Youth-led initiatives promoting digital literacy
Originally published on Global Voices
Youth digital education training in DIli, Timor-Leste. Source: Facebook page of JPF podcast
This article was written by Juvita Pereira Faria as part of EngageMedia’s Youth Advocacy and Communications for Internet Freedom project. It was originally published by EngageMedia, a non-profit media, technology, and culture organization, and an edited version is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
While 50 percent of Timor-Leste's population is aged 15–25, the country suffers from underdeveloped digital infrastructure, and the public is highly vulnerable to attacks against human and digital rights, such as threats to their digital security, online harassment, and mis- and disinformation. The country’s internet infrastructure is also behind its regional counterparts; national internet speeds are significantly lower than average, and the cost to connect online is much higher compared to the rest of Southeast Asia. In general, many social media users in the country face challenges in navigating the internet with an effective, positive, and educative approach. Many individuals post on private accounts that are not safe and consequently insecure.
Timor-Leste’s youth thus plays an important role in the emerging digital era, especially on social media. This article examines the role of young people as digital rights advocates for all generations. Young people can be champions of digital literacy and education, through which more awareness can be raised about the importance of personal privacy, access to reliable information, and protection of the press and freedom of expression, as stated clearly in the article 40 in Timor-Leste National Constitution.
Threats to freedom of expression online
Although there is press freedom in Timor-Leste, internet users still struggle with internet connectivity and lack political willingness to protect and promote digital rights within the country. Recent legal mechanisms, such as the reinstation of criminal defamation in the Penal Code in 2020 and the 2021 draft Cybercrime Law, also pose limits to freedom of expression online and threaten democratic discourse.
Today, young Timorese youth often critically share their opinion on social media and argue specific issues such as political participation, youth unemployment, and economic development; however, they, in return, are immediately threatened and captured with no legal basis.
In 2023, a young female activist named Variana was arrested by the national police for posting critical comments online against top leaders in the country. She was released afterward with no penalty during the investigation process. Variana’s post was considered a common critical argument on social media, which meant she should have been protected by the freedom of expression clause in the Constitution.
Variana’s case is not uncommon. In the country’s 2022 Universal Periodic Review, the United Nations Human Rights Council enumerated similar human and digital rights violations in the country, among which were threats to freedom of expression and association. While the recommendation focuses on the rights of media, all citizens — especially the vocal youth — should be afforded the same rights.
The author leads a digital literacy workshop for students as part of their JPF Podcast initiative. Source: EngageMedia, used with permission
Calls to prioritize digital literacy and awareness among youth
It is important indeed to help the young population understand and take advantage of the internet to promote freedom of expression, protect cyber security, and foster digital inclusivity. Providing access to information and resources on digital rights ensures that marginalized communities, including women, children, and rural populations, are not left behind in the digital evolution.
One such youth-led project is JPF Podcast, in which this article’s author is involved. The podcast and its related activities, which started in February 2023, aim to increase awareness among the Timor-Leste youth about emerging technology in the region through digital training, a public colloquium, and an online podcast talk show. The initiative’s first event was held on September 30, 2023, with the theme “Digital Rights: Opportunity and Challenges of young people in navigating social media in Timor-Leste.” The event aimed to equip young people with the necessary knowledge and skills that will facilitate and enable them to make informed decisions and navigate the digital landscape with confidence and resilience.
Another initiative is the Youth Accelerator Lab, which is funded by UNDP and aims to promote young people’s capacities to navigate through digital and technological space (UNDP, 222). This digital initiative explores a skills-based approach for young people to be able to operate the online world for educative purposes.
Digital rights education is essential in Timor-Leste to empower individuals to protect their privacy, promote freedom of expression, foster digital inclusion, and more. May more youth initiatives like these come to fruition and continue to prosper.
*Juvita is a youth activist passionate about women’s empowerment and gender equality. She formed the Youth Leadership Development Program Timor-Leste, a youth group providing free leadership training to both young men and women. She currently hosts a podcast and spearheads other efforts around digital literacy education among Timor-Leste youth.
]]>Seven groups are monitoring press freedom cases in six countries
Originally published on Global Voices
Screenshot of the monitoring platform
Seven Southeast Asian media organizations have launched pfmsea.org, a joint platform to monitor press freedom across the region.
The organizations are Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Association of Timor Leste Journalists, Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, Center for Independent Journalism in Malaysia, Merdeka Media Movement in Malaysia, National Union of Journalists Philippines, and Prachatai in Thailand.
Launched on May 29, 2023, the website shares real-time data on cases of violence against journalists and the media, as well as qualitative reports on the situation of press freedom in six countries, joint press releases, and a mechanism that allows the public to report cases of violence against the media.
Through email, Global Voices interviewed AJI Secretary-General Ika Ningtyas about the new initiative. She shared how regional media groups coordinated in launching the platform.
Most of us have been working together for quite a long time, belonging to regional organizations that unfortunately did not last long enough. But we understand the urgency of the need to build a new one as press freedom is increasingly threatened in most countries in Southeast Asia. Finally, since last year, we had quite intense discussions for a year to rebuild the collaboration with a new approach.
She explained what promoted the groups to launch a platform. She hopes the network will be easy to maintain.
We discussed how to do it simply and at a low cost. Our current strategy is not to establish a permanent organization like before. Instead, this collaboration is more flexible. We chose one organization in turn as the facilitator responsible for facilitating each meeting, managing finances, and other administration. In this first year, AJI was chosen as the collaboration facilitator.
Then we discussed about the work program, several ideas emerged, one of which was to create a joint press freedom monitoring platform. We thought it was important to have data available in real-time that shows the safety of journalists and media organizations in Southeast Asia.
Asked about how the monitoring data will be used to promote press freedom, she discussed the campaign strategy of the network.
The promotion of press freedom requires reliable data. Data that is available in real-time can show the real situation, about the mode, perpetrators, types of threats and see how the trend is from year to year, whether it is improving or worsening. From the data, we or each organization can determine what intervention actions should be taken, what the advocacy strategy is, and how to do it. Through this monitoring data, we can campaign together more broadly about the security situation of journalists in Southeast Asia because we found some similar trends used by governments such as the increase in digital attacks, the use of disinformation regulations to target journalists, and others.
In 2022, their groups monitored 185 press freedom violations across the region. This year, they have recorded 73 cases. About 60 percent of the cases this year involved physical attacks targeting the media, while 23 percent were related to digital attacks. About 36.5 percent of the cases were perpetrated by state actors. Some of the major issues they noted include the forced closure of independent media outlets in Cambodia, the enforcement of repressive media laws in Indonesia, and the vilification of journalists in the Philippines.
Finally, Ika Ningtyas identified some of the challenges in developing the monitoring platform.
The initial challenge was how to set a common standard for indicators, working mechanisms, and report formats. Because we found that several organizations that monitor press freedom have different indicators. Then we agreed to use internationally accepted standards, namely according to Sustainable Development Goals number 16.10.1 where the safety of journalists is one of the indicators. By using this SDG's indicator, it will be easier if each organization prepares a shadow report related to the SDG's on the safety aspect of journalists.
Secondly, of the six organizations that have joined, only three regularly monitor cases. But our members in Timor Leste, Malaysia and Thailand are not very intense in monitoring, because they don't have special resources. So the challenge is how to provide support especially to organizations that don't have resources and strengthen those that do. Because monitoring is not just inputting data, but a long process such as receiving reports, verifying each case that occurs, writing reports and analyzing them.
The network is planning to expand the coverage of the project by seeking potential partners in Myanmar and Vietnam.
]]>Pressured by media workers, Chinese officials relented and allowed local journalists to raise “impromptu questions”
Originally published on Global Voices
Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta (left) and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) during a press briefing. Photo from the Facebook page of Ramos-Horta
Local journalists challenged restrictions and asserted their right to question China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a press briefing held during Wang's visit to Timor-Leste on June 4.
