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28–426PDF 2006

EAST TIMOR: INSTABILITY AND FUTURE

PROSPECTS

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JUNE 28, 2006

Serial No. 109–207

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman 

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, 

Vice Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

PETER T. KING, New York 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado 

RON PAUL, Texas 

DARRELL ISSA, California 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan 

KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

TOM LANTOS, California 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

BARBARA LEE, California 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel 

ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa, Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana, Vice Chairman 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

ENI F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

JAMES W. MCCORMICK, Subcommittee Staff Director 

LISA M. WILLIAMS, Democratic Professional Staff Member 

DOUGLAS ANDERSON, Professional Staff Member & Counsel 

TIERNEN M. DONALD, Staff Associate 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESS 

Mr. Eric John, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific 

Affairs, U.S. Department of State ...................................................................... 4

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable James A. Leach, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Iowa, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific: Prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 2

The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in Congress from 

American Samoa: Prepared statement ............................................................... 3

Mr. Eric John: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 6

(1)

EAST TIMOR: INSTABILITY AND FUTURE 

PROSPECTS 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2006

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:34 p.m. in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. James A. Leach, 

(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. LEACH. The Subcommittee will come to order, and first let 

me announce that tomorrow at 2 o’clock we tentatively have another hearing with Assistant Secretary Hill on the subject of North 

Korea for those that are interested in that subject. 

In any regard, the Subcommittee meets today to discuss the 

timely topic, ‘‘East Timor: Instability and Future Prospects.’’ We 

appreciate Deputy Assistant Secretary Eric John making himself 

available to testify on a situation still very much in flux. 

East Timor has had friends in the United States Congress for 

many years, preceding its emergence as a sovereign state in 2002, 

most notably, my home State Senator, Tom Harkin, who has for 

decades been Congress’s most persistent advocate for the Timorese 

people. Thus many in Washington have watched with concern and 

sadness the events of recent weeks as circumstances on the ground 

spiraled into unexpected and violent lawlessness. We hope with the 

arrival of foreign peacekeepers and the resignation of Prime Minister Alkatiri the situation has turned a corner, and that the people 

of East Timor and their elected representatives can refocus their 

energies on constructing a stable and prosperous future. But with 

fresh violence and arson in the last 24 hours, we recognize how 

precarious the situation remains. 

Before posing a few general questions to help frame our discussion today, I would like to note two important points. 

First, we want to convey to East Timorese President Gusmao our 

wishes for every success in his efforts to form a government that 

will have enough popular support to end the political crisis, reinforce East Timor’s democratic institutions, and promote the peace 

necessary for the economic development so desperately needed by 

this young nation. 

Second, we want to express our thanks to those countries who 

have demonstrated such impressive regional leadership by responding to the East Timorese Government’s request for troops to restore 

order. Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal have committed their servicemen to the difficult and dangerous work of 

2

keeping the peace and disarming street gangs. We wish them safety and success in their mission, and note with admiration the regional security cooperation embodied by their efforts. 

It is my hope today that we will be able to address a number of 

questions that I will go into later, but at this point let me just turn 

to Mr. Faleomavaega. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Leach follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES A. LEACH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND

THE PACIFIC

The Subcommittee meets today to discuss the timely topic ‘‘East Timor: Instability 

and Future Prospects.’’ We appreciate Deputy Assistant Secretary Eric John making 

himself available to testify on a situation that is still very much in flux. 

East Timor has had friends in the U.S. Congress for many years preceding its 

emergence as a sovereign state in 2002, most notably my home state Senator Tom 

Harkin who has for decades been Congress’ most persistent advocate for the Timorese people. Thus, many in Washington have watched with concern and sadness the 

events of recent weeks, as circumstances on the ground spiraled into unexpected 

and violent lawlessness. We hope that, with the arrival of foreign peacekeepers and 

the resignation of former Prime Minister Alkatiri, the situation has turned a corner, 

and that the people of East Timor and their elected representatives can refocus 

their energies on constructing a stable and prosperous future. But with fresh violence and arson in the last 24 hours, we recognize how precarious the situation remains. 

Before posing a few general questions to help frame our discussion today, I would 

like to note two important points. 

First, we want to convey to East Timorese President Gusmao our wishes for every 

success in his efforts to form a government that will have enough popular support 

to end the political crisis, reinforce East Timor’s democratic institutions, and promote the peace necessary for the economic development so desperately needed by 

his young nation. 

Second, we want to express our thanks to those countries who have demonstrated 

such impressive regional leadership by responding to the East Timorese government’s request for troops to restore order. Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and 

Portugal have committed their servicemen to the difficult and dangerous work of 

keeping the peace and disarming street gangs. We wish them safety and success in 

their mission, and note with admiration the regional security cooperation embodied 

by their joint efforts. 

It is my hope that today’s hearing will help provide answers to the following questions:

• What are the current political, security, and humanitarian circumstances in 

East Timor, and the prospects for stability in the short to mid-term?

