Assembly signs Constitution into force. (Peacewatch: East Timor).

East Timor's Constituent Assembly on 22 March signed into force the territory's first-ever Constitution after six months of drafting, consultation and debate. The 170-article Constitution was officially approved by a nominal role call, with 72 of the 88 Assembly members voting in favour and 14 against; one member abstained while another was absent. Each of the 88 members signed the Constitution afterwards at a ceremony attended by the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration (UNTAET), Sergio Vieira de Mello, Deputy Administrator Dennis McNamara, presidential candidates Xanana Gusmao and Xavier do Amaral, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Government officials, diplomats and representatives of civil society.

Continuing a trend that began with a record number of returnees in March, nearly 2,000 refugees returned to East Timor from refugee camps in West Timor, Indonesia, during the first five days of April. Since October 1999, over 200,000 East Timorese refugees have been repatriated, with an estimated 60,000 refugees remaining in the camps across the border.

An East Timorese special panel for serious crimes on 28 March sentenced a former militia member to four years in prison for his role in a murder during the violent aftermath of the 1999 UN-run popular consultation. The three-member panel of judges sent Mahidi militia Anigio de Oliviera to prison after he was found guilty of being an accomplice to the murder of Fernando Gomes in Ainaro district on 5 September 1999. It was the first decision handed down by the panel, one of two currently deliberating serious crime cases being pursued by prosecutors with UNTAET.

On 25 March, UNTAET and the territory's transitional government released a policy paper on how to deal with returning refugees suspected of committing crimes during the 1999 popular consultation, assuring alleged offenders that they will have full rights to a free and fair trial". The four-page "Policy on Justice and Return Procedures in East Timor" clarifies the existing procedures, in order to provide returning refugees with an understanding of the new justice structures of East Timor. Returning refugees suspected of committing "serious crimes", such as murder, torture, sexual offences, crimes against humanity and other large-scale offences, will be dealt with by the criminal justice system established by UNTAET in 2000.

Nearly three quarters of East Timorese have deemed education the most important development issue of the soon-to-be independent territory, according to a national planning survey funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and released on 20 March in Dili. In late January, a poll of more than 500 villages throughout East Timor--encompassing 35,000 people--showed that 70 per cent cited education as the most important issue to be tackled by the nascent country, followed by health (49 per cent), agriculture (32 per cent) and the economy (30 per cent). One in five people (22 per cent) said roads were a key challenge, while 18 per cent noted poverty, 16 per cent named water and 12 per cent said electricity.

East Timor's Council of Ministers on 26 March passed new regulations setting up legal frameworks for future public transportation and broadcasting systems. The Public Broadcasting Corporation will be independent and include national television and radio stations to replace the networks currently run by UNTAET.

On 7 March, Mr. Vieira de Mello expressed his disappointment with a six-year sentence handed down by an Indonesian court to a militiaman convicted of murdering a UN peacekeeper. Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence for Jacobus Bere, one of four suspects charged in the killing of New Zealand Pvt. Leonard Manning on 24 July 2000 in Suai District, near the border of West Timor. "The killing of a United Nations peacekeeper in cold blood should be considered a crime of severe gravity, and the sentence should reflect that", he said. "We hope there will be an appeal, which would result in the full sentence sought by the prosecution" (see "Spotlight" on pages 34 and 35).