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OO RUEHCHI RUEHHM
DE RUEHDT #0318/01 2560824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130824Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3709
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK NY IMMEDIATE
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 3100

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DILI 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G, DRL/SEA, EAP/MTS AND NSC/DEMOC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM TT
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT'S UNGA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDTABLE: TIMOR-LESTE 
 
REF: STATE 125456 
 
DILI 00000318  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U)  Timor-Leste is a newly emerging democracy, independent 
since 2002.  Its new government, freely elected in June 2007, is 
fully committed to safeguarding human rights and promoting 
democracy.  It is constrained, however, by a lingering culture 
of political violence and low capacity on the part of its 
judiciary and law enforcement bodies.  Most human rights 
violations in Timor-Leste result arise from legal impunity 
rather than abuses by the national police or military. 
 
¶2. (U) There are no political dissidents from other countries in 
Timor-Leste (reftel para 3). 
 
¶3. (U) The United States, as well as other international 
partners including Australia, Portugal, New Zealand, and Japan, 
extends many forms of assistance to Timor-Leste.  Through USAID, 
the USG supports the following programs aimed at promoting 
democracy and human rights: 
 
 
-- During the 2007 electoral cycle, the International Foundation 
for Electoral Systems (IFES) provided techinal support and 
training to Timor-Leste's national election authorities.  The 
International Republican Institute provided training to 
political parties, and the National Democratic Institute 
provided voter education outreach to civil society. 
 
-- IFES and BELUN, a local organization, are implementing the 
Election Violence Education and Resolution project to prevent 
and reduce election-related violence and tension in Timor-Leste. 
 
-- International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) assists 
victims of torture and their families who suffered during the 
24-year occupation by Indonesia.  It has supported the 
construction of community memorials and non-clinical 
psychosocial services for more than 500 survivors.  With ICMC 
help, partner organizations provide direct services and advocacy 
for the protection, rights, and welfare of survivors of torture 
from the pre-independence period and current, post-conflict 
independent state of Timor-Leste. 
 
-- The Justice Institutions Strengthening Program, implemented 
by Management Sciences for Development, strengthens Timor-Leste 
justice institutions' capacity in financial, administrative, and 
management functions.  In its support to the Provedor's Office, 
which has a constitutional mandate to promote human rights and 
fight corruption, the program focuses on investigation 
procedures and anti-corruption, public education on human 
rights, good governance and corruption-prevention. 
 
--- The Asia Foundation implements the Access to Justice Program 
to improve standards and access to formal and informal dispute 
resolution for disadvantaged citizens, to improve women's access 
to justice, and to strengthen the legislature's role in legal 
reform.  The program supports efforts to increase access for 
rural citizens to legal information and legal aid, raise 
awareness of village councils about their new authorities to 
reduce violence against women, and to improve the quality of 
informal dispute resolution or mediation. 
 
¶4. (U)  The USG is also supporting development of a strong free 
press in Timor-Leste.  As part of its outreach program to the 
print media, the Embassy's Public Affairs section has supplied 
professional resource books to Timorese newspapers.  With USAID 
support, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is 
creating a strong, professional, and sustainable media sector in 
Timor-Leste. The program aims to improve the ability of Timorese 
journalists to produce and disseminate high quality news and 
expand the reach of information products available to all 
citizens of Timor-Leste. ICFJ's program also emphasizes the 
training of future Timor-Leste journalism trainers and the 
improvement of the enabling legal environment within which 
Timorese media professionals will be expected to operate once 
the nation's media laws and broadcast regulations have been 
drafted and ratified by Parliament. ICFJ will also work with its 
media partners in business development to enable media outlets 
to become financially sustainable in the long-run. 
 
¶5. (U) This follows a two-and-a-half year USAID grant to 
Foundation Hirondelle to support the development of Radio and 
Television Timor-Leste (RTTL) as Timor-Leste's independent 
public broadcast service.  RTTL now provides reliable news and 
information and is presently the most listened-to broadcaster in 
the country. Training was completed in journalism, program 
production, finance, and administration, and the workflow within 
RTTL studios was significantly modernized through the purchase 
of new equipment. 
 
In addition, the project supported a national audience survey, 
 
DILI 00000318  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
which provides important benchmark information for RTTL managers 
and others in media. 
RECTOR