• What form is any new UN mission to East Timor likely to take, and what 

is the United States advocating on that subject? Recent public remarks by 

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, implied skepticism about any future UN peacekeeping role, even though the Secretary General has not yet 

submitted his recommendations for future UN presence, as requested by the 

Security Council.

• Has the United States been penny-wise but pound-foolish in its approach to 

East Timor during the past couple years? In other words, by pushing for a 

more rapid drawdown of UN presence than some experts were advising, and 

by proposing reduced levels of bilateral assistance even before Timor has access to the full income from its oil revenues, did we increase the possibility 

of the increased costs that the world is now facing as the result of the recent 

upheaval?

• And finally, what lessons does the recent unrest hold for future activities 

within East Timor by multilateral and bilateral donors, as well as by the 

Timorese government itself? For example, has it affected the relative priority 

of broad-based economic development, job creation, and professional police 

training?

I look forward to the testimony of the Deputy Assistant Secretary.

3

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Let me begin by thanking you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this meeting. It is a time of great concern both 

for myself and also for other Members of the Subcommittee. 

In August 1999, the people of East Timor voted for their independence. East Timorese people have walked steadily toward building a free and independent people since that time. 

While the violence of that year was a setback, it was not a roadblock. East Timor has been an example to another illegally occupied area, West Papua, which in my hope will soon also receive its 

long-promised road for self-determination, and these are facts, Mr. 

Chairman, in terms of how that province has been treated historically both by the United Nations and also even by our own country, 

as well as it was done by the former President of Indonesia. Of 

course, I won’t get into that, Mr. Chairman. 

I also want to express my appreciation to the great Senator of 

your State, Senator Harkin, who has been a tremendous voice and 

advocate of the people of East Timor to be given the right of selfdetermination. 

It was my privilege to attend the plebescite that was conducted 

in East Timor in 1999, who with now President of Papua, New 

Guinea, Mr. Michael Semari. I certainly want to commend former 

President Carter and the members of his staff who were all there 

to observe the plebescite that took place at the time. 

East Timor has engaged in two internationally-monitored elections. In addition, East Timor has attempted to manage the results 

of its long occupation with trials of human rights violations and 

atrocities that were committed by the Indonesian military. 

Since March of this year, however, major setbacks have occurred, 

accusations of supported violent militias from the member’s cabinet, and have caused mass rioting and the recent resignation of the 

prime minister. 

The question is, is East Timor on the verge of further instability? 

Have the Australian peacekeepers on the ground reacted and what 

circumstances are needed to encourage future stability of this country? 

Again, I want to personally extend my welcome to Mr. John, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department, and I look 

forward to asking him some question concerning this issue. 

I want to thank you also, Mr. Chairman, if we are going to hold 

a hearing on North Korea tomorrow, hopefully, I sincerely hope 

that we will be able to accomplish that task. There are some very 

serious questions and very serious implications on the latest development happening out of the Korean Peninsula. 

Again, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing from Mr. John’s 

testimony, and thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Faleomavaega follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, A

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM AMERICAN SAMOA

Mr. Chairman: 

Let me begin by thanking the Chairman for holding his meeting, during a time 

of great concern both for myself, and for the other members of the Subcommittee. 

In August 1999, the people of East Timor voted for their independence. The East 

Timorese people have worked steadily towards building a free and independent people since that time. While the violence of that year was a setback, it was not a roadblock. 

4

East Timor has also been an example to another illegally occupied area West 

Papua, which it is hoped will soon also receive its long promised vote for self determination. 

East Timor has engaged in two internationally monitored elections. In addition, 

East Timor has attempted to manage the results of its long occupation with trials 

of human rights violators in Indonesia and the joint Truth Commission. 

Since March of this year, however, major setbacks have ensued. Accusations of 

supporting violent militias from a member of his cabinet have caused mass rioting 

and the recent resignation of the Prime Minister. 

Is East Timor on the verge of further instability? How have the Australian peacekeepers on the ground reacted? What circumstances are needed to encourage future 

stability? 

Once again, let me welcome our witness, and await his comments this afternoon.

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for calling this hearing, and I have the privilege of serving on the Democracy Assistance Commission led by Chairman Dave Dreier, and we 

have been looking forward to working with East Timor’s emerging 

democracy, and just a real disappointment for us as we see that 

country having such turmoil, but I know that I am personally 

grateful for the nation of Australia for their coming in to help restore order. 

I know democracies are difficult to put together, but I know I am 

very hopeful and I appreciate your service and look forward to the 

information you provide today, and appreciate the leadership of our 

Chairman to get the Committee together. 

Mr. LEACH. Thank you. 

Let me introduce Assistant Secretary Eric G. John. Secretary 

John is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, a rank that 

I never attained. I was a hefty member of the Junior Foreign Service. The Secretary has served principally in Korea, but also Vietnam and Bangkok. He is a fellow Midwesterner, which we think 

is a high accolade, a graduate of Georgetown University as well as 

the National War College. 

Welcome, Eric. Please proceed as you see fit. Your full statement 

will be placed in the record without objection, and proceed as you 

wish. 

STATEMENT OF MR. ERIC JOHN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Mr. JOHN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee. 

