UN May Boost East Timor Role as Annan Proposes 3-Year Stay,
'Robust' Rules of Engagement
By Anthony Goodman
October 5, 1999ABC News
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended today the establishment of a major UN military and civilian operation to run East Timor and shepherd the war-torn territory to independence in two to three years.
In a written report to the UN Security Council, he said the proposed UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) would include up to 8,950 troops with "robust rules of engagement and a rapid reaction capability;" 200 military observers; and 1,640 police. The operation would also have a very large but unspecified number of civilian officials to administer virtually all public services, including the judiciary which was emptied by the departure of Indonesian civil servants. East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded and annexed by Indonesia in 1975-1976 in an action never recognized by the international community.
Devastation
The UN force would be moving into a territory which was devastated by pro-Indonesian militias, often assisted by Indonesian troops and police. The militias went on a rampage of killing and destruction after nearly 80 percent of voters opted for independence from Jakarta in an Aug. 30 poll organized by a UN team.
An Australian-led multinational force, now numbering about 5,000 and endorsed by the Security Council, is in East Timor on an interim basis, pending deployment of the proposed UN force.
Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly is expected to revoke the 1976 annexation later this month or in early November, in accordance with an agreement that led up to the independence vote.
Supreme Power
Annan, in his report, said he intended, subject to UN Security Council concurrence, "to establish a United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, which would be endowed with the overall responsibility for the administration of East Timor, and would be empowered to exercise all legislative and executive authority, including the administration of justice."
The transition to independence, as called for in the Aug. 30 vote, "is envisaged to last 2-3 years," he said. Annan gave no immediate estimate of the cost of the undertaking, which is reminiscent of an operation mounted by the United Nations in 1992-1993 to keep law and order and help rebuild a basic administration in war-torn Cambodia.
The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia involved some 22,000 UN military and civilian personnel and cost well over $1.5 billion.
The Mandate
Annan said UNTAET "must be endowed with a robust mandate" enabling it to: provide security and maintain law and order throughout the territory of East Timor; establish an effective administration; assist in the development of civil and social services; ensure the coordination and delivery of humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation and development assistance; support capacity-building for self-government; assist in the establishment of conditions for sustainable development."
UNTAET would be headed by a special representative of the UN Secretary General. The military element would consist of "a headquarters, two infantry brigades of a total of seven infantry battalions, and appropriate support units with a total strength of up to 8,950 troops," Annan said. This number "could be adjusted, if and when the situation stabilizes."
Annan said UNTAET would require substantial personnel resources, and called on all UN member states as well as UN agencies and international financial bodies to provide experts and other necessary personnel. UNTAET would also carry out a number of tasks that would need to be funded by voluntary contributions, he added. A trust fund could be established for such things as rebuilding East Timor's infrastructure and paying local civil servants.
He said UNTAET would establish a mechanism for consultation with Portugal, "given its special responsibilities" - a reference to its continued recognition by the United Nations as the legal administering power. "Consultations will also be organized with Indonesia, as necessary," Annan added.