Timor-Leste was the last stop for Wang, whose 10-day Pacific tour took him to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea. He signed various agreements signifying China’s intention to deepen its cooperation with Pacific nations. Before the tour, a leaked document had revealed China’s plan to form a security pact in the Pacific region which drew intense reactions from countries such as Australia and the United States. China has denied that it is interested in building military facilities in the Pacific and accused its rivals of making false claims.
Wang ended his tour without signing any security deal, although his visit became a major political event, aside from boosting China’s diplomatic initiatives in the region.
In Timor-Leste, Wang signed agreements on agriculture, media partnerships and economic and technical cooperation. China also agreed to send medical teams to Timor-Leste but failed to convince the Timorese government to sign a security partnership. An excerpt from a statement released by China’s government highlighted Wang itinerary in Timor-Leste:
During the visit, Wang Yi met with Timor-Leste's Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, held talks with Timor-Leste's Foreign Minister Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, and attended the signing ceremony of cooperation documents.
After the meeting, Wang Yi, accompanied by [President] Ramos-Horta, met the press and answered impromptu questions.
But the “impromptu questions” only happened because local journalists challenged their government to remove news coverage restrictions that had been imposed ahead of Wang's visit.
A few days before the arrival of Wang Yi, local journalists were told that they would not be allowed to ask questions during the press briefing, a move protested by local media groups.
Timor journalists protest government’s agreemt to #Chinese demands no questions be allowed of Foreign Minister when he visits #TimorLeste this week.
“No statements will be allowed to the media, or interviews.” It was the Chinese delegation that demanded this,” TL Foreign Ministry pic.twitter.com/uuwNv4xuS1— Peter Cronau (@PeterCronau) June 2, 2022
Media workers asked newly elected President José Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, to uphold media freedom by allowing local journalists to fulfill their job without any restrictions. After the intervention of Ramos-Horta, the Chinese delegation relented and allowed journalists to field questions addressed to Wang Yi.
Victory for #PressFreedom !
Chinese Foreign Minister gives in to protest on Timorese journalists’ questions ban.#TimorLeste journalists celebrated their press freedom after #Chinese Foreign Minister agreed to talk to them after a meeting with their Presidente Jose Ramos Horta. pic.twitter.com/3hT03spUIl— Peter Cronau (@PeterCronau) June 4, 2022
In other Pacific nations visited earlier by Wang, local journalists were prevented from questioning the Chinese official. In the Solomon Islands, the local media group called for a boycott of the visit. No press event was held in Kiribati, Samoa, or Fiji. Regional and global media watchdogs have assailed Chinese authorities and Pacific governments for blocking the efforts of journalists to seek more information during Wang Yi’s historic visit in the region.
Writing for the Asia-Pacific Report, David Robie pointed out the significance of what Timor-Leste journalists achieved:
]]>Timor-Leste, the youngest independent nation and the most fledgling press in the Asia-Pacific, has finally shown how it’s done — with a big lesson for Pacific island neighbours.
Tackle the Chinese media gatekeepers and creeping authoritarianism threatening journalism in the region at the top.
The Nobel Prize winner defeated current president Lu Olo
Originally published on Global Voices
José Ramos-Horta – ©European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
As Timor-Leste celebrates its 20th independence anniversary, former president and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate José Ramos-Horta has been announced as the new president-elect in the Asian country of 1.3 million inhabitants.
Ramos-Horta, an important figure in Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesian occupation, received 62 percent of the votes, securing a victory over current president Francisco “Lu-Olo’” Guterres, who received 38 percent in the second round of elections on April 19.
#UPDATE Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta secured 397,145 votes, or 62.09 percent, in East Timor's presidential election, against incumbent Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres’ 242,440, or 37.91 percent https://t.co/E5DAKb4UNL
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 20, 2022
This year's election was the biggest one in the country’s history, with 16 candidates running for the presidential seat.
Counting time now in
Presidential election run-off. A very methodical and transparent process in which each ballot is called out and shown to observers and the public. #Timor-Leste pic.twitter.com/xBf7ZZstTT
— Bill Costello (@AusAmbDili) April 19, 2022
Timor-Leste is a semi-presidential Republic. It runs under a multiparty system with the prime minister as head of government and the president as the head of state.
Ramos-Horta was supported by CNRT (National Congress of Timor’s Reconstruction), a center-left party, and also had as an ally another important figure in Timor’s recent past, Xanana Gusmão, the CNRT founder who served as the first president after independence and also served as prime minister.
Both of them played key roles in the youngest Asian country's history, emerging as major players during Timor-Leste's fight for independence, and are still active actors in the Timorese political scene.
According to the RFI news agency, Ramos-Horta made a pledge to solve the political turmoil that has lasted for a few years now, with a face-off between CNRT and Fretilin (Timor-Leste’s Revolutionary Front), a party that supported Guterres’ candidacy.
After the results were confirmed, Ramos-Horta suggested Lu Olo may have suffered a political hit by being associated with the current government and “beyond that, facts such as violation of powers in the terms of the Constitution.” He also added the economic struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath as another factor influencing the ballot results.
Despite being one of Asia Pacific's major success stories in COVID-19 mitigation, the pandemic has sharpened political infighting in Timor-Leste. Multiple states of emergency have been declared since mid-2020.
Commercial flights were limited to humanitarian purposes and at the beginning of the pandemic, land borders between Timor-Leste and Indonesia's West Timor were opened once every 17 days and capped at 200 border crossings each time. On both sides of the frontiers, borderland populations rely on cross-border mobility to earn their living. According to BBC news service Indonesia, 40 percent of Timor-Leste's population live in poverty.
Some hope the election will be the key to ending political in-fighting as well as economic recovery for the nation.
Struggle and independence
Timor-Leste became an independent nation recognized by the UN only in 2002. The country was colonized by Portugal in the 1500s and invaded by Indonesia in 1975 in a campaign known as “Operasi Seroja.”
This was conducted under the guise of anti-communist, anti-colonialism with the support of the U.S. government. It was then annexed into the Indonesian archipelago until its independence.
Throughout the 20th century, Timor had a history marked by violence. In 1942, during World War II, Japan invaded the island and battled against Australian troops, leading to three years under Japanese control and the death of up to 60,000 East Timorese citizens, according to BBC.
While living its own national revolution, in 1974, Portugal recognized the right to independence and self-determination in its remaining colonies. A period of civil war then followed in Timor between a group favoring independence and another favoring integration with neighboring Indonesia.
In November 1975, the Fretilin declared Timor’s independence, only to have Indonesia annex the territory, claiming the fight against communism as motive. This integration was never recognized by the United Nations.
“Strong resistance to Indonesian rule followed by repression and famine in which 200,000 people are thought to have died,” states the BBC timeline on Timorese history.
In 1991, one of the most infamous episodes took place: Indonesian forces attacked and killed people with signs asking for a free and independent Timor-Leste at the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital Dili.
Not the first episode of violence against Timorese people, this one was caught on camera by British journalist Max Stahl, revealing to the world the situation the local population faced — it is estimated that at least 270 people died during this incident.
“Timor was the first country in History to gain its independence through audio-visual media. That is what the UNESCO acknowledges,” declared Stahl in 2019.
In 1999, the country held a referendum where citizens chose between independence and autonomy, with the former winning by a large margin.
The results unleashed another wave of violence from pro-Indonesia groups — Ramos-Horta's official website notes that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and “85 percent of the buildings in Timor were set aflame” during this period.
In response, the UN established an interim government and assisted in the country's transition to independence afterward.
Recently, Freedom House has classified the country as “free,” noting that: “Timor-Leste has held competitive elections and undergone peaceful transfers of power, but its democratic institutions remain fragile, and disputes among the major personalities from the independence struggle dominate political affairs. Judicial independence and due process are undermined by serious capacity deficits and political influence.”
Who is Ramos-Horta?
Former president José Ramos-Horta is 72 and was educated at a Catholic mission in the small village of Soibada, which was later chosen by Fretilin as its headquarters after the Indonesian invasion.