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about the situation in East Timor today. The Administration and, specifically, the 

East Asia Bureau at the State Department are working diligently 

to address the many challenges that confront East Timor today, 

and the goals are clear. We want to work with the international 

community and the United Nations to help East Timor overcome 

its immediate challenges, and assist the young nation in becoming 

a stable and prosperous democracy in Southeast Asia. 

I won’t go over the history. I think all of you know the history 

well of East Timor. It is the first nation in the 21st century, the 

youngest nation in the world, and it is a democracy that all of us 

want to see succeed. 

5

Unfortunately, today, after years of UN assistance, we are almost back again to where we were with an Australian-led international security force on the ground in East Timor. The current 

instability there began with the outbreak of violence in April, 

which then descended into a breakdown of law and order, and a political stalemate between President Xanana Gusmao and his supporters, and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and his loyalists. 

Earlier this year, in March, the commander of East Timor’s defense force dismissed 591 striking soldiers, or about 40 percent of 

that entire force. These dismissed soldiers were taking part in a 

strike that had commenced in February based on alleged discrimination within the military ranks by soldiers from the eastern parts 

of the country against those from the west. 

After their dismissal, many of the ex-soliders began to demonstrate in the capital of Dili. Unfortunately, on April 28th violence 

broke out, and the military pursued and killed an uncertain number of ex-soldiers in the western part of the city. 

I was there 3 days later and witnessed the aftermath of this destruction with burned-out homes, burned-out cars, markets that 

had been destroyed and abandoned. The outbreak of violence led to 

further societal fissures and violence between and among various 

factions of the police and military services. 

As East Timor’s National Police completely disintegrated in Dili, 

the city became witness to gang activities such as looting and arson 

attacks committed by groups of easterners and westerners against 

one another. However, at no time were foreigners targeted. 

The situation rapidly deteriorated. President Gusmao took control of the Timorese military and police forces after consulting with 

the Council of State, and the Government of East Timor invited security forces from Australia, Portugal, Malaysia, and New Zealand 

to reestablish order in the country. 

There are now approximately 2,700 foreign military and police 

forces in East Timor, mostly under Australian command, which 

have substantially restored order to the country. 

The events of the past few months exacerbated tension between 

President Xanana Gusmao and then-Prime Minister Alkatiri. The 

President asked the prime minister to resign, citing the prime minister’s mishandling of the security crisis as well as allegations that 

he had authorized the distribution of arms to militants of the ruling FRETILIN Party. 

We encouraged both leaders to peacefully resolve their differences in accordance with the Timorese Constitution and the rule 

of law. 

Several thousand anti-Alkatiri demonstrators, primarily from the 

western district, came to Dili and demanded that the prime minister step down. Protesters from the eastern districts are expected 

to also travel to Dili to express support for former Prime Minister 

Alkatiri and the FRETILIN Party. 

Prime Minister Alkatiri initially resisted calls for his resignation, 

but he did submit his letter of resignation, as you know, on Monday this week. The President has accepted it, and is expected to 

name a transitional government within the next few days. 

The United States is working with East Timor’s numerous bilateral donors and friends to determine how best to assist it during 

6

this crisis. We are consulting with them on the mandate of a successor UN mission requested by the Government of East Timor. 

The current mission, UNOTIL, has been temporarily extended 

until August 20. 

We believe a UN successor mission should include a robust electoral assistance program, a strong police component, and civilian 

and human rights advisors. Proper police training will also be important since only a professional and impartial police force can get 

the support of the Timorese people. 

The UN has dispatched a Needs Assessment team to East Timor, 

which we understand will undertake an analysis and make recommendations to Secretary-General Annan. After receiving a report from the Secretary-General, the U.S. Security Council members will determine the mandate of a proposed successor UN mission. 

The United States mission in East Timor, led by Ambassador 

Rees, has done a superb job since the crisis began in April, and this 

includes both of our American as well as our East Timorese and 

logically engaged staff. 

I would like to thank all of them and those who traveled to Dili 

on temporary day for all their hard work and dedication during 

this crisis. 

Let me conclude by thanking Congress for its generosity in the 

amount of United States foreign assistance it has allocated for East 

Timor since 1999. East Timor has been one of our largest recipients 

of United States aid on a per capita basis. Besides bilateral assistance, the U.S. also has contributed via its assessed share of UN 

missions there. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development has an office in 

East Timor, and it is focused on three sectors: Democracy and governance, economic growth and development, and healthcare. We 

will need to take a fresh look at these programs in light of the 

weaknesses exposed by the current instability in East Timor. Besides starting up a professional police force, creative ways to accelerate employment will be necessary. 

We look forward to working both with other nations of the 

United Nations and with Congress to help East Timor overcome 

the biggest challenge it has faced since its independence. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. John follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. ERIC JOHN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU

OF EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Chairman Leach, Members of the Subcommittee, I am very pleased to have this 

opportunity to speak to you about the current situation in East Timor. This Administration and specifically the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau at the Department of State are working diligently to address the immense challenges that confront this fledgling state, the first nation of the 21st century. Our goals are clear: 

we want to work with the international community and the UN to help East Timor 

overcome its immediate challenges and assist the young nation in becoming a stable 

and prosperous democracy in Southeast Asia. 

