independence, inter alia for the provision of financial, technical and security assistance, and agrees that planning for such a presence should begin as soon as possible. It requests the Secretary-General to report on this matter in his next regular report to the Security Council. “The Security Council pays tribute to the work of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). It welcomes in particular the creation of the National Council in East Timor, and stresses the importance of further work on the transition to independence, including a timetable and mechanisms for a constitution and elections. It stresses that urgent consideration should be given to expediting the training of the Timor Lorosae Police Service and to attracting sufficient resources to develop the judicial system. It notes the views of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the need to use assessed funding more flexibly. “The Security Council emphasizes that urgent action is necessary to resolve the problem of the East Timorese refugees in West Timor. While acknowledging the efforts of the Government of Indonesia so far, the Council expresses its belief that a number of further steps must be taken, including: “(i) decisive action to disarm and disband the militia and put an end to their activities, including by the separation of militia leaders from the refugees in West Timor and the expeditious prosecution of those responsible for criminal acts. The Council welcomes the steps already taken by the Government of Indonesia and urges it to make further progress on eradicating intimidation in the camps; “(ii) action to allow the international relief agencies to return to West Timor, which will in turn require that the security of their staff be guaranteed. The Council looks forward in this context to discussions between the Government of Indonesia and the United Nations on arrangements to facilitate an expert assessment of the security situation in West Timor. This should be in accordance with the usual modalities employed by the Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator; “(iii) action to improve the flow of information to the refugees. The Council urges the Government of Indonesia, UNTAET and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to work together to develop an information strategy that will allow the refugees to make an informed decision about their future; “(iv) a credible, apolitical and internationally observed registration of the refugees, carried out in close cooperation with United Nations agencies and other relevant actors. “The Security Council emphasizes the need for measures to address shortcomings in the implementation of justice in East Timor. The Council welcomes the adoption of Indonesian legislation for the establishment of ad hoc human rights tribunals. It also underlines the need to bring to justice those responsible for violent attacks in East and West Timor, including attacks on United Nations personnel and in particular the murder of three humanitarian workers and two United Nations peacekeepers. It regrets that those responsible for the murder of the peacekeepers have not been arrested, and calls for action in this regard and for an early start to the trials of those accused of killing the humanitarian workers. “The Security Council highlights the importance of the bilateral relationship between UNTAET and the Government of Indonesia. The Council underlines the need to resolve the outstanding issues of payment of pensions to former civil servants and the proposed transit arrangements between the Oecussi enclave and the remainder of East Timor. It encourages in this regard further progress in the dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and UNTAET. “The Security Council will remain actively seized of the matter.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2000/39. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.