Of his eleven brothers and sisters, four were killed by the Indonesian army. Ramos-Horta studied public international law at The Hague Academy of International Law (1983) and at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he earned a Master of Arts in Peace Studies (1984). He lived in exile for almost three decades of his life.
In 1996, he also became the youngest person to address the United Nations and convinced them to pass a resolution supporting East Timorese independence.
While Indonesia maintained the occupation, he continued to lobby at the UN and among world leaders to pressure Jakarta to give Timor its freedom.
In 1996, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside his fellow countryman, Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, as a recognition of their work toward “a just and peaceful solution to the conflict” in the country. He returned to Timor-Leste at the end of 1999.
In 2000, Xanana Gusmão, a former guerrilla leader, who was arrested in the 1990s, was elected as president of the First National Congress of CNRT and took the role of speaker of the Legislative body during the transition, almost a year after being released from house arrest.
After this Congress was dissolved in 2001, he was elected as the first president of the country in 2002 and was sworn in on May 20, the date of the country's independence.
In 2006, amidst a new wave of violence, Ramos-Horta became Prime Minister, working alongside Gusmão. He himself was elected president the following year, with Gusmão becoming Prime Minister. Both men were also targeted in assassination attempts in 2008 by two rebel soldiers. Ramos-Horta was non-fatally shot in the stomach while at home during this attack. After leaving the government in 2012, he worked with the UN.
His inauguration is set to happen on May 20, Timor-Leste's Independence Day. According to Reuters, Ramos-Horta said he expects the country to join the ASEAN bloc (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and that he will work “to heal” the current political division in his nation.
“I will do what I have always done throughout my life… I will always pursue dialogue, patiently, relentlessly, to find common ground to find solutions to the challenges this country faces,” he said.
]]>Of all ASEAN nations, Singapore made the strongest statement
Originally published on Global Voices
A protest in Bangkok, Thailand condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo from the Twitter post of Prachatai, a content partner of Global Voices.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, nations all over the world spoke out to condemn the attack and offer support to Ukrainian citizens. However, Southeast Asian leaders were notoriously sluggish in addressing the conflict, though many have since voiced their support for Ukraine.
While the ASEAN block made noncommittal references to the “conflict in the West” and called for de-escalation, many Southeast Asian leaders are choosing to stay silent and sidestep any direct references to Russia and its president Vladamir Putin. In fact, only Singapore and Timor Leste signed a UN draft resolution calling for an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine. The resolution ultimately failed.
In a time when global tensions are at a boiling point, staying silent can signal alliances and tensions just as much as an outright official statement. At the same time, many Southeast Asian countries are grappling with the massive political and economic implications that come with taking sides in this newfound conflict. How are other Southeast Asian nations reacting to the crisis to the west?
Indonesia
In the lead-up to the conflict, Indonesian President Joko (Jokowi) Widodo released a statement through his official Twitter account saying, “Stop the war. This war torments humanity, and endangers the world.” While Jokowi may have been the first ASEAN leader to directly address the conflict, his lukewarm statement drew criticism online, particularly from activists who accused him of hypocrisy for his administration’s militaristic aggression and violence in Papua.
The daily newspaper Koran Tempo even released a cartoon caricaturing Jokowi’s choice to shame Russia while simultaneously occupying Papua and oppressing the citizens there. Papua has been fighting an independence movement against the Indonesian government since 1965, and still routinely comes into violent conflict with the Indonesian government.
Karikatur @korantempo Menjelaskan Watak Presiden @jokowi yang tidak memiliki simpati atas penyelesaian Kekerasan militer di Papua.
Sedangkan #RusiaVsUcrania & #Myanmar Jokowi menjadi Pahlawan pada kenyataanya jokowi hdak pratek yg sama. pic.twitter.com/D5jdMQA8Dg
— Ambrosius Mulait (@Mulalt_) February 27, 2022
Caricature @korantempo Describes the character of the President @jokowi who has no sympathy for the resolution of military violence in Papua.
While #RusiaVsUcrania & #Myanmar Jokowi became a hero, in fact Jokowi did not practice the same thing.
Some activists, including Amnesty International official Veronika Koman, also highlighted the immense amount of international media attention in Ukraine, compared to the ongoing war in Papua, which gets comparatively little attention or resources.
The war in Ukraine will be televised, unlike West Papua. https://t.co/gZRXnK39rC
— Veronica Koman 許愛茜 (@VeronicaKoman) February 24, 2022
Meanwhile, people took to the streets all over the archipelago to condemn Russia’s actions and voice support for Ukraine. In Bali, demonstrators, including many Ukrainians, gathered outside the Ukrainian embassy to protest the invasion.
Ukrainians in Bali today pic.twitter.com/5SmrCytYz3
— UKR Embassy in INA (@ukr_embassy) February 25, 2022
As of February 28, some Jokowi supporters proposed he should extend his presidential term which is set to end in 2024, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Singapore
Singapore is one of the only Southeast Asian nations to strongly come out against Russia. The nation has imposed strict sanctions against Russia including banning the export of “any items that can be used directly as weapons,” said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in a Singaporean Parliament address on February 28. It will also block Russian banks and certain financial institutions.
“We continue to value our good relations with Russia and the Russian people. However, we cannot accept such violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity of another sovereign state,” Balakrishnan said. “We will continue to work with our ASEAN and international partners to take a strong stance against the invasion of Ukraine and to end further violence and bloodshed, and to de-escalate tensions.”
The tiny city-state generally follows UN Security Council decisions and rarely issues sanctions of its own. This will be only the second time Singapore has censured a foreign power without UN Security Council assent.
Malaysia
Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is currently visiting Cambodia and in talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is the ASEAN chair this year. The pair addressed the invasion in a joint press conference, in which Hun Sen said: “The Malaysian Prime Minister and I also discuss this issue and what we wish to see is a peaceful solution. I and the Malaysian prime minister are of the opinion that ASEAN needs a strong voice. Therefore, any statement to be issued should have the consensus of ASEAN including on the Ukraine-Russia issue.”
The Malaysian PM, Ismail Sabri, went on to tweet “The government’s priority at this time is to ensure that Malaysian families in Ukraine are safe.”
Since February 26, Malaysia has been evacuating its citizens in Ukraine.
Philippines
The Philippine government voted “yes” to the UN General Assembly resolution during the Emergency Special Session on Ukraine. The full statement condemning the invasion of Ukraine is posted on the website and social media accounts of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
READ
Also found in this link
https://t.co/f55OuYcI1c#DFAForgingAhead pic.twitter.com/pvpoON1mDN
— DFA Philippines (@DFAPHL) February 28, 2022
DFA Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. also explained why the Philippines was not among the countries which signed an earlier UN resolution condemning the invasion:
Because we're not fucking members of UN SC. Our turn comes at UNGA with special emphasis on the deplorable indeed odious use of murderous separatism and secession as weapons of diplomacy to make target states submit. Unlike SC, we will speak forthrightly. https://t.co/d0qpjRyqTb
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) February 28, 2022
He and his team went to Poland to arrange the repatriation of some Filipinos who escaped Ukraine. There are around 181 Filipino nationals in Ukraine. In another tweet, he noted that some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) chose to remain in Ukraine:
Many OfW domestics are reluctant to go. Their employers are pleading them to stay behind. That is what Filipinos do. Stand beside the one watching out for the other one beside her or him. We are Roman Legionnaires. In Kuwait OFWs stayed by their employers during Iraqi occupation. https://t.co/hMvh4gjDio
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) February 26, 2022
Thailand
The Thailand government said 142 of its citizens had already left Ukraine. At the UN, it called for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis and called for de-escalation. Local reports discussed the possible economic fallout of the crisis in Ukraine and its impact on Thailand’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this year. Russia is part of APEC.