Before delving into the current crisis, it is useful to review the events that 

brought about East Timor’s independence. In January 1999, then-Indonesian President Habibie announced his government’s desire to hold a popular consultation or 

referendum in which the people of East Timor would choose between autonomy 

within Indonesia or independence. The referendum was held on August 30, 1999 

and 78% of those eligible to vote voted for independence, with an almost universal 

7

voter turnout. However, after the results were announced on September 4, Timorese 

militias organized and supported by the Indonesian military killed approximately 

1300 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into West Timor as refugees. The 

majority of East Timor’s infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water 

supply systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of the country’s electrical grid were 

destroyed. This violence only ended with the intervention of Australian-led peacekeeping troops. Thus, at its birth, East Timor faced huge challenges, among them 

reconciling its people and rebuilding its physical infrastructure. 

Fast forward to the present, and again there is an Australian-led international 

security force on the ground in East Timor. The current instability in East Timor 

began with the outbreak of violence in April, which then descended into a breakdown of law and order and a political stalemate between President Xanana Gusmao 

and his supporters and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and his loyalists. Earlier this 

year in March, the Commander of East Timor’s Defense Force (the F–FDTL) dismissed 591 striking soldiers—or about 40% of the entire force—of the F–FDTL. 

These dismissed soldiers were taking part in a strike that had commenced in February, based on alleged discrimination within the military ranks by soldiers from 

the eastern parts of the country against those from the west. After their dismissal, 

many of these ex-soldiers began to demonstrate in the capital of Dili. Unfortunately, 

on April 28, violence broke out and the military pursued and killed an uncertain 

number of ex-soldiers in a western part of the city. 

This outbreak of violence led to further societal fissures and violence between and 

among various factions of the police and military services. As East Timor’s National 

Police completely disintegrated in Dili, the city became witness to gang activities 

such as looting and arson attacks committed by groups of easterners and westerners 

against one another. However, at no time were foreigners targeted. 

The situation rapidly deteriorated, President Gusmao took control of the Timorese 

military and police forces after consulting with the Council of State, and the Government of East Timor invited security forces from Australia, Portugal, Malaysia, 

and New Zealand to reestablish order in the country. There are now approximately 

2700 foreign military and police forces in East Timor, mostly under Australian command, which have substantially restored order to the country. 

These events of the past few months exacerbated tensions between President 

Xanana Gusmao and then-Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. The President asked the 

Prime Minister to resign, citing the Prime Minister’s mishandling of the security crisis as well as allegations that he had authorized the distribution of arms to ‘‘militants’’ of the ruling FRETILIN Party. We encouraged both leaders to peacefully resolve their differences in accordance with the Timorese constitution and the rule of 

law. Several thousand anti-Alkatiri demonstrators, primarily from the western districts, came to Dili, and demanded that the Prime Minister step down. Protestors 

from the eastern districts are expected to also travel to Dili to express support for 

former Prime Minister Alkatiri and the FRETILIN Party. Prime Minister Alkatiri 

initially resisted calls for his resignation, but he submitted his letter of resignation 

this Monday, June 26. The President has accepted the resignation and is expected 

to name a transitional government within the next few days. 

The U.S. is working with East Timor’s numerous bilateral donors and friends to 

determine how best to assist it during this crisis. We are consulting with them on 

the mandate of a successor UN mission requested by the Government of East Timor. 

The current mission, UNOTIL, has been temporarily extended until August 20. We 

believe a UN successor mission should include a robust electoral assistance program, a strong police component, and civilian and human rights advisors. Proper 

police training will be important since only a professional and impartial police force 

can get the support of the Timorese people. The UN has dispatched a Needs Assessment team to East Timor, which we understand will undertake an analysis and 

make recommendations to Secretary General Kofi Annan. After receiving a report 

from the Secretary General, UN Secretary Council members will determine the 

mandate of a proposed successor-UN mission. 

The U.S. Mission in East Timor led by Ambassador Rees has done a superb job 

since the crisis began in April. I would like to thank them and those who traveled 

to Dili on temporary duty for all their hard work and dedication. 

Let me conclude by thanking Congress for its generosity in the amount of U.S. 

foreign assistance it has allocated for East Timor since 1999. East Timor has been 

one of our largest recipients of U.S. aid on a per capita basis. (Besides bilateral assistance, the U.S. has contributed almost $500 million via its assessed share of UN 

missions there.) The U.S. Agency for International Development has an office in 

East Timor and has focused on three sectors: democracy and governance, economic 

growth and development, and health care. We will need to take a fresh look at these 

programs in light of the weaknesses exposed by the current instability in East 

8

Timor. Besides standing up a professional police force, creative ways to accelerate 

employment will be necessary. We look forward to working both with other nations 

at the UN and with Congress to help East Timor overcome the biggest challenge 

since its independence.

