From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.portuguese
Date: 08 Apr 92 18:09 PDT
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs April 8
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1591800153:000:30831
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!apakabar    Apr  8 18:09:00 1992


From: Indonesia Publications/Task Force <apakabar>
Subject: East Timor Newsbriefs April 8



    Reuter, Jakarta, April 7 - Indonesian military chief Try Sutrisno
urged troops in East Timor to win the hearts of the people by being
model soldiers after an army massacre last November.
    "You have to become pioneers and models to the people so that they
will better appreciate your existence here," General Try told troops in
East Timor's capital, Dili, on Sunday.
    Try, speaking at a ceremony to mark the Moslem festival of Eid
Al-Fitri in the predominantly Catholic, former Portuguese colony,
advised his soldiers to win the hearts of the East Timorese.
    That plan, under which troops were employed in development projects,
was set back after troops shot dead between 50 and 180 people at a
cemetery in Dili on November 12.
    Diplomats have said the violence has increased East Timorese
resentment against Indonesian rule.


    Reuter, Jakarta, April 7 - East Timor military commander Theo Syafei 
said four guerrillas of the Fretilin separatist movement had surrendered 
in Los Palos.
    "They came to our posts and surrendered their weapons,"
Brigadier-General Syafei said. He gave no other details.
    Syafei said Fretilin now had only 296 active guerrillas and its
weakening could allow Jakarta to reduce troops deployed in
counter-insurgency operations in East Timor.
    "We will see what happens first. It is possible that we may remove
two to three battalions in September," Syafei said.
    He said the six battalions, each numbering around 600, now employed
in development projects could be reinforced.
    Six other battalions are fighting the separatists.



    Reuter, Jakarta, April 8 - East Timor's separatist guerrillas have
changed their strategy and begun infiltrating towns, the Merdeka
newspaper on Wednesday quoted the territory's Indonesian military
commander as saying.
    Brigadier-General Theo Syafei said the Fretilin movement adopted the
strategy after it failed to oust troops in rural areas of the former
Portuguese colony, Merdeka said.
    Syafei, who took command after scores of people were killed in an
army massacre in East Timor's capital Dili last November, said the new
strategy included spreading rumours.
    "Their only way was to infiltrate the towns or surrender to the
armed forces if they wanted to survive," Syafei said.
    Syafei said Fretilin rebels now numbered less than 300 -- about two
per cent of their strength in 1975.
    "With that strength, they are no longer able to do any gun fighting
with the armed forces," Syafei said.


    Reuter, Jakarta, April 8 - The current East Timor military commander's 
predecessor, Brig. Gen. Rudolf Warouw, was named by a leading East Timorese
politician as one of the popular choices of local residents to be the
territory's next governor.
    The governor has been appointed by Jakarta for five-year terms since
Indonesia annexed East Timor in 1976.
    Warouw was among the six most popular names circulating in East
Timor for the governership, the Media Indonesia newspaper daily quoted
poliitician Salvador Ximenes Soares as saying.
    Mario Viegas Carrascalao ends his second consecutive term as East
Timor governor in September and, under an Indonesian convention, is not
expected to receive an extension.
    Warouw was among several senior military officers punished in
February for the November killings of between 50 and 180 people. He
holds no position in the military at present, although his exact
punishment has yet to be announced.
    He became popular in East Timor after introducing a plan to
gradually replace troops fighting Fretilin rebels with those involved in
development projects in the territory.


Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1172Indonesia's terror, by Schultz
gn:tapolreg.easttimor 9:22 pm  Apr  2, 1992

Source. The Bulletin, Australia. Date: 7 April 1992. Byline: Dennis
Schultz. Unabridged.

INDONESIA'S REIGN OF TERROR

Despite strict security, Dennis Schultz recently visited the
scene of last year's Dili massacre and was given evidence of
new atrocities. But Indonesian authorities were waiting to
grab the crucial film - and deport him.

--------------

The young Indonesian intelligence officer boasted "We know who
you are. We know you have been here before and we know what
you have written about us."

They did indeed know about my previous excursion to Dili and
the subsequent *Bulletin* article (Dec. 17 1991) revealing the
location of the mass graves of those killed at the Santa Cruz
massacre on November 12 and afterwards. Since then foreign
journalists have been banned in East Timor and, as they
searched my bags with clinical efficiency, I didn't need to be
told I was in serious trouble.