But Sweden’s ambassador to Thailand urged the government to reconsider its neutral language in describing the situation in Ukraine:
To all our
friends. Language matters. What is happening in Ukraine is not a crisis, not two parties that need to de-escalate. It is an aggression, a war. Let us not imply a parity that does not exist. Russia, and Russia alone, is responsible. #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/zRRUkgZLzA
— Ambassador of Sweden in Thailand (@SwedeninTH) February 28, 2022
Daily protests condemning the invasion have been organized in the capital Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok) attended by Thais, Ukrainians, and other nationalities. Protests were also organized in Chiang Mai and Phuket. Police blocked protesters from getting near the Russian Embassy, especially when protestors brought out a TV screen showing a video of Russian military violence.
16.00
Protesters are still gathering in front of the Russian Embassy, and said that they will be around until 17.00. pic.twitter.com/eU2FY8kRO6
— Prachatai English (@prachatai_en) February 28, 2022
Despite these protests calling for peace in Ukraine, there are ultra-royalist groups which expressed their support for Putin. They claimed that Putin is an admirer of Thailand’s former King, the late Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Myanmar
Among those to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is Myanmar's military junta, which called the invasion “justified” in a televised statement.
Junta spokesperson, General Zaw Min Tun, told VOA Burmese, their military supports Russia for two reasons. “No. 1 is that Russia has worked to consolidate its sovereignty,” he said. “I think this is the right thing to do. No. 2 is to show the world that Russia is a world power.”
A military group overthrew the Myanmar government in February 2021. Ever since the coup, citizens have been protesting both publicly, and through passive “silent strikes.” The international community has almost unanimously condemned the junta in Myanmar and called for a return to democratic rule.
For more information about this topic, see our special coverage Russia invades Ukraine.
]]>
Petitioners include journalists, civil society leaders, academics, and students
Originally published on Global Voices
A protest was held on August 3 against the planned revival of the criminal defamation law in Timor Leste. Photo from the Facebook page of Association Journalist Timor Leste (AJTL), used with their permission.
On August 25, a petition was submitted to Timor-Leste’s Minister for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers asking for the rejection of the proposal to restore criminal defamation in the country’s penal laws.
The petition was from the Movement Against the Criminalization of Defamation and Injury (MKKDI) which consists of representatives of civil society organizations, the Timor-Leste Journalist Association (AJTL), the Press Council, academics, and university students.
They were opposing the draft law presented by the Minister of Justice on June 5 reviving the offense of criminal defamation that was removed when the government adopted a new Press Code in 2014.
READ MORE: Timor-Leste plans to restore criminal defamation law amid concerns about its free speech impact
MKKDI noted in their petition that public consultation about the proposal was done in just one week in June.
This author emailed MKKDI spokesperson Alberico Junior about the petition and got this response:
…the movement thinks that this proposed law is to protect those in power from criticism when they commit any act of corruption and any other acts of crime. We do not want this law to be applied in the country as we do not want to be back to Indonesia's authoritarian regime and Portuguese colonial time, this law is actually the product of colonialists, which was used to ban the Timorese people from criticizing the government at that time.
Timor-Leste was a colony of Portugal from 1702 to 1975. Indonesia occupied the territory from 1975 until 1999.
After receiving submissions from the public about the draft law, the Ministry of Justice announced on July 19 that it removed a provision which would double or triple the penalty for those found guilty of defaming a public official or if this was done through the media, including social media. The provision was removed in response to public criticism that it could be used to stifle free speech.
But the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said this claim was misleading because the provision criminalizing defamation is still intact. Jim Nolan, the pro-bono legal counsel of IFJ Asia-Pacific, wrote:
Upon scrutiny, the only ‘concession’ offered by the Ministry of Justice, turns out to be no concession at all. All it achieves is a clumsy attempt to blunt the serious and well-founded criticisms levelled by civil society groups. The substance of these criticisms has been left unanswered by this present proposal.
Jonas Guterres, former advisor to the Office of Commissioner at Anti-Corruption Commission of Timor-Leste warned about the possible impact of the draft law in combating corruption:
…the move by the government of Timor-Leste to criminalize defamation is against the national interest, and will likely undermine efforts to curb corruption, by suppressing to a greater or lesser extent the voices
of whistleblowers and the media. If anything, there is a need instead for anticorruption efforts to be strengthened even further, by enhancing whistleblower protections and asset recovery processes.
On August 3, journalists organized a protest action condemning the draft law.
On August 11, civil society group La’o Hamutuk met with Timor-Leste President Francisco Guterres. During the meeting, the president reportedly expressed his preference for education, instead of criminalization, in dealing with the issue of defamation. He also added that the draft law is not a priority of the government.
Timor-Leste’s parliament is on recess and will resume its sessions in the second week of September.
]]>Whistleblowers, lawyers and journalists face prosecutions without proper public scrutiny
Originally published on Global Voices
Protesters in Brisbane protesting Australia's claim on Timor Leste oil, May 2017- Photo by Andrew Mercer / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
A government illegally bugs the office of a foreign country’s Prime Minister during treaty negotiations. The spy in charge who turned whistleblower and his lawyer face secret trials. Connections are exposed between government politicians and a big oil company that gained financially from the treaty.
A cold war spy novel or a modern scandal involving Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) or America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)? Think again!
Spying on Timor Leste
In 2004 Australia and the new nation of Timor Leste were negotiating a treaty over their border in the Timor Sea. The future of rich oil and gas fields was at stake. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) bugged PM Xanana Gusmão’s office to steal an advantage in the talks. The Australian Foreign Minister at the time, AlexanderDowner, apparently ordered the surveillance. He later took a consultancy with Woodside Petroleum, the company that benefited from the original treaty. There have been other suggestions of conflicts of interest. That treaty was eventually renegotiated in 2018 after the deception was made public.
Global Voices reported on the unfolding story in 2013:
‘Australia Spied on Timor Leste to Gain Commercial Advantage’
Veil of secrecy
The identity of the whistleblower, known as Witness K, has been suppressed. In 2018 he and his lawyer Bernard Collaery were charged with conspiracy to give secrets to Timor Leste. This required the consent of the minister in charge of justice, the Attorney-general Christian Porter. They are facing separate trials.
Witness K has pleaded guilty but maintains that his only breach was to prepare an affidavit for arbitration hearings between the governments at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Collaery, who is a former Attorney-general of the Australian Capital Territory, has pleaded not guilty. Part of Collaery’s trial will take place in secret following a court decision that protects sensitive or classified information.
Many people on social media have been outraged by the prosecutions, fearing the direction their country is taking:
“A crime against one of the poorest countries in the world by one of the richest.” This is our Australia. #bernardcollaery #witnessk #DroptheProsecutions https://t.co/RY9JC8V8JK
— Jenny Coles (@meerpup11) July 11, 2020
The Bernard Collaery persecution has to be one most evil prosecutions (that we know about) in Aust history.
A lawyer, assisting a whistleblower going to International Court of Justice, being secretly tried for calling out morally bankrupt if not criminal conduct by Aust Govts https://t.co/8gE4Dmi4cj— Philip Thalis (@PhilipThalis) June 15, 2020
Many also question just who or what is being protected. The intelligence agencies? Government ministers who authorized the spying operation or have approved the prosecutions? The commercial oil interests and others who profited from the original treaty?
Human rights campaigner Tom Clarke is a vocal advocate for Witness K and Collaery:
The Howard Government spied on our Timorese neighbours in an attempt to plunder their oil & gas. Now the Morrison Government is trying to hide the truth and ‘bury the bodies’. It’s outrageous, morally bankrupt and must be challenged https://t.co/pxpauDh9gD
— Tom Clarke (@TomHRLC) July 23, 2020
Others believe that the real purpose behind the drawn-out legal proceedings is to deter possible future whistleblowers.
In August 2019, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Four Corners program examined the Timor Leste scandal in Secrets, Spies and Trials. It explored ‘the tension between those who say national security is paramount and those who fear the steady encroachment of state security on the public's right to know’.
Stephen Charles, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and barrister, has represented both ASIS and ASIO ( the foreign and domestic intelligence agencies) in past cases. He was just one of several senior legal figures interviewed in the program who were disturbed by the direction of the trials:
It is a fundamental aspect of the rule of law that proceedings take place in public. It is difficult to imagine any justification for these proceedings taking place in secret.