Mr. LEACH. I appreciate your statement and I want to just focus 

on one aspect. You seem to be representing the State Department 

as being extremely positive about a new UN mission. There have 

been hints at the UN that our Ambassador, Mr. Bolton, has expressed skepticism about a new UN mission, so I take it from your 

testimony that the United States is going to be very supportive of 

a renewed UN mission, and that we will be working with the Secretary-General in this regard. Is that correct? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes, we are working very closely with the core group 

members, which are Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, 

U.K., and Portugal, working on the details of what type of mission 

that we would want, and we are also working closely with the UN 

Security Council. 

So I think all of these members see a need for United Nations’ 

work there, and we are going to help shape that. 

Mr. LEACH. Let me just say, personally, that seems very reasonable, and I don’t know a country in the world that has more interest about a smaller group of people than East Timor, and there is 

a lot of support for anything that can be done to stabilize this country. 

There is a sense that the U.S. at the UN has been indicating a 

desire for a more rapid drawdown of UN forces in the past few 

years in some other countries. I don’t know if that is exactly the 

case or not. I haven’t done any assessment or reassessment of this 

circumstance. 

Mr. JOHN. Well, I think the core group and the UNSCs were 

going through the last few years looking at the situation in East 

Timor. The assessment at each of the stages was that the drawdown of the UN program in East Timor was appropriate and commensurate with the analysis at the time of how the East Timorese 

were stepping up the role to fill those vacuums. 

It is obvious in hindsight right now that that drawdown was inappropriate; that the East Timorese weren’t ready to take care of 

their own security forces. So I think the best face that could be put 

on this is that it is obvious that this needs to be looked at as a lesson learned, and how we move forward with UN in the future 

needs to build on these terrible lessons that we have learned in the 

last few months. 

Mr. LEACH. Well, I think that is a very thoughtful perspective. 

One final question. As we look at U.S. role and bilateral assistance, there is also the role of the multilateral institutions, the 

World Bank, IMF, et cetera. Does your department within the Department work with IMF and World Bank on East Timor-type 

issues? 

Mr. JOHN. We do. To be honest, I haven’t been looking at that 

at the moment. The main needs, if I could—you know, what we are 

looking at right now, we need to get a good grip on the security 

situation as events overnight showed, and that is going to take at 

least a number of months. We also have to get a grip on the election process, which is the East Timorese are looking at next spring, 

9

but that could be moved up. That is really a decision to be made, 

and then we also need to look at getting the East Timorese security 

forces up to snuff, get them up to what we need. 

The World Bank/IMF programs, I think, would need to—yes, we 

would like to work with them and help build East Timor. If you 

look at one of the roots of the problems, I think, it is that you have 

70 percent underemployment or unemployment in East Timor, and 

that is just not a recipe to move forward as a nation. We need to 

find a way to get those people better jobs or jobs. 

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Faleomavaega. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Secretary John, it is my understanding that East Timor was a 

Portuguese colony some 300 years before it was controlled by the 

Indonesian military. My reason for asking the question is the people speak Portuguese, right? 

Mr. JOHN. The people primarily speak either Tetum or Indonesian. Portuguese is a smaller percentage. The leadership speak 

Portuguese, but in fact one of the roots of the division is that a lot 

of the East Timorese don’t speak the official language of the country, which is Portuguese. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Am I also to understand that most of the 

people there are also Catholics? They are Christians. They are not 

Muslims. 

Mr. JOHN. Yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. And I am curious. Alkatiri is not East 

Timorese, am I correct? Is he a Muslim? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, you mean ethnically East Timorese? He is a 

Muslim, and yes, he is not ethnically——

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. What percentage of the population is Muslim? 

Mr. JOHN. I would have to get back to you. I think it is less 

than—it is under 10 percent; maybe under 5 percent. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Could that have some bearing or influence 

at least from Indonesia? They came in and lived in East Timor 

some period of time? I mean, I am just trying to raise the issue 

here. Were there those problems here between those who are Muslims and those who are Christians, Catholics? 

Mr. JOHN. The religion, as far as I know, is not playing much of 

a role in the current crisis. I think where Prime Minister Alkatiri 

comes into the rift is that he lived in Mozambique for much of his 

adult career and trained in Mozambique, and so in part it is a—

the overseas’ leadership of East Timor that was outside of the 

country for much of the past recent history, and then came back. 

There is a rift between what some would view as a imported 

leadership versus those who remained in East Timor throughout 

the crisis. So I think it is more of a rift like that rather than religious rift. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I just want to understand this a little better. I assume that he was elected from one of the districts to be 

a member of the Parliament? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. And then as the process, his party took the 

majority or coalition, and that is how he ended up becoming prime 

minister? 

10

Mr. JOHN. The FRETILIN Party basically is the Parliament. It 

is one party dominates, so there is no coalition. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. What exactly were the reasons for his dismissal of the 600 workers? 

Mr. JOHN. I would have to refer back to my notes here. It was 

the—the 600, the 591 military that he dismissed, the 591 were alleging that there was discrimination against them because they 

were easterners, I believe, and—well, there were westerners and 

they were being—their career opportunities were being hindered by 

those easterners who controlled the military. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. What seems to be the division between the 

easterners and the westerners? 