They were polite and professional. "You have been observed
photographing a military vessel," the officer said, throwing
down a snapshot of me taken an hour before by someone at the
dockside.

Warships
"We will confiscate any pictures you have taken that could
violate Indonesian security." I told him I thought the rusty
bucket with guns steaming out of Dili Harbour was a floating
World War II relic. He didn't laugh. We both knew it was one
of the warships that forced the untimely return to Darwin of
the Lusitania Expresso, the Portuguese peace ship.

I had not anticipated this shakedown. If I had, I would have
taken the film still in my Nikkon and hidden it, along with
the other -- more important -- roll slipped to me by a
courageous young East Timorese student.

I had come to Dili the hard way. For the past month, Europeans
had been selectively refused entry to the East Timorese
capital and turned back at their Indonesian airport of
embarkation. I waited until the Lusitania episode was over,
then made my way overland by bus from the West Timorese
capital of Kupang. I had come to investigate claims that the
Indonesian military was systematically moving large numbers of
East Timorese out of the capital and into detention camps.

There had been no military roadblocks when I left East Timor
by this road in December, shortly after the massacre. But now
travelling was restricted. Written permission, or a *surat*
was required from the army before you could travel in the
province. A tourist *surat* took me through three army
roadblocks and some close scrutiny. I was also aware of the
plainclothes policeman sitting next to me in the crowded bus,
the butt of his .38 Special bulging from his polo shirt.

The bus arrived in Dili just after dusk. The East Timorese
dare not move around after dark because of the unofficial
curfew, the only movement coming from Javanese and other
immigrants brought to Timor under Indonesia's infamous Trans-
immigrasi Programme. Everybody is aware of the danger in going
out on the streets that are under army control. Last week, a
Timorese teacher found a plastic bag at the roadside
containing the bodies of two young people who did not make it
home before dark.

Solidarity
Still, things have relaxed since the Lusitania episode. The
peace ship was taken seriously by the Indonesian army
administration and the population at large. The generals
expected demonstrations of support by anti-integration
nationalists, while the East Timorese looked on the exercise
as an expression of solidarity from abroad. "We look to people
from other countries for help," one East Timorese youth said,
"because we know in our hearts that without them there can be
no hope for us. The Indonesians are trying to wipe us out one
by one."

During my only night in Dili, a situation only a few
kilometres away highlighted the young man's fears. At around
3am an estimated 80 members of the Indonesian army's crack red
beret unit surrounded a house in suburban Bairro Pite and
arrested the four teenagers sleeping inside. The crime of Jose
Montero, Estanislau Costa, Gil Montero and Jose Jalucho was to
have been present at the illegal demonstration at Santa Cruz
cemetery on November 12 last year, when the Indonesian army
allegedly killed more than 200 East Timorese. As the
youngsters were dragged from the house, eye witnesses said the
beatings had already begun.

Meeting Caesar
We swung into a quiet suburban street where a young man stood
laughing as he played with a group of children. After an
introduction by the driver in Portuguese, we exchanged
greetings. His English was excellent in a country where
communication is often impossible, and he showed a maturity
well beyond his years. Caesar asked why I wanted to go to
Santa Cruz. "To lay the wreath the people on the Lusitania
Expresso were unable to," I replied.

A big smile crept across his face. I told him I was an
Australian journalist and he began speaking freely about the
peace ship. "We were so happy about the Portuguese Lusitania.
It gave us great hope that there was someone who had not
abandoned us... someone who would help us and put pressure on
the Indonesians. So we decided to have a demonstration of
support when they landed."

But wouldn't that have almost certainly created a situation
not unlike the disastrous demonstration that led to the Santa
Cruz massacre? "No," Caesar said naively. "The Indonesians
would not have dared to attack us with so many foreigners
watching."

But in the end the Lusitania brought only disillusionment. "We
had many banners painted and we had plans for the
demonstration in place when we heard that they had been turned
back," the teenager said. "We were so sad. My father began
crying when he heard the news on the radio. He said we would
never be free. Then we all began crying."

As part of their preparations to deal with the Portuguese
peace ship, the Indonesian military had begun a systematic
removal of young East Timorese students and activists whom
they suspected would continue to embarrass them
internationally. "They have taken so many people," Caesar
said, "that everyone knows some people who have been taken.
They arrest them and take them without any belongings to two
towns in the southern Same district, Betano and Viqueque."