Everyone who reads the newspapers is aware that ASIS officers entered and bugged the Timorese cabinet premises. Everyone is aware that the result of bugging those premises was that Australia got a huge and very unfair advantage in the negotiations being carried out between Timor and Australia.
Prisoner in the iron mask
The trend to prosecute whistleblowers has been alarming. In an unprecedented case, decorated military intelligence officer Witness J’s identity, trial, conviction and prison sentence were kept completely secret. He and Bernard Collaery have been given Empty Chair Human Rights awards by civil rights organisation Liberty Victoria:
The secret trials… challenge one of the fundamental bases of our legal system: the requirement for open justice and accountability.
The cases… highlight the need for strong action to ensure that any such trials are held in open court and subject to public scrutiny.
The Afghan files
Former military lawyer David McBride also faces a potentially secret trial for blowing the whistle on alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. His “Afghan Files’ revelations were behind a Federal police raid on the ABC and possible criminal charges against one of its journalists.
There is an official investigation being conducted by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, with alarming claims continuing to emerge such as the murder of non-combatants. The slow progress of the inquiry is a concern for some on social media:
Australia and War Crimes: Mistake – Same AK-47 planted twice on two dead Afghan civilians killed by Australian soldiers: For more than four years, Inspector-General of Australian Defence Force has been conducting inquiry into allegations of war crimes. https://t.co/4ViqaWX6BK
— Lionel Bopage (@Leonine111) July 17, 2020
Closed justice
These trials are being held as Australia is fast becoming a security state with surveillance laws undermining digital rights and police raids on news organisations and journalists attacking media freedom. Journalist Paul Gregoire, writing on The Big Smoke opinions platform, argues that the decline of open justice in Australia has “glimmerings of totalitarianism”.
Journalists at the ABC have taken to Twitter to add their voices:
How can Australia ever pursue arguments for the importance of free speech in places like China when it criminalises public interest journalism at home? What a shabby, shameful affair this is. https://t.co/BVJNCxcAbk
— Linton Besser (@lb_online) July 2, 2020
In a recent development, proposed national security legislation would allow children as young as fourteen to undergo compulsory interrogation by intelligence agents. their parent or guardian could be removed from an interview for being disruptive.In addition, tracking devices could also be planted on cars or in bags without a warrant.
]]>Originally published on Global Voices
Computer course in Timor-Leste. Photo by José Fernando Real. Wikimedia Commons. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Media and civil society leaders in Timor-Leste have expressed concern about the possible reintroduction of a criminal defamation law in the country.
On June 5, the Minister of Justice said that the draft law, which he plans to present to the Council of Ministers, will restore to the country's penal code the offence of criminal defamation that was removed when the government adopted a new Press Code in 2014.
According to the draft, any person who “imputes/asserts to another person a fact or utters an offensive opinion of his/her honour and prestige, or transmits that imputation/assertion or opinion to a third party” can be held liable for criminal defamation. The penalty is one-year imprisonment or a fine, but violators face up to three years in prison if the plaintiff is a public official, or if the offensive statement is made through traditional or social media. Any person who defames a company, a former government official, or a deceased individual also faces a penalty under the law.
The document cites the widespread use of social media as one of the reasons for the amendment to the penal code:
…through the media and social networks, the offenses against honour, good name and reputation are amplified, thus causing repercussions that affect more seriously the dignity of those targeted, and also the dignity of the State, who should also be responsible for protecting its own dignity.
But Nobel Laureate and former president of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta cautioned the government about the possible impact of the proposed law on freedom of expression. He also doubted whether the country’s problems could reasonably be blamed on the widespread use of social media:
I do not see that over the years the proliferation of social networks has affected in any way, the security, peace or development of the country and the dignity or prestige of the government.
If we do not want the media and social networks to report embarrassing things that do not dignify, let us behave with greater civility.
The last sentence refers to a violent confrontation that took place among members of parliament during a sitting in May.
Civil society group La’o Hamutuk asserted in a June 15 statement to the government that “people should not be afraid to speak the truth.” The group warned about the potential effects of the proposed law on ordinary citizens:
This draft law threatens everyone, particularly vulnerable people without political connections or financial resources. The law has the potential to silence women who have experienced violence or sexual assault, and prevent them from writing or talking about their experiences without hard evidence.
La’o Hamutuk added that the authorities could possibly use the defamation law to undermine the work of civil society groups:
If we suggest that policies promoted by politicians to spend hundreds of millions on roads and airports rather than on health and education endanger the lives of ordinary people, could the Government file a case against us? If we oppose military leadership using armed force to limit election campaigning, will the state put us in prison?
Virgilio Guterres, president of the Timor-Leste Press Council, criticized the “hasty public consultation” and the untimeliness of introducing this measure “in the midst of a state of emergency when the majority of the population concentrates their worries on the measures to prevent Covid-19.” He also reminded the authorities about the suppression of free speech during the country’s fight for independence when it was occupied by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999:
Over the years of occupation, many have been jailed for free speech. In order to value and dignify sacrifices, we have to ensure that there can no longer be a citizen imprisoned for expressing himself or for having a different opinion.
Timor-Leste Press Union accused the government of trying to silence critics:
The government is trying to use a national emergency opportunity to endorse this bill with the aim of punishing those who berate leaders and politicians, but in our opinion this is to criminalize journalists and all citizens not to criticize the government.
Jane Worthington, the Asia-Pacific director of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) highlighted an alarming provision in the proposed law.
This proposed law contains ill defined ‘offences’ and switches the focus of any complaint to the journalist and/or publisher to ‘prove’ the subject to the complaint. Put simply, it places the legal burden of proving that a story is true upon the journalist and/or publisher.
Jim Nolan, IFJ’s legal expert in the Asia Pacific, noted that Timor-Leste already has a mechanism on how to address complaints against media reporting without criminalizing free speech.
The government assured stakeholders that it will review the comments and suggestions of all those both in favor of and opposed to the measure.
]]>Timor-Leste
Originally published on Global Voices
Timorese present their teams at the tournament 20 May Cup IV. Photo by Dalia Kiakilir, GV.
On 20 May, Timorese across the world celebrate the restoration of Timor-Leste’s independence, declared on 20 May 2002 after it was occupied by Indonesia in 1976.
The University of Oxford Brookes, in the city of Oxford, UK, hosted the event “20 May”, organized by Timorese resident in the country. The event had cultural and sporting elements, including the fourth football tournament “20 May Cup” organized in partnership with the Timorese Sports Association.
The author attended the event and spoke with Acácio Marques, one of its organizers. He said:
Acácio Marques, president of the organizing committee for the event 20 May, 2019. Photo by Dalia Kiakilir, used with permission.
Hau hanoin loron espesial ne’e furak tebe-tebes ba ita hotu, atu hametin liu-tan ita nia unidade. Atu hateten katak hau haksolok tebes ho ita hotu nia prezensa iha fatin ne’e hodi hahi’i, hanai ita nian loron Restaurasaun Independensia.
For me, this is a very special and beautiful day for Timorese, it is a way of strengthening our unity. I want only to say that I am very happy with the attendance of everybody in this place to honour our day of restoring independence.
Joaquim da Fonseca, the current ambassador of Timor-Leste in the UK, attended the event. At the opening ceremony, Fonseca and Marques called on youths to always remember the values of the celebrated date.
Ambassador Joaquim da Fonseca speaks with Dália Kiakilir, the author of this story. Photo by Arlindo Fernandes, used with permission.
In an interview, Fonseca highlighted:
Iha ita nia istoria iha loron barak ma’ak marcante, importante, maibe dia 20 de maio ita hili hanesan loron ida, de facto, ohin, ita restaura ita nia independensia. Entaun, tinan-tinan, ita komemora no hanoin katak 20 de Maio relembra buat hotu-hotu nebe’e akontese durante tinan barak, desde estranjeiru sira tama iha ita nia rain, hanesan seculos barak portugues sira iha timor, iha indonesia nia tempu to’o ita ukun-a’an. Komesa husi buat sira nebe’e halo ema triste, halo ema haksolok, sakrifisiu, esforsu, avansu, retrosesu, ne’e ma’ak ita hanoin, entaun, ohin ita halo reflexaun oinsa Timor ne’e konsegue rekonquista nia liberdade?