Mr. JOHN. I think the role that they took in the fight for independence; that the westerners, because of their proximity to the 

border with Indonesia, were viewed by easterners as less, I think, 

committed to the struggle for independence. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. And there is still a lot of resentment within 

the country about what happened before the independence. One of 

the things that I understand, there was a review of the results of 

the recent trials of those military Indonesia officers that were tried, 

and they got away with almost nothing in the criminal courts that 

were taken. You know, the atrocities that were committed against 

the East Timorese during the plebescite period and even afterwards, and could this be also one of the reasons why there is this 

resentment between the West Timorese and the East Timorese? 

Is there a sense that the West Timorese are more associated with 

Indonesia than those from the eastern region of the country? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes. Yes, I believe there is that. Yes, the Indonesian 

role in 1999, in committing atrocities there, there is some component that still echoes today, and I think that is yet another reason 

that we need to push so hard for accountability for Indonesia’s role 

in those atrocities in 1999. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. When East Timor requested assistance from 

these countries, shouldn’t the process have initiated, or should 

have started from the United Nations rather than Australia unilaterally sending troops there because of the request of President 

Gusmao? 

Mr. JOHN. I think we are fortunate that Australia was able to 

send troops in so quickly; that if we had waited for a UN request 

for troops to go in, we wouldn’t have been able to get them in so 

quickly. We are still working—you know, we are still working within the UN system. The East Timorese Government, both the prime 

minister and the President, were comfortable with having international peacekeepers. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Well, it seems to be the criticism of our foreign policy toward the Pacific region that Australia is the deputy 

sheriff, and we just let Australia do its thing without real consultations, and I would think that the United Nations should be initially 

involved rather than Australia doing what they did. 

Mr. JOHN. Well, we had between 500 and 600 Malaysians come 

in at the same time. They are, let us say, more than 20 percent 

of the international peacekeeping force that we have there. New 

Zealanders came in at the same time, and the Portuguese sent several hundred soon after that. So there was—you know, I think the 

11

core group of the United Nations was de facto acting in concert. 

There is great consultation among the core group members. 

Although Australia took a very valuable leadership role, I would 

hate to describe them as kind of a co-sheriff of the region. I think 

it was something that was really a consensus among those Asian 

nations coming to help, as well as Portugal. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I am sure that all these countries had real 

serious economic interests in East Timor for reasons why it 

prompted them to do what they did. But I want your response. Is 

our policy in the Pacific region that Australia is more or less our 

leader as a deputy sheriff in the region? Before we do anything, we 

have to ask Australia for their input? 

Mr. JOHN. No more than we would ask any other ally in the East 

Asia and Pacific region, or any other country where we were going 

to help. I don’t think that is a correct characterization of the Australian role. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Well, that seems to be the perception a lot 

of the island country leaders have of the region. Australia is known 

as the ‘‘Big Boy’’ in the area, and we have to listen to whatever 

Australia suggests or does before we do anything. But I just want 

to pass that on to you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and as I indicated, I am 

on the Democracy Assistance Commission, and I detect that you 

feel like democracy still can proceed? 

Mr. JOHN. I think the large bulk of East Timorese are very committed to democracy, and that is the one thing that, you know, as 

I talked with Ambassador Rees about the breadth of East Timor 

and East Timorese commitment to democracy, it is broad and it is 

deep. So I think over the long run the seeds are there for a very 

vibrant democracy. 

Mr. WILSON. And even with a government that seems to be one 

party? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes, I think it can develop. I mean, obviously you 

don’t want something that is going to be a one-party democracy ad 

infinitum. 

Mr. WILSON. Right. 

Mr. JOHN. But I think the desire is there to develop a vibrant 

democracy. 

Mr. WILSON. And another part of nation building would be the 

security forces. Are the security forces being developed? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, they had been developed, and clearly not well 

enough. One problem with the police force, for example, is that—

you know, when I was there in early May I was talking with some 

of our United States police trainers who are out working, and we 

had, you know, I think more than a dozen nations who had been 

in training police forces in Timor, and there were all sorts of modalities that they were using. Each nation brings its own policing 

techniques to it. 

Well, you really need one nation in the lead, I think, on training 

police, maybe two, and adhering to one coherent model, and I think 

something like that would really help East Timor for the long run. 

12

The other question they are going to have to look at is, do you 

really need a military as well as a police force for a nation that 

small that does not face an external threat? That is something for 

the East Timorese to decide. 

Mr. WILSON. And with the development of the government, the 

development of security forces, the other leg would be the development of a civil society by way of the economy. What is the status 

on the development of—say the infrastructure of the country and 

the economy? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, the one big thing they have going for them on 

the development of the economy is oil, and there is a lot of offshore 

oil, and they have a petroleum fund with $350–400 million in it 

right now. 

They have worked to set up the structure of that fund so that 

they hopefully can escape the curse that a lot of other oil-rich countries have had where you have a lot of money but not a lot of jobs, 

and there are checks and balances to help with the distribution of 

those funds for infrastructure improvement. So at least there is a 

source to go after infrastructure to help create jobs. 

