East Timor: Toward a New Nation.

On 25 October 1999, the Security Council set up a United Nations authority in East Timor with a broad mandate designed to help the territory's transition to independence. Adopted by a unanimous vote, Council resolution 1272 (1999) established the United Nations Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET). The Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, authorized UNTAET to take "all necessary measures to fulfil its mandate", which initially covers the period through 31 January 2001. UNTAET will exercise all legislative and executive authority, including the administration of justice, and have a military component of up to 8,950 troops, 200 military observers and 1,640 civilian police.

Until local elections in East Timor can take place, UNTAET will provide security, maintain law and order, establish a civil administration and help develop social services in the devastated territory. It will coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and support capacity-building for self-government and sustainable development. It has established the National Consultative Council (NCC) to ensure East Timorese participation in the governance and administration of the territory.

UNTAET's Public Administration and Governance Division will oversee the rebuilding of East Timor's judiciary, civilian police force and public services. It will also handle economic, financial and development affairs, run the electoral operations and administer each of the territory's 13 districts.

UN peacekeepers will take over from the Australian-led international force-INTERFET--which the Council on 15 September authorized to restore law and order in East Timor following the UN-sponsored popular consultation of 30 August.

After nearly 80 per cent of the territory's population voted for independence, pro-Indonesia militia unleashed a campaign of violence and destruction, which displaced more than 75 per cent of East Timor's population and destroyed 70 per cent of all housing, public buildings and essential services. The crisis deepened when law and order collapsed with the rapid and unexpected departure of Indonesian authorities. Several hundred thousand people still remain displaced inside East Timor or are refugees in West Timor.

On 1 November, the last Indonesian Army troops left East Timor, marking the end of a 24-year presence in the territory. On 20 October, Indonesia's national assembly formally accepted the results of the popular consultation and annulled the edict integrating East Timor into Indonesia.

On 25 October, INTERFET secured the last remaining part of East Timor. The "seamless transition between INTERFET and UNTAET is expected for sometime between mid-January and early-February 2000. Peacekeeping troops will maintain security, monitor the withdrawal of Indonesian forces, and disarm and demobilize armed groups. UN civilian police will be responsible for law enforcement, as well as the recruitment and training of a "credible, professional and impartial" East Timorese police force.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to Member States to urgently provide experts to help fill the existing "vacuum of authority" created by the early departure of Indonesian authorities from the territory. On 25 October, he appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sergio Vieira de Mello as his Special Representative to lead UNTAET. Immediately after his arrival in Dili on 17 November, Mr. Vieira de Mello began talks with independence leader Xanana Gusmao on "possible joint structures for cooperation".

On 9 November, the Secretary-General appointed Akira Takahashi of Japan as his Deputy Special Representative for Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Rehabilitation and on 23 November, he appointed Jean-Christian Cady of France as his Deputy Special Representative for Governance and Public Administration.

On 30 September, following a request by the Commission on Human Rights to investigate "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" in connection with the popular consultation, Mr. Annan asked United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson to set up the inquiry and report results by 31 December. On 15 October, she appointed a five-member expert panel. The Commission, headed by Sonia Picado of Costa Rica, arrived in East Timor on 26 November to visit sites and interview witnesses.

On 17 November, outgoing Acting Special Representative Ian Martin, who oversaw the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) conducting the referendum on independence, appealed to the international community to vigorously pursue investigations into the rampage of violence that had taken place before and after the popular consultation.

Three UN experts of the Commission on Human Rights are independently investigating aspects of alleged human rights abuses in East Timor: the Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, on Violence against Women, and on Torture.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is also assisting the National Indonesian Human Rights Commission on East Timor in carrying out its own investigation into the events prior to and after the 30 August independence ballot.

Humanitarian Aid

On 27 October, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies launched a worldwide appeal for $200 million to finance emergency assistance programmes in East and West Timor until June 2000. The money will provide East Timorese with essential services, including shelter, food, health care and education, while laying the groundwork for full-scale reconstruction and development. In West Timor, as many as 400,000 displaced persons face deteriorating health conditions due to early monsoon rains, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Almost 40 percent of refuges in West Timor are estimated to be under 15 years of age.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) appointed J. Victor Angelo at Special Envoy for East Timor to assess the damage to infrastructure and strengthen governing institutions at local, regional and national levels. In November, UNDP launched a project to repair 60 power stations that deliver electricity to the entire population of East Timor. An estimated 70 per cent of the population currently has no access to power. While electrical power has been restored in Dili, all areas outside the capital remain dark. The onset of the rainy season and the accelerating return of more refugees and displaced persons make the repairs extremely urgent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on 8 October estimated that it needed $9 million to continue its operations to control tuberculosis, malaria and cholera, and protect reproductive and mental health. WHO field personnel were supporting local health authorities and offering technical guidance to other UN and private agencies.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is distributing emergency home delivery kits to mothers in East Timor. UNFPA said an estimated 85 per cent of births take place at home. The maternal mortality rate in the territory is among the highest in the world.

UNICEF said that 8 of the 10 health facilities in Dili were fully functional, averaging between 20 to 180 patients a day. On 19 October, it began a measles vaccination campaign for more than 15,000 children under five.

The heightened risk of communicable diseases and lack of adequate shelter to thousands of displaced people added to the concerns of relief workers in East Timor as the first rains of the season fell in Dili. UNHCR has started distributing plastic sheeting and "kits" of wood, corrugated metal and other supplies to provide emergency shelter.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on 9 November announced a masive effort to feed returnees and other internally displaced people in East Timor. Earlier, on 1 October, it launched a $21.6 million appeal to widen its ongoing emergency food distribution and to start "food-for-work" rehabilitation projects in the ruined territory. Under the six-month operation, which began on 1 November, WFP is providing a "food basket" of maize, rice, cooking oil, canned fish and dried beans to some 413,000 East Timorese, enabling them to concentrate on restoring their homes, farms and livelihoods.

Refugee Return

Between 8 October when the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began its repatriation effort and 1 December, some 110,000 refugees returned to East Timor, the bulk from camps in West Timor. The daily number of refugees returning to East Timor greatly increased since UNHCR on 11 November opened new land and sea routes from West Timor.

UNHCR has started a public information campaign for refugees. On 11 November, four private radio stations in West Timor began broadcasting information about the agency's repatriation programme. Newspapers have also been reporting its efforts. Leaflets outlining return procedures and conditions in East Timor were distributed at some camps where UNHCR has been having difficulty starting a return programme because of the presence of militias opposed to repatriation.

On 22 November, UNHCR welcomed an agreement signed by INTERFET and the Indonesian military to provide security for the overland repatriation of East Timorese refugees in West Timor.

On 1 November, the agency urged the Indonesian Government to take necessary steps to separate the militia elements from the civilian populations in the encampments. Indonesia had formally agreed on 14 October to grant UNHCR "free and complete and transparent access" to thousands of internally displaced persons in West Timor so they could "express their views freely" on whether they wanted to return to East Timor.