The history of Timor-Leste has many important dates, but the day of 20 May, [for] us, the Timorese, we mark out as a day, in fact, today, [in which] we restored our independence. So, annually, we commemorate and reflect that the 20 May recalls everything that happened, since the entry of foreigners in our country, for example, centuries of imperialism by the Portuguese in Timor, the invasion of Indonesia until independence. Happiness, sadness, sacrifices, struggles, advances, setbacks. That’s how we think, then, today we reflect on how Timor managed to regain freedom.
Cultural Group Wehali, from Northford. Photo by Ike de Castro, used with permission
Several British cities joined the football tournament 20 May Cup IV, among them: FC Académica, FC Tazlekar, FC Timor Peterborough, FC Cultura Peterborough, FC Unidus A Yarmouth, FC Unidus B Yarmouth, FC Santa Cruz, FC Timorese, AC Mayluan, AS Makara, FC Souro, FC Fortuna, FC Brigwater, FC Ox-Til and two teams from Northern Ireland, namely FC Foin Sae Timor and FC Assuwain NI.
The winning team FC FoinSa'e, group 8. Photo by Ike de Castro, used with permission.
The Northern Irish team, FC Foin Sa’e Timor (in English, “Timorese Youth Football Club”) won the championship for the third time consecutively. The coach Hélio Alin said:
Ami mai iha ne'e hodi defende ami nia titulo no lori piala ba ami nia uma dala ida tan.
We are here to defend our title and to take home the cup once again.
Alin was awarded the title of best coach for this tournament.
The event then continued with a show of dance by the performance group Wehali from the city of Northford, and finished with the dancefloor opening to everybody present.
]]>Originally published on Global Voices
Timor-Leste Radio and Television (RTTL). Source: Facebook
Press freedom advocates are raising the issue of political interference in Timor-Leste’s public television network after the unceremonious removal of the network's president.
Gil Da Costa, chairperson of the board of directors of Timor-Leste Radio and Television (RTTL), was removed from his position on 9 January 2019 following a controversial audit undertaken by the government. Da Costa was subsequently replaced by Francisco da Silva, who led the audit.
The audit allegedly found some irregularities committed under the watch of Da Costa. But Da Costa claimed he was sacked for political reasons, specifically his refusal to allow political meddling in the editorial work of RTTL.
There have been several attempts at political interference on me and directly on journalists to try to influence editorial content.
As head of RTTL I always insisted that I wanted it to be an independent institution without political interference. And I’ve tried to do this. And there was a lot of political interference.
Another possible reason for his removal is that Da Costa was nominated by a minority political party.
The Timor-Leste Press Council issued a statement condemning what it calls the first political interference in RTTL’s newsroom since the country’s restoration of independence in 2002. Virgílio Guterres, president of the Press Council, also criticized a government official for entering the RTTL newsroom and intimidating journalists:
It is a crime against journalism as these people have seized the power of the editor-in-chief for exercising their political interests.
The Press Council is concerned about this situation, and would like to take the opportunity to convey our concerns to the public as well also to the government bodies to look into this situation.
In response to the Press Council's concerns, the new head of RTTL acknowledged receiving the complaints and vowed to make’ self-improvements’.
António Sampaio, a news agency journalist, wrote on Facebook about the issue of political interference in the media. His post, written in Portuguese, was translated by Pacific Media Centre:
Journalists are not just microphones that reproduce, without any contradiction or analysis, what the political leaders say.
Ensuring the independence of public media is even more important. Interference in newsrooms is unacceptable and should always be tackled. Whoever does this is weakening the quality of the Timorese state.
Since its independence from Indonesia in 2002, local media outlets flourished in Timor-Leste thanks in part to international aid. No journalist has been jailed in Timor-Leste according to Reporters Without Borders but there is concern that political pressure is forcing some media companies to practice self-censorship.
]]>Originally published on Global Voices
Kofi Annan, portrait by the Kof Annan Foundation, 2015, used with permission via Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
The people of Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor) join the world in mourning the death of international diplomat Kofi Annan who died in Switzerland at the age of 80 on August 18, 2018.
Annan left a legacy of global peacemaking during international crises that defined the post-Cold War era. His peacekeeping efforts in Timor-Leste are often forgotten, but in the small coastal capital city of Dili, candles were lit for the former United Nations (U.N.) secretary-general who had negotiated peace in the nation following two decades of violent occupation from Indonesia that began in 1975.
Timor-Leste is part of a Southeast Asian archipelago comprised of roughly one million people who gained independence from Indonesia in 1999 and joined the U.N. in 2002.
Facebook user João Martins posted about the candlelight tribute:
Dozens of Timorese conducted candle light vigil in remembrance of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who passed away 2 days ago and his contribution to the Independence process of East Timor during his time at UN. Thank you Mr Kofi Annan and May his soul rest in peace in heavenly God’s Kingdom.
Outside Timor-Leste, tributes for Annan flooded news outlets and social media. However, some called out Annan's missteps in foreign affairs when he served as the head of U.N. peacekeeping, citing the war in Iraq and atrocities in Rwanda and Bosnia.
Annan as a peace negotiator in Timor-Leste
In 1975, the Indonesian military invaded Timor-Leste and occupied the region, imposing Indonesian language and culture. They silenced all dissent, leading to atrocities such as the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991 when 250 East Timorese pro-independence peaceful demonstrators were shot to death.
Throughout the occupation, the Indonesian military separated roughly 4,000 children from families in the resistance, taking the children as a way to “weaken and humiliate” their enemies.
Fifteen years of peace talks had amounted to nothing until Annan took the U.N. helm in 1997 and pledged to resolve the crisis in Timor-Leste. By August 1999, Annan and Indonesian president B.J. Habibie were speaking daily, according to historian Geoffrey Robinson's book If You Leave Us Here, We Will Die: How Genocide Was Stopped in East Timor.
On September 4, 1999, Annan talked late into the night with Habibie, who was putting up a fight against Annan on the other side of the world.
The week before, Annan and Habibie had negotiated an independence referendum that shocked and angered the Indonesian military. After 24 years of brutal occupation, nearly 80 percent of Timor-Leste voters had voted for full independence from Indonesia.
Annan knew he could not operate a peacekeeping mission without Habibie's consent and contacted world leaders to put pressure on Indonesia. Annan secured support for an intervention alongside Australia on September 12, 1999.
Habibie eventually accepted the referendum results and pleaded for peace and security, but his government lost control of the military, and reports of massacres poured in throughout Timor-Leste.
Three hundred thousand people fled into West Timor, but thousands of people died in assaults around the country, including the deaths of 200 people in a single day inside the Suai Church in the southwest region.
Annan ensured a U.N. intervention with support from Australian troops who restored calm on the island. Even after establishing stability, Annan insisted on peacekeeping forces in the country for nearly three years, delaying Timor-Leste's independence until May 10, 2002.
Historian Robinson asserts that Annan's humanitarian intervention in Timor-Leste was pivotal in securing the island's safety and stability.
Reflecting on the politics of intervention
During Annan's tenure as the head of U.N. Peacekeeping, he says that Timor-Leste and the simultaneous conflict in Kosovo (1998) demanded a serious reflection on the politics of intervention. In his memoir Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, he wrote:
…the world had confronted two separate crises – Kosovo and East Timor – that had triggered a global debate on intervention and sovereignty, the rights of peoples and the responsibilities of states. I have combined my own intense diplomatic engagement on both crises – with the UN playing a central role in the case of East Timor – with a determination to reframe the question of intervention, and restore the United Nations to a central place in setting the boundaries of what states could do within their borders.