But aside from oil you have got a sort of boutique coffee-growing 

arrangement. Again not a high employment sector. They do need 

to develop a structure for growing jobs in the country. 

Mr. WILSON. And have they adopted laws for a free market economy? What is the status on that? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, this is where my information is sketchy. It is a 

relatively free market economy. We can get more information on 

that for you though. 

Mr. WILSON. And have they encouraged foreign direct investment 

in the country? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes, they do, and for example, the coffee arrangement 

is free trade coffee that they sell to Starbucks in the U.S., so they 

do welcome American companies. They do welcome foreign investors, you know, coming in to develop jobs. It is just a huge challenge for them with the education problems they face, the health 

problems, the infrastructure. There is a lot to develop. 

Mr. WILSON. I recently visited the former Portuguese colony of 

Cape Verde, and I was startled to see the potential of that country, 

but a significant relationship maintained with Portugal. Is there 

any tie of significant nature back to Portugal? 

Mr. JOHN. There is a strong tie between East Timor and Portugal. I think Portugal, you know, based on its pastoral in East 

Timor does want to see East Timor succeed as a nation. The official 

language, as I noted, of East Timor is Portuguese, the only place 

in the neighborhood where that is true, and there are a lot of nations that do want to see East Timor succeed, and fortunately their 

democracy is they want to see East Timor succeed. 

Mr. WILSON. Well, thank you very much for your efforts. Thank 

you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. LEACH. Let me just say, based on prior comments, that perspective, which is often difficult to apply to circumstances, we have 

had my good friend Mr. Faleomavaega mention the word ‘‘sheriff’’ 

and ‘‘deputy sheriff,’’ and sometimes the word ‘‘policeman’’ has been 

used for the United States about policemen for the world. 

13

All I can say is that whatever terms are used, I think the United 

States ought to be very clearly appreciative of Australian efforts. 

They are very impressive and they have been very quick and very 

stabilizing in a surprisingly unstable situation. 

I am really impressed with the number of people that have fled 

Dili; 150,000 is about 15 percent of the population——

Mr. JOHN. Yes. 

Mr. LEACH [continuing]. Of the whole country, and that implies 

internal divisions that are truly stark, and the whole assumption 

behind the creation of East Timor and the international support for 

it was that this was a cohesive group of people in contrast with 

other settings in the immediate area that were of a little different 

nature, and so the lack of cohesion is rather startling. 

Then when we come to understand a political party that is overwhelmingly in the majority status, but the prime minister from 

that party appears to have put forth a position that is highly contentious and possibly of an anarchist nature, that seems odd as 

well. 

Do you see this internal cohesion breaking down even further or 

do you think there is a good prospect that the country can come 

back in a way that doesn’t result in some sort of civil strife? 

Mr. JOHN. I think it is going to be a very rocky road ahead over 

the coming months. Those riffs are not going to be patched very 

easily, but I mean, I would kind of like to stand back and put a 

little bit of perspective on it, and as a nation it is only 3 years old, 

and I think for everybody to just look at what has happened in the 

last 2 or 3 months, and threw up their hands and think that there 

has been a massive failure here and it is not going to go anywhere 

is the wrong view. 

I think what we do need to look at are the strengths that East 

Timor has, and I think that if you look at the history of East Timor 

and how the East Timorese have pulled their nation from a colony 

through the period under Indonesia to now, you know, they are incredibly strong people that have gotten their independence. That 

bodes very well. 

The underlying economic factor of oil bodes very well for them. 

The strong deep-rooted believe they have in self-governance and democracy, I think, bodes very well. 

I think that we are going to need sort of the training wheels in 

the bike though a little bit longer than we had thought. There is 

going to need to be continued—the UN needs to be there with them 

side by side for a longer period than we thought, and these riffs 

might be there for decades, but they can become healthy riffs. I 

mean, I don’t think that a society that has a completely monocular 

view of the world is necessarily healthy; that perhaps the East 

Timorese can take these different experiences they bring to the 

table and turn it into a healthy dinavism. I would rather take the 

optimistic view where East Timor can go with this rich variety they 

have rather than the impossibility they have to mend these riffs. 

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Faleomavaega. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I noted with interest that—I think it was just this past Sunday, 

has the Foreign Minister, Mr. Horter, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has he actually submitted his resignation as Foreign Minister? 

14

Mr. JOHN. Yes, but he has offered his services and indicated his 

willingness to stay on in an interim government and beyond if he 

is asked to do so, so he has remained in the job and has been asked 

to do so. He is still functioning as the foreign and defense minister. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. One of the ironies of a democracy is the fact 

that here we have the FRETILIN, the ruling party, and I assume 

that as members of the ruling party it was the will of the people 

that brought them there in the first place, including Mr. Alkatiri. 

I mean, this is what democracy is all about. 

Of course, he made a decision that may run contrary to whatever 

it was that the privileges of these 600 employees which really precipitated the whole problem here, but what do we do because here 

now even President Gusmao is threatening to resign if Alkatiri continues to remain as prime minister? 

Of course, now Alkatiri intends to resign or has he already submitted his resignation? 