The Indonesians call these towns "strategic villages", a
concept conceived by the United States in Vietnam. But the
East Timorese call them *campo de concentracao* (concentration
camps). "After they go, we do not know what happens to them of
if they will ever be back," Caesar said. "The Indonesians do
not want the East Timorese in Dili."

At the Santa Cruz cemetery, Caesar said he and the driver
would return for me in 15 minutes. It was too dangerous to
wait. I passed the headstones to place a wreath on one grave
in remembrance of those killed in November.

When the taxi returned for me, Caesar's face was dark. "I am
going to give you something but if the Indonesians know it
comes from me, they will kill me. You understand? Please look
forward when we talk. Now take this and hide it until you get
back to Darwin. It will show Australian people what our life
is like with the Indonesians."

Film canister
I looked down at a roll of exposed film, with a note packed
into the canister. "These are pictures we have taken, along
with a coded letter," Caesar said. "Pictures of people after
their release from the military. People with their ears cut
off. People who have been burned and beaten all over their
body. People with slashes across their faces. Pictures to show
to Australian people." I took the canister, removed a new roll
from my bag and put Caesar's film into the Fuji box, sticking
down the lid so that it would appear a new, unused box of
slides.

"Keep us in your heart when you return to your country," he
said as the car stopped. As requested I did not turn round to
say goodbye.

My usually good contacts in Dili were not forthcoming because
of the fear gripping the city.  I tried one last avenue to
corroborate Caesar's charges. I tried to speak to Governor
Mario Carrascalao, the outspoken East Timorese civil head of
state, a man locked in battle with diabetes -- and the
Indonesian military.

Suspected
But first one must make an appointment with one of his
functionaries, an East Timorese suspected by some to be a
collaborator with the Indonesians. He remembered me from my
previous visit. However, he said an appointment was
impossible. His manner was cold and unwelcoming but I thought
nothing of it, deciding instead to leave my hotel and go to
the airport before anyone else recognised me.

It was at the New Resende Hotel that the youthful Indonesian
intelligence officer stopped me.

"You will come with me, Mr Schultz," he snapped. "You will be
searched and interrogated by intelligence and immigration
officials."

I cannot remember being angrier with myself. I knew exactly
who had betrayed me. Now they would get the films. They opened
all my boxes -- and confiscated Caesar's film. They could not read the
letter written in English but they would, no doubt, give it to
someone who could.

They said I must go to the airport and leave Dili without
delay. They followed me and stood by until I was on board. But
as I looked out the window, my thoughts remained with Caesar.
Surely the film and the letter could not be traced to him? But
I checked into a Kupang hotel and immediately phoned Caesar to
warn him.

"Caesar, the Indonesians detained me and found your film. They
took the film and your letter...do you understand? I'm sorry,
Caesar, I'm so sorry. You must be very careful."

"I understand, Dennis... yes, I understand," he said. A pause.

"Dennis... I love you."


Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1167   Camara testifies in court
gn:tapol     reg.easttimor12:45 pm  Apr  4, 1992

Source: Jakarta Post. Date: 1 April 1992. Abridged

CAMARA OUTLINES JUSTIFICATIONS FOR NOV. 19 DEMONSTRATION

The alleged mastermind of the Nov 19 demonstration by 70 East
Timorese here testified yesterday that it was intended to urge
the Indonesian government to correct its 16 years of mistakes
in East Timor and to build a more harmonious relationship with
the people there.

Joao Freitas da Camara, 37, said in testimony at the trial of
Agapito Cardoso, 25, who was charged with publicly expressing
hostility towards the government, that the demonstration was
not launched to undermine or hurt the government. Da Camara
himself is being tried separately on subversion charges.

"It's just that we could not stay inactive while our brothers
were being shot dead. We had to protest. We wanted to protest
against all the actions in East Timor which were not in
accordance with human rights from the beginning until the
tragedy of Nov. 12."

The Nov 12 incident was the result of the Indonesian
occupation in East Timor since Dec. 7 1975, he said. Da
Camara, who was once arrested on Oct 20 1986 for what he
called human rights activities, admitted that he was the
mastermind and leader of the Nov 19 demonstrations in front of
the UN building and some embassies in Jakarta.