Marianne Jago, an aid worker and academic expert on Timor-Leste, proclaimed Annan's role as crucial and unprecedented:
Annan had determined to take an active role on the East Timor question. His predecessor Javier Pérez de Cuéllar had publicly indicated that he saw his role in the East Timor question as that of a ‘go-between’ rather than one of leadership and innovation.
By contrast, soon after he took office Annan contacted the governments of Portugal and Indonesia, and informed them of his desire to use his good offices to help find a solution to the question of East Timor.
She emphasizes how Annan's bold leadership in Timor-Leste stood out as the most successful in his career:
In contrast to Annan’s own much-regretted reticence during the Rwanda and Srebrenica massacres, when as Head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and then as secretary-general, he submitted to the ‘institutional tendency’ of the UN Secretariat to ‘follow rather than lead the Security Council’, the Secretary-General’s office was at the heart of intense international diplomatic efforts to coerce Habibie into accepting an international force in East Timor.
José Ramos-Horta, former president of Timor-Leste and co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, last week praised Annan for his work in Timor-Leste.
The East Timor & Indonesia Action Network, an organization that continues to advocate for reconciliation from decades of violence and occupation, expressed its lingering dissatisfaction with unresolved conflicts:
]]>Former #UN SG Kofi Annan died today. Nobel Peace Prize cited his efforts for #Timor in 1999. https://t.co/HoXOTjcNf8 However, his pledge on behalf of UN of justice and accountability for crimes agt humanity committed by Indonesia and others remains unfulfilled. pic.twitter.com/0HdsizLOYa
— ETAN (@etan009) August 18, 2018
Originally published on Global Voices
Anuku Lorosae. Screenshot from his music video for “Kata Intimida”.
Hip-hop in Asia is nothing new, although it's an art that's almost always categorized as a non-mainstream genre or indie. Throughout most parts of Asia, oral traditions are a popular yet dying art form. In this context, hip-hop has become a non-conventional way to narrate stories appealing to youth.
Indonesia
Take Yacko from Indonesia for instance, a female MC who's also a university lecturer and a mother. For over a decade she's been breaking the stereotypes of what a modern Indonesian Muslim women can do and wear. Her latest track “Thang” talks about how she'll be doing things she loves without pressure or judgement from others. Yacko almost always raps in English.
Only 17 years old, Jakarta-based Brian Imanuel (a.k.a Rich Chigga) debuted his single “Dat Stick” earlier this year and went straight to the number 4 spot on the Billboard Bubble Up chart during its first week. This makes him the first Indonesian vlogger to break into the Billboard Chart. His self-produced video clip portraying him rocking a pink buttoned-up polo shirt and a fanny pack, and bouncing on what appears to be his parents’ sofa received a positive review from well-known American rapper Ghostface Killah. Later on, Ghostface Killah, one of the original members of East Coast rap group Wu Tang Clan, made an appearance on the remix version of Dat Stick.
Timor Leste
From the Lusofone world comes Anuku Lorosae. Forced to leave his war-torn hometown in Timor-Leste at the age of 9, Paulo Egidio Carvalho Dos Santos (his real name) is now based in the United Kingdom.
He began to rap in Portugal with a group called Rap Firma in 2002; that's when he took up the moniker Anuku Lorosae. “Anuku” is his nickname at home. “Lorosae” is a word in Tetun that means “sunrise”. This alludes to Timor-Leste, which is known as The Land of Sunrise.
He raps in three different languages: Tetun, Portuguese and Creole. In his recent song “Kata Intimida,” Anuku talks about his personal struggle and Timor Leste's history facing Indonesian occupation. The lyrics express his indignation against abusive politicians and the shameful disparity between the elite classes and the poor in a free and democratic state.
When asked about what message he intends to put across with his music, Anuku says;
A vida é assim prega nos supresas, a minha vivência, experiências q tive é óbvio relatar a realidade que ronda em nosso redor principalmente na minha pátria timor Leste. Quero fazer que poucos hoje fazem hoje em dia que é tentar abrir mais visões para os mais novos.
This is how life is, it trick us with surprises, my life, my experiences obviously report the reality that surrounds us, especially in my country East Timor. I want to do what few do nowadays: try to open more views to what's new.
Philippines
Artists of Filipino descent probably were the first ones to break into mainstream hip hop. Filipino American (shortened to Fil-Am) luminaries include Chad Hugo from N.E.R.D and Allan Pineda Lindo (who goes by the stage name apl.de.ap) from the Black Eyed Peas.
Philippines MC Mike Swift, born Michael Olave, combines his love for rap and basketball with activism. Through his project Pinoy Hoops, he brought basketball superstars like Lebron James, Jordan Clarkson, and Paul George to Tenement, an urban poor community in Taguig City, Philippines.
China
Mainland Chinese hip hop group Higher Brothers has been all the buzz on the underground scene despite web censorship.
They're one of the few Chinese talents using the Sichuan dialect from a province located in the southwestern part of the country, away from the Chinese hip hop epicenter of Beijing.
Their most recent work, Isabellae, talks about ambition and hard work. The song was produced by Ernest Brown a.k.a Charlie Heat, who previously worked with big chart toppers such as Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign and Pusha T.
Japan
Growing up in government housing project, rapper Kohh said that he initially chose hip hop to avoid street violence and drugs. Despite the fact that hip hop is unpopular in Japan, he's determined to make the genre more accepted by the public. He raps about personal experiences and hardships that he and his friends grew up with.
Koreatown, USA
Dumbfounded, who is of Korean descent, brings hard-hitting topics into his lyrics, such as Hollywood's white washing in his track ‘Safe‘ and gun violence in chart topping ‘Harambe’. The latter went to the top of on Global Spotify Viral chart.
]]>Originally published on Global Voices
Eufrasia Vieira painting. Published on Facebook, used with permission.
Timor-Leste’s long struggle to achieve independence from Indonesian rule and move forward as a country is mirrored in its ongoing quest for worldwide recognition in the field of culture and the arts.
One example is the ascent of the multi-talented Eufrasia Vittoria Vieira, a young actress, singer, and novelist who wishes to promote friendship between the two nations.
Image of Eufrasia published on Facebook. Used with permission.
Eufrasia, or EV for short, was born in Dili, Timor-Leste. She has one brother and four sisters from her mother’s side and six brothers and three sisters from her father’s side.
The only class that really spoke to Eufrasia in school was art, especially drawing and painting. She lived in the United Kingdom for over 10 years and got a higher diploma in art and design from the City of Oxford College in Oxford.
One of the few artists from the younger generation of Timor-Leste, Eufrasia has attracted people’s attention for her style, originality, and advocacy work. With her passion, she might well go beyond Timor-Leste’s borders to achieve worldwide stardom.
Some of the personalities who inspired Eufrasia are Catholic saint Mother Teresa, British author Richard Templar, and psychologists Daniel Goleman and Paul Kleiman. In an interview, she told me:
I want to help change the world and impact people’s lives through my words. I wanna be part of the world in a positive way. I have doubts, fears and worries, like everyone else. But I know I was meant to do this, because doing anything else is torture.
CD cover. Used with permission.
In 2009, Eufrasia released her first music album called “What's Her Name” with eleven tracks. About her music, she had this to say:
Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of soul. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is soul. On some nights I still believe that a car low on gas in the middle of traffic jump can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.
In 2015, Eufrasia also premiered her first novel, titled “Vittoria: Helena's Brown Box,” co-written with Les D. Soriapoetra.
The novel is a romance story about an Indonesian journalist and an East Timorese girl in 1999 amidst Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence. Eufrasia explained:
The reason that I wrote the story was to try to communicate help and connect with others families, women, men and children going through the same thing…It has been more than 15 years since East Timor war began but many of those caught up in the conflict are still trying to heal.
A film adaptation of the novel is also in the works, set to star Eufrasia herself and famous Indonesian actor Ari Wibowo.
Responding to fans comparing her to American actor and activist Angelina Jolie, Eufrasia said.