Mr. JOHN. He did submit his resignation and it was accepted by 

the President, so he is currently the ex-prime minister of East 

Timor. 

Yes, there are a lot of vexing problems, I think, with East Timor. 

One is, how do you get the electoral system right and how do the 

East Timorese fix it so that it is a more open and transparent democracy? 

I think one criticism over the past months, and it was exhibited 

in May during the FRETILIN Congress, is that when they were 

choosing their leader who would take them through the next election is that the system was too opaque and too stacked in favor of 

Prime Minister Alkatiri. That is something that I think the country 

is going to be looking at very closely, and how they adjust their system to make it more open. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Is there any indication that President 

Gusmao plans on calling reelections? I suppose that would be the 

next clearer option that is available? They will just have to call reelections for a new Parliament? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, yes, he would be forming an interim government 

in the next few days, and then that interim government would take 

up that question, but when they would call those remains open, 

and I think they would look to the United Nations, perhaps, for assistance in moving that forward. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. The Chairman had given an indication earlier about our Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador 

Bolton’s strong views of the United Nations and having peacekeeping forces or whatever involvement the United Nations plans 

on doing with this. I guess it does come before the Security Council 

before there is a vote by the General Assembly, the process at 

least. 

Mr. JOHN. Yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. So you anticipate that we will be sending 

UN peacekeeping forces or team members that will be advising the 

national leaders of East Timor to do things peacefully rather than 

having the presence of military like we currently have? 

Mr. JOHN. Of course, I don’t want to prejudge the assessment 

team’s conclusions, and the UN assessment team that is out there 

right now, but my guess is that the United Nations and the core 

15

group, which we are a member, are going to be looking very seriously at helping East Timorese with security, at least a policing 

mission in East Timor. We are going to be looking at training the 

police in the longer run, and doing the policing in the shorter run, 

and also helping them with the electoral process. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I note with interest that East Timor is the 

poorest of all the Asian countries. Has there been any settlement 

of the oil fields between Australia and East Timor? I suspect that 

that is going to be one of the primary sources of revenue for the 

national government needs. 

Mr. JOHN. Yes, they have settled the division of offshore oil, and 

you know, where the money goes, and that is how the East Timorese got that initial tranche of $350–400 million, and of course there 

will be more on tap later. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Being the poorest country in Asia, what is 

the per capita income of the workers or the people there in East 

Timor? 

Mr. JOHN. I don’t know. Let me see if—$400——

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. $400 per annum? 

Mr. JOHN. Yes. So you can see where the $400 million oil fund 

for a population of 100,000 translates into a significant, hopefully, 

an economic infrastructure for the country if used properly. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. This gentleman, Labato, that was arrested, 

supposedly he had gotten some hit squads going after those who 

oppose Alkatiri’s policies? Any truth in that, that there was any 

conspiracy between him and Prime Minister Alkatiri? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, those are the accusations. I think that he had—

I believe the accusations in the media are at least that he had distributed weapons, but that question I would really leave up to the 

justice system, either East Timorese or if it is referred to an international justice system. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Please convey my personal regards to Ambassador Rees, or is he coming to Washington? 

Mr. JOHN. We are in touch daily, and I will. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. LEACH. Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. One final bit, and I appreciate your comment that 

the oil reserves could be a curse, because it never ceases to amaze 

me that what I wish for my State, that we had oil—it certainly 

would increase the per capita income—but it seems like with other 

countries, it just leads to instability and to insurrection to any 

number of levels of corruption. 

What have they organized to provide for the development of that 

industry, and to provide for the benefits to the maximum number 

of people who live in the country? 

Mr. JOHN. Well, the good part about that they have organized is 

it is almost sort of a lockbox type of fund, where the money goes 

into the fund and cannot be unilaterally distributed by any part of 

the government. So if the Administration, for example, were to 

want to allocate $30 million for a road infrastructure project in 

East Timor, that has to be approved by the other branches of the 

government, so you have a checks and balances system. And similarly, that you would assume that it is that much more difficult for 

the money to disappear with corruption. 

16

East Timor has seen the countless examples that other nations 

have gone through with the oil just not translating into jobs or infrastructure. But I think because of the difficulties of that lockbox 

and the steps that you have to go through to distribute the money, 

they haven’t distributed the money yet, so I can’t speak to the specific projects that they are going to do because they haven’t arrived 

at those yet. 

Mr. WILSON. And is the industry state-owned? Is it by royalty 

run by private companies——

Mr. JOHN. I believe it is state-owned. 

Mr. WILSON. State-owned. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. LEACH. Thank you. This has been a short hearing but I 

think a very helpful one, and just as Mr. Faleomavaega wants to 

extend his appreciation to our American Ambassador, I think all of 

us would like it very clear that in Washington we have a great deal 

of concern for the East Timorese people, and that is the reason for 

this hearing, and we have a great deal of hope for a very unifying 

few years in which the country can come together, and we look for 

an activist role of the United States and the international organizations. 

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. 

Mr. JOHN. Thank you very much. 

Mr. LEACH. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 2:19 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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