(http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19990507.SC6672.html) 7 May 1999
Press Release
SC/6672
SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES PORTUGUESE, INDONESIAN AGREEMENT ON FUTURE STATUS OF EAST TIMOR
19990507
Resolution 1236 (1999), Adopted Unanimously, Also Welcomes Proposed UN Presence
to Aid with 8 August Balloting Process
The Security Council this afternoon welcomed the signing on Wednesday of
the agreement between the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal on the future
of East Timor and the proposed United Nations presence to help with a popular
consultation on the acceptance or rejection of a constitutional framework
for autonomy, scheduled for 8 August.
By the terms of resolution 1236 (1999), adopted unanimously, the Council
also welcomed the agreements between the United Nations and the two Governments
on security arrangements and on the modalities for the direct ballot consultation,
as well on the deployment of United Nations civilian police to advise Indonesian
police and to supervise the escorting of ballot boxes and papers to and
from polling sites.
The Council stressed the importance of having the Secretary-General report
the outcome of the consultation -- either autonomy within Indonesia or a
transition to independence -- to the Council and the General Assembly, as
well as to the East Timorese people and the Governments of Indonesia and
Portugal, and of the need for an adequate United Nations presence between
the consultation and implementation of its outcome.
It also stressed the responsibility of the Indonesian Government to ensure
the safety and security of international staff and observers in East Timor,
and to maintain peace and security in East Timor to ensure the consultation
is fair and peaceful. The Council also welcomed the Secretary- General's
establishment of a trust fund to support the United Nations presence and
urged Member States to contribute. It requested the Secretary-General to
report on the situation in East Timor by 24 May, at the latest, and every
14 days thereafter on implementation of the resolution and the agreement.
The meeting, which began at 12:17 p.m., adjourned at 12:20 p.m.
Resolution
The full text of the resolution, to the issued as S/RES/1236, reads as follows:
"The Security Council,
"Recalling its previous resolutions on the situation in East Timor,
"Recalling also General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), 1541 (XV) and
2625 (XXV) and the resolutions of the General Assembly on the question of
East Timor, in particular resolution 37/30,
"Bearing in mind the sustained efforts of the Governments of Indonesia
and Portugal since July 1983, through the good offices of the Secretary-
General, to find a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution
to the question of East Timor,
"Welcoming the progress made at the last round of talks between the
Governments of Portugal and Indonesia, under the auspices of the Secretary-
General of the United Nations, leading to the conclusion of a series of
agreements in New York on 5 May 1999,
"Commending in particular the efforts of the Personal Representative
of the Secretary-General in this regard,
"Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General (S/1999/513),
"Taking note of the concerns expressed in the report of the Secretary-
General regarding the security situation in East Timor,
"1. Welcomes the concluding of the Agreement between Indonesia and
Portugal on 5 May 1999 on the question of East Timor (the General Agreement)
(S/1999/513, Annex I);
"2. Welcomes also the concluding of the Agreements between the United
Nations and the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal on the same date regarding
security arrangements (S/1999/513, Annex III) and the modalities for the
popular consultation of the East Timorese through a direct ballot (S/1999/513,
Annex II);
"3. Welcomes further the intention of the Secretary-General to establish
as soon as practicable a United Nations presence in East Timor, with a view
to assisting in the implementation of these Agreements in particular through:
"(a) Conducting a popular consultation of the East Timorese people
on the acceptance or rejection of a constitutional framework for an autonomy
for East Timor, scheduled for 8 August 