He also paid for the students' accommodation here, except for
their meals, with the money he received from an Australian
organisation. The students participating in the demonstration
came from various cities in Java and Bali.

He told the court that originally they had planned only to
demonstration in front of the UN building but when the UN
official they met rejected their request - that the
international body talk with members of the DPR (House of
Representatives) to guarantee their safety - they decided to
go to the foreign embassies as well.

Da Camara said be asked permission from the UN staff and
several police officers, saying: "We want to demonstrate in
front of every embassy building," and one of the uniformed
police officers answered: "Go ahead."

Later after the police arrested them, he said he was beaten
inside the police van but not during the interrogation
sessions. The first interrogation session at the police
precinct was long and tiring, lasting from that afternoon
until 6am the next morning, he said.

He said he believed that since the demonstration was conducted
peacefully, calmly and in an orderly manner, the police would
let the demonstrators go, but this was not the case.
The session was adjourned to Thursday.
Witness reprimanded

At another trial session for Virgilio da Silva Guterres, 26,
a student of the National Institute of Technology (ITN) in
Malang, Judge Tuaradja Siregar reprimanded witness Antonio
Lopez, 26, who used the term "massacre" instead of "incident"
when describing the Nov 12 tragedy in Dili in which 50 East
Timorese demonstrators were killed in a clash (sic) with the
police (sic).

Another witness, Antonio Mario Soares, 23, said he did not
object to integration of East Timor and Indonesia but he felt
solidarity with the victims of the incident. The session was
adjourned to Thursday.

At the trial of Dominggus Bareto de Jesus Vas, 29, the
defendant told the court that when the embassies of Japan and
Australia did not open the door for them he felt cheated by Da
Camara because he had not guaranteed their safety and
acceptance. Asked why did he did not separate himself from the
demonstrators, he said he did not know Jakarta and could have
easily got lost. He said he recognised East Timor as part of
Indonesia and would not join any other anti-integration
activities.


Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1170Timor Gap
jinglisreg.easttimor 8:59 pm  Apr  4, 1992

Japanese Participation in Timor Gap Development
(Summary of article in Sekai magazine, April 1992)
                                                                    
A Japanese company's participation in oil development in the Timor  
Gap and a grassroots protest campaign were reported in an article  
in the April edition of the monthly magazine, Sekai "The World."   
The writer, Niida Ran, summarizes world reaction to the November    
massacre in Dili, Indonesia's damage control efforts, and the Peace 
Mission ship, Lusitania Expresso.  Meanwhile, he reports, moves are 
afoot by companies in Japan where "with the exception of reactions 
from some citizens groups (the massacre and its aftermath) was      
largely passed over in silence"that fly in the face of recent     
events.                                                            
                                                                   
The companies are Indonesian Petroleum (INPEX) and a subsidiary of  
Nippon Oil, the (country's) largest petroleum wholesaler. Both      
companies won contracts for one lot each in the Timor Gap area where
oil development is being carried out under the joint authority of
Indonesia and Australia.
                                                                   
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun of January 4, 1992, the two oil    
companies are expected to invest some \5.5 billion over the next six
years for drilling and development in their respective lots in this 
area, which is considered as promising as offshore Vietnam.        
                                                                   
Since a suit over this region brought by Portugal is in progress in 
the International Court of Justice ("A decision is expected at the  
end of next year"), this means that Japanese companies are among    
those jumping the gun on the decision in order "to get their hands  
on the oil."                                                       
                                                                    
"In response, the Free East Timor Japan Coalition, a network of     
grassroots groups that respect the East Timorese' right of         
selfdetermination and support their struggle, has called for a     
boycott of Nippon Oil.  'Oil development in a disputed area without 
consultations with the parties concerned is tantamount to           
"plunder", says the coalition.' It is issuing stickers calling on   
consmers to boycott Nippon Oil products and is planning protests at 
the main office and local company offices."                        
(Edited/translated by Jean Inglis)


Forwarded and abridged from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1171"Oh dear, not genocide..."
web:etanreg.easttimor 4:29 pm  Apr  5, 1992

The Globe and Mail, 4 April 1992. Front page of Saturday Focus section.

East Timor: WILL OTTAWA PUT ITS MONEY WHERE ITS MOUTH IS?

