VZCZCXRO9815
OO RUEHCHI RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHDT #0200/01 1211512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 011512Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2465
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0427
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0365
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0354
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0211
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0225
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0296
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0097
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 1786

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DILI 000200 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC MARR TT
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DILI SECURITY SITUATION: RETURN TO NORMAL IS SLOW 
AND UNCERTAIN 
 
REF: DILI 194 
 
DILI 00000200  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. Dili remains abnormally quiet following Friday's rioting and 
the security operations in response.  It appears that the armed 
forces (FDTL) have relinquished law enforcement responsibilities 
to the national police (PNTL), but they remain involved in 
patrolling.  Currently, there are five confirmed deaths and 
around 60 confirmed injured.  Rumors that FDTL killed an 
additional 30 to 60 people people continue to circulate, 
although these rumors are as yet unsubstantiated.  Both the UN 
Human Rights Unite and the Provedor's (ombudsmen) office were 
yesterday granted access to detainees, all of whom were 
reportedly released today.  Although there have been no 
significant disturbances or security operations in over 24 
hours, many Dili residents remain tense.  The number of people 
taking refuge in facilities in the city appears to have fallen, 
but some people departed the city during the day, primarily due 
to uncertainty and generalized fears rather than to specific 
threats.  End summary. 
 
Dili remains abnormally quiet 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. Although normal activity continues in many areas of Dili, the 
city overall is far less populated and busy than normal.  There 
has been a moderate increase in the number of commercial 
establishments open for business, and street markets in 
relatively unaffected areas are operating normally though at 
noticeably lower volume.  However, the two major markets remain 
closed. Taibesi market in the southeast of the city is almost 
all rubble (resulting from separate incidents earlier last week) 
with no commercial activity.  Comoro market in western Dili is 
intact, but only a few desultory vendors are open for business. 
There were some signs of people going about their normal daily 
business in Tasitolu, where the majority of the rioting damage 
took place, but all the usual roadside stalls remain empty. 
 
FDTL out of the law enforcement business? 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. According to FDTL leadership, the police have been fully in 
charge of law enforcement since yesterday afternoon.  The FDTL 
has set up five observation posts in the city's outskirts manned 
with soldiers ready to intervene "if needed".  In addition, 
military personnel (said to be military police) are carrying out 
joint patrols with the PNTL, but the Government's position is 
that such patrols are normal military police activities and that 
the military police function will be limited to law enforcement 
with respect to members of the military.  Embassy personnel 
observed during the day that the FDTL indeed no longer seemed to 
be carrying out any routine policing functions.  However, there 
was an overnight report from an Embassy employee with a relative 
among the dismissed soldiers that active-duty FDTL came to his 
home several times during the evening and harassed and 
threatened his family.  Another Embassy employee who has never 
been an FDTL member reports that four FDTL members went to his 
home on two separate occasions during the last 48 hours looking 
for him.  While these activities may or may not have been 
officially sanctioned, the continued harassment of dismissed 
soldiers' families --- and apparently of other citizens as well 
--- is among the factors causing continued fear and tension 
among the population of Dili. 
 
Updated casualty information 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. The information on casualties available from the National 
Hospital remains unchanged from yesterday: doctors at the 
hospital report approximately 60 injuries, 15 from gunshots, 
with two dead and one in critical condition.  A clinic located 
much nearer to the problem areas than the hospital reported 
that, contrary to expectations, they had not seen any patients 
resulting from the weekend violence.  Meanwhile, the Government 
has updated its official number of deaths to a total of five and 
an Embassy source confirmed that there are five bodies in the 
morgue. 
 
¶5. The rumor that many more people --- perhaps 30 to 60 --- had 
been killed in Tasitolu during the military operations there 
Friday night and Saturday morning (see reftel) has persisted. 
However, so far it has not been substantiated.  Reliable Embassy 
sources who have been speaking to people from Tasitolu stated 
that they have not been able to substantiate the rumors.  Both 
 
DILI 00000200  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the UN Human Rights Unit and the Provedor's office today sent 
teams to investigate these rumors in Tasitolu, and especially to 
interview members of the community who might have witnessed such 
extrajudicial killings.  So far, neither have reported finding 
any supporting evidence.  However, a source in the Human Rights 
Unit noted that they when they spoke to detainees last night, it 
was in crowded conditions where the detainees may have felt 
unable to speak freely.  Those who believe the rumor emphasize 
that FDTL refused to allow President Gusmao access to the FDTL 
compound in Tasitolu when he arrived unannounced on Saturday. 
 
¶6. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric John and Ambassador 
Rees met today with Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Commander 
of the FDTL, who has resumed command after returning on Saturday 
from an overseas trip.  General Matan Ruak said it is uncertain 
how many people have been killed, stating that the number might 
be seven or eight rather than five, but said he was confident 
that FDTL had not killed large numbers of people and secretly 
buried the bodies.  He said the Government has appointed a 
commission, including highly respected Minister of Labor Arsenio 
Bano, to investigate these allegations.  Matan Ruak also pointed 
out that on previous occasions when the Government had sought to 
involve FDTL in law enforcement activities he had declined to do 
so, although he would not say whether he would have refused the 
Prime Minister's order to activate the FDTL if he had been in 
Dili on Friday.  Matan Ruak implicitly acknowledged that 
activation of FDTL without the consent of the President might 
have violated East Timor's Constitution, but he suggested that 
the city might have been destroyed if FDTL had not been 
activated after the police had proved unwilling or unable to put 
down the riot. 
 
Detainees reportedly released 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7. The UN Human Rights Unit and the Provedor's office both 
reported that they had last night been able to access detainees 
arrested during the weekend, including members of the group of 
dismissed soldiers.  The latest information from the Human 
Rights Unit obtained at end of day was that a total of 115 
individuals had been detained since Friday afternoon.  Of those, 
18 were dismissed soldiers / petitioners.  The Human Rights Unit 
was able to conduct complete interviews with approximately 75 
detainees yesterday, including some of the dismissed soldiers, 
and planned to continue with the rest today.  However, almost 
all the detained ex-soldiers, and perhaps other detainees as 
well, were reportedly released today, either by the courts or at 
the prosecutor's discretion.  We do not yet have information on 
whether charges will be pressed against any of them. The only 
ones remaining apparently are 13 of the dismissed soldiers who 
are not in formal police custody but reportedly preferred to 
remain at the detention facility until they could arrange 
transport out of Dili. 
 
Thousands of displaced persons still in Dili and environs 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶8. The internal displacement situation remains fluid and hard to 
quantify, but it appears that there are likely at least 10,000 
within Dili overall.  The largest gathering of displaced persons 
within Dili is still at the Catholic Church's Don Bosco compound 
in the Comoro area on the western end of the city.  Earlier in 
the day, an international doctor visiting the compound reported 
that many people were beginning to depart, apparently to return 
to their homes.  However, when Emboff spoke to the priest in 
charge late in the afternoon, he reported that about 5,000 
people remained and that he expected that many more might return 
as night fell.  Additionally, the FDTL (armed forces) sites are 
said to be hosting a combined number of about 1,200.  Beyond 
these sites, there are several other areas where groups of 
dozens or hundreds of people have taken refuge. 
 
¶9. Beyond those that have taken refuge within Dili, it is clear 
that a large number have left the city, although numbers are 
difficult to estimate.  In addition, Embassy staff observed that 
people were continuing to pack and leave throughout the day.  In 
explaining why they were leaving now when things seemed to be 
calming down, several departing residents stated that although 
they had no specific threat information, they are concerned 
about the continued state of uncertainty and have yet to receive 
sufficient information to increase their confidence in the 
situation. 
REES