]]>People say anything from what they see on the cover. But yeah it’s pretty funny comparing me to Angelina Jolie. It’s unbelievable. Sometimes, I take those compliments as a joke. Angelina is so beautiful and she’s just wow. I’m just an ordinary woman living a simple life.
Originally published on Global Voices
Raimundos Oki at the Dili District Court, Oct 07, 2016. Published and authorized by Raimundos Oki.
Journalists around the world are trying to get the prime minister of Timor-Leste (East Timor) to abandon a criminal complaint against two Timor-Post reporters who say he was involved in government corruption.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has launched an online petition calling on Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo to drop the complaint. If convicted, Raimundos Oki and Lourenco Martins could be sentenced to three years in prison and a high fine.
Earlier this year, Araujo said he wouldn't back down from pursuing the complaint, despite international support for Oki and Martins, whose trial was originally scheduled to begin on October 7, 2016. Due to technicalities, however, the trial has been rescheduled to begin on December 2.
Oki and Martins will face charges of “slanderous denunciation” for a story published nearly a year ago, on November 10, 2015, revealing corruption in state procurement contracts. Prime Minister Araujo, who previously served as a senior advisor in the Finance Ministry, was allegedly involved in one of the contracts in question—a government order for information-technology services.
A week after the article was published, Araujo held a press conference and announced his intention to “present the facts to the Prosecutor's Office of a publicly disseminated false accusation” against him. Two days later, on November 18, the prime minister formally submitted the complaint.
Several international media organizations, including IFJ, Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the South East Journalists Union, have called on Araujo to step back.
Araujo published an open letter in April responding to these groups and vowing to stick to his guns and push ahead with the case.
In July, the IFJ-Asia Pacific, the CPJ, and Freedom House again reached out to Araujo, arguing that the charges are “an attack on press freedom and the right to information in Timor-Leste,” saying “criminal prosecutions of journalists cannot be tolerated….as a matter of principle.”
Individual journalists from the Asia-Pacific region have also weighed in on the issue. Petrus Suryadi Sutrisno, a veteran Indonesian journalist with more than 40 years of experience, including working at the Suara Timor Timur Daily, says that Timor-Leste journalists must not follow the example of Indonesia and other countries by not checking and rechecking sources before publishing. He adds that publishing stories without following procedures can cause damage to both the media practitioners and the subject they're writing about:
Timor-Leste should learn either from Indonesia or from other countries by making a systematic observation and studying how media organizations can exist within the frame of “news engineering” and “orchestrated media” for real systematic character assassination to some one. First by publishing the news without ethic and check and recheck mechanism procedures hit the target then the law consequences are followed later. But what's most important is that the target now is the victim of defamation. The lawsuit is really the last straw.
Tempo Semanal Director Jose Antonio Belo commented on the petition:
I'm signing this Petition because the East Timor Prime Minister is still living with the spirit of the former Indonesian General Dictatorship.
Ted McDonnel, an Australian journalist, also writes:
I believe in Freedom of the Press & Freedom of Expression. This case brought by the PM of Timor Leste is all about silencing the media.
The IFJ petition is formally addressed to Prime Minister Araujo, along with Timor-Leste's minister of justice and general prosecutor. Supporters are encouraged to share the petition using the hashtag #FreeTimorJournalists.
]]>Originally published on Global Voices
The Timor Leste delegation during the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Photo from Francelina Cabral
Timor Leste didn't win a medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but its athletes still managed to share an inspiring message with their supporters and fellow Timorese.
Timor-Leste participated in female and male athletics, as well as women's cross country mountain bike.
After gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002, Timor Leste, a country of less than 1.5 million people, first joined the Olympics in 2004.
Nelia Martins, an 18-year old athlete, was the youngest delegate of Timor-Leste in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2014 she competed and placed fourth in the women's athletics 5000m Lusophony Games in India. In 2015 Nelia competed in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. This year in Rio de Janeiro, she placed 13th in the Round I Heat III course of Women's Athletics 1500m.
Nelia shared her feelings with Global Voices after the end of the games:
Hau Sente kontente wainhra hau evento boot iha brasil primeira vez tuir olimpiade iha Rio De Janeiro (…) hau nudar atleta hau Sente kontenti wainhra hau representa hw nia Bandeira RDTL representa hau povu TIMOR LESTE no mos hau nia federation hau Sente kontenti wainhra ho idade 18 anos bele represents hau nia Bandeira Timor leste ba mundo tomak. Hau liafuan mk dt. Obrigada Timor!
I feel happy to be here in Brazil for the first time to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (…) as an athlete I'm also honored to represent my flag RDTL “Republic Democratic of Timor-Leste”, represent the Timorese people and my federation. I really feel happy because even though I'm only 18-years-old, I can represent the country's flag in the Olympics. This is all i have to say. Thank You Timor!
Augusto Soares at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Photo from the Facebook page of Francelina Cabral
Augusto Soares was the most senior athlete from Timor's Olympic delegation.
In 2007 he competed in the 3000m Asian Indoor Games in Macau. In 2009 he joined the marathon competition in the Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos. In 2010 he was part of the Dili Half Marathon East Timor. And in 2011 he competed in the 5000m Asian Championships in Kobe, Japan. Competing this year in Rio de Janeiro in the Men's Athletics 1500m, Round I Heat II course, Augusto finished in the 12th position.
Augusto also spoke to Global Voices after the games:
Primeiro hw hkrak fo obrigado ba maromk tan buat kmanek tomak mai husi Nia…No Mos ba Familia Treinador nebe uluk hnorin no htudu dalan ida ne mai hau sr Aguida Amaral no mos ba treinador no kolega sra hotu. Ami orgulho tamba ble Lori nasaun no Bandeira RDTL mai participa ih jogos olympico Rio de Janeiro ba dala xxI liu husi evento ne Maske ami la manan buat ruma.
Husu ba maluk joven sira atu hakribi problema husi ita nia an ato fo ita nia an at participa iha mundu Desportivas atu ble desenvolve ita nia an no mos ble fo mos kontribuisaun ba ita nia nasaun hnesan dalan nebe uluk ita asuwain sira htudu nanis ona durante iha sira nia luta…mak ne dt bin Ikus hw la haluhan…VIVA TIMOR LESTE……
First of all I would like to thank God for all the goodness from Him… Also family, and my first coach that guided me in this direction, Mrs. Aguida Amaral and to all the coaches and colleagues. We are proud to represent this nation and our flag RDTL in this Olympics games in Rio de Janeiro. Even though we didn't win anything we gained experience by competing against other athletes outside our country. With this experience we've learned, we will pass it to the youth. We will tell them to focus, to let go of personal problems and focus only on sports to develop ourselves and to contribute to our nation. It is similar to the path shown to us by our heroes in their fight [for independence]. That is all. Finally I won't forget…Long Live Timor-Leste…
Timor Leste's Olympic athletes pose with Rosa Mota, an athlete from Portugal (second from right). Photo from Francelina Cabral
Francelina Cabral, is the first Timorese woman to compete in the cross country mountain bike Olympic sports event. She is a professional woman cyclist who has competed in several circuits in East Timor since 2009.
In an interview with Global Voices, Cabral described the cross country mountain bike competition in the Olympics as more “extreme” than ordinary cycling:
Ema sira nebe tuir kompetisaun iha evetu ne'e laos ema baibain, maibe ema professional, nebe sira nia serviso mak loroloron ne'e, sira, treinu, han, descansa no treino (…) Hau Mos bele hatene katak afinal Cross Country Agora ne'e, iha Mundo Moderno, ema extreme liu tan.
The athletes that competed in the game are professional, this is what they do, they practice, they eat, rest and practice again (…) I've also learned that after all, cross country mountain biking is far more extreme.
Cabral ended the conversation by saying that she feels honoured to represent her country for the first time in the Olympics. Even though she wasn't able to bring home a medal, she offered Timor-Leste a symbolic medal of honor.
Timor-Leste is also be competing in the Paralympics Games. It will be represented by both male and female athletes in the 400m athletic competition.
Image which shows Timor Leste's flag is from the official website of the 2016 Rio Olympics