(Subhead) Brian Mulroney says his government will link foreign aid to human
rights. He has a prefect opportunity to make a point in the case of tiny
East Timor, the object of such ferocious aggression by Indonesia that it has
been likened to Cambodia and Afghanistan. To date, Canada has been
suprisingly -- shockingly -- muted in its outrage.

By Linda Hossie
Foreign Affairs Reporter
Toronto

Monique Landry's enthusiastic, rapid-fire conversation ground abruptly to
a halt. "Oh, dear," said the Minister of External Relations and
International Development. "If you're asking me the definition of ... I
wouldn't like you to cite me making a link between that term and
Indonesia. Genocide, surely is ... how should I say it?" She lapsed into
French. "It's the _effacement_ of a people."

The eradication of a people.

Genocide is a subject that comes up repeatedly in relation to Indonesia.
Its campaign of forced birth control, the massacre of innocent civilians
and the suppression of centuries-old cultures are all part of Indonesia's
repressive tactics on islands such as East Timor.

So how is it that Indonesia receives tens of millions of dollars from
Canada every year? That it is the third-largest recipient of Canadian
country-to-country aid? That Indonesian political leaders are made welcome
in Ottawa?

Those questions became national issues in October, when Indonesian
soldiers opened fire on a group of unarmed mourners in an East Timor
cemetery, killing as many as 200 of them. Only a month before, Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney had pledged that Canada would link foreign aid to
human-rights performance.

Following the massacre at Dili, East Timor's capital, Ottawa did in fact
protest to the Indonesia government. More to the point, it suspended $30
million worth of planned foreign-aid projects. Federal officials are now
waiting to see the fianl Indonesian report on the massacre and to monitor
Indonesia's reaction to a UN review before making a final decision on the
projects.

It's more than Canada has done in the past, but it falls far short of the
kind of pressure Mr. Mulroney implied in his October statement. A week ago,
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said his country will refuse further
aid from the Netherlands because it is pushing too hard on the human-rights
issue. Canada was actually named by Indonesian officials as a country that
has been more restrained.

In reaction to that bit of news, Canada's East Timor Alert Network, an
organization that has tried for years to raise awareness about the island
just north of Australia, held a demonstration yesterday in front of the
Indonesian consulate in Toronto. Only seven protesters showed up, a sad
reflection of Canadian ignorance of East Timor.

...

"I guess its a question of what you perceive to be the best way of going,"
said Howard Balloch, assistant deputy minister of the Asia and Pacific
branch of External Affairs. The chairman's statement "put more pressure on
them than any kind of measure [that would] say East Timor should never have
been put in Indonesia in the first place," he says. "We made a decision, I
guess, in 1975 or '76 that we were not going to recognize the annextion
[but] we were going to recognize that it was a fact" that Indonesia
controlled East Timor.

"You look for reasons" to explain Canada's low-key response, says Ed
Broadbent, president of the Montreal-based International Centre for Human
Rights and Democratic Development. "So what seems to be an obvious factor is
the hundreds of Canadian businesses [involved in Indonesia]. My own hunch
is that they don't misunderstand history. It just goes against their
economic interests."

Canada is hardly a big player in Indonesia. Trade between the two countries
in 1990 was worth about $500 million. The Canadian International
Development Agency's budget for Indonesia -- which has not been suspended
-- is $46 million. Canada sees opportunities for itself in Indonesia in
such fields as communications, engineering consultancy, mining equipment
and educational services.

That Canadian companies and universities have projects in Indonesia is a
sore point with many pro-Timor activists. The institutions themselves,
however, tend to toss the moral ball into the federal government's court.

Litton Sysytems Canada Ltd. of Toronto is typical. It tied up a shipment
of airborne radar systems to Indonesia less than a year ago and is in
competition to sell a flight-inspection system to the country's civil
aviation department.

"No Canadian company can export to another country other than the United
States without obtaining an export permit from the federal government,"
says Chuck Pittman, Litton's director of public relations. "They are the
people who do all the analysis. That's their business and they can do it a
lot more extensively than a private company can."

At the University of Guelph, which is working with CIDA on development
projects on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, "our debate is about the
ethics of being involved in countries in which there are obvious
human-rights violations," says Jim Shute, acting director of the Centre
for International Programs. "It is a very difficult one in Timor
because Indonesia's right to govern that country has never been recognized
by anyone.... I feel awkward that Canada has been so reluctant as a nation
to take a position on it."

...

