Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the article written by Dr Peter Carey [East Timor: the Challenge of Nation-building] which appeared online at http://www.theword.ie/cms/publish/article_500.shtml

Dr Carey must surely know that in any established country, soldiers who leave their barracks to publicly convey their dissent are court martialled because they have waived their right to ‘free speech’ and pledged their loyalty to their superiors. Unfortunately, the military court in East Timor was not, at the time, ready to conduct proceedings. So, when the soldiers left their premises to air their grievances it was considered by their superiors to be a case of mutiny and that their actions warranted dismissal. However, in the absence of a military court the question of whether their dismissal was right or wrong remained open for analysis.

Dr Carey claims that: “He [Mari Alkatiri] looked to a future where FRETILIN would remain the party of government for at least a generation”. It is an insult to the East Timorese electorate who cast their votes in 2001 under the supervision of United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). In that election, the East Timorese placed their trust in FRETILIN with Alkatiri as leader, by electing 55 seats out of 88. Prior to the election, the East Timorese National Council, led by Xanana Gusmăo, had advised UNTAET that the political party that won the election would be transformed into a government to draft the Constitution in order to save money. This fact is never mentioned in the article.

Further on, it is mentioned in the article that: “Alkatiri chaired private meetings with leading members of his cabinet, including his Interior Minister…” It would be better for your readers, especially given the allusion in the article to the Irish, for Dr Carey to (1) name those “leading members” who were present at the meeting and (2) give a detailed account of the decisions that were made. It is claimed that these meetings "appear to have sanctioned the transfer of arms to paramilitary groups as well as pro-Fretilin civilians". What evidence does Dr Carey have for this claim?

Furthermore, Dr Carey mentions that in “the October 2006 UN report, Alkatiri must take some of the blame for the violence…” Following this advice, an international judge was appointed to investigate Alkatiri’s so-called involvement in the distribution of the guns to civilians. In the event, the international judge finally informed Alkatiri on February 5, 2007 that the case against him has been dropped on account of lack of evidence.

Yours sincerely,

Estęvăo Cabral (Dr)
Visiting Research Fellow
Department of Political Science & International Studies
The University of Birmingham

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