There is some hope for change, however, says Benedict Anderson, director
of the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell University. "The political
situation is shakey in a way it hasn't been in 20 years. It's got a huge
debt." President Suharto is unpopular, he is facing an election "and needs
lots of money to make sure it comes out the way he wants it to."

Mr. Anderson believes middle powers like Canada and the Netherlands can
put pressure on the United States and Japan to come down hard on Indonesia
over human-rights offences. "That's why I think it's so important that
Canada do something," he says.

There is no similar sense of urgeny in Ottawa, in spite of repeated
reports of human-rights violations in the wake of the Dili massacre. Ms.
Landry, in fact, seems to see Indonesia in almost religious terms, as a
kind of repentant sinner seeking the path of truth.

"We think they do admit [their wrongdoing] and they're trying to address
the situation," she says. "I think we have fair reason to believe they're
acting in good faith."



Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1172Branco speaks out in Dili court
gn:tapolreg.easttimor 4:01 pm  Apr  6, 1992

Source: Kompas. Date: 28 March 1992. Original language:
Indonesian. Dateline: Jakarta. Abridged

ACCUSED ASKS FOR PASTOR'S VISIT EVERY SUNDAY

The accused, Francisco Miranda Branco, has asked the court
trying him for subversion for permission to be visited every
Sunday by a pastor in the period up to Easter. He raised this
because, up to the present, he said he has had only one visit
by a pastor since his arrest, and that was on Christmas Day
1991.

He was reading out his *eksepsi* (demurrer) in court on 26
March, after being charged with subversion for being the
architect of the 12 November demonstration.

He told the court he was summoned by the district police in
Dili on 25 November 1991 for investigation in connection with
the "Dili Incident". After ten days of interrogation, he was
moved to the police detention centre on 6 December because he
was suspected of involvement in the incident.

He is an official of the East Timor administration's Economic
Affairs Office. He said the 12 November demonstration was a
reaction to the clash [we would need to see the original
document to know whether he used the word *clash*] at Motael
Church on 28 October 1991 when Sebastiao Rangel was killed. "I
was suspected as the implementor [pelaku] of that incident."

He spoke in his demurrer at length about the history of East
Timor since the political unrest in Portugal.

He has been working at the Economic Affairs Department of the
East Timor regional administration since January 1986 and once
received a certificate of appreciation from the Home Affairs
Minister because he helped in the conduct of the general
election in East Timor.

"Since I started studying the history of Indonesia's
independence, the Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, I have
been very interested in the subject," said Branco.

But later, there were a number of incidents which led him to
change of mind and started reminding him of the situation
during Portuguese times. He mentioned specifically the exile
of East Timorese from the eastern sector (Los Palos, Viqueque
and Baucau) to Atauro Island.

He also spoke about the coffee monopoly, something which never
happened during the Portuguese era.

The reality with which the East Timorese were confronted
prompted the younger general to get involved in protests.

"The people of East Timor feel that they are being treated
like second-class citizens in their own country, despite
presidential regulation No 68/1988 [proclaiming that East
Timor shall be treated 'like any other province'].

"I did not feel the consequences personally because I enjoyed
privileges as a government employee."



Forwarded from GreenNet reg.easttimor conference:
Topic 1173Portugual's case in the ICJ
Brian.Bruntonreg.easttimor10:55 pm  Apr  7, 1992
(at f204.n900.z90.pegasus.oz.au)(From News system)

Some additional information on the case between Portugual
and Australia in the International Court of Justice.
Portugual has filed the memorials that details its
statement of claim to the court. If any one can get their
hands on a copy please let me know. Anyone in Lisbon or the
Hague ? It is likely that Australia will delay filing its
memorials in defence until after the end of this month when
it is expecting that the ICJ will hand down a decision in
the case Nauru v Australia.

Nauru is suing Australia  over the devestation left by the
phospate mine. Australia objected to Nauru's status to sue
as at the time Nauru was a colony. Australia is hoping that
a favourable judgment on this preliminary point will assist
it in the preparation of its memorials in defence, but the
timing is rather fine as the Australian memorial has to be
in by early June. Apparently there is concern in Canberra
that the general accession to the jurisdiction of the ICJ
has laid Australia open to suit and that this is no longer
thought to be in the country's best interest. Watch for some
qualifying of accession to jurisdiction.

--- FD 1.99c
 * Origin: B.Brunton (90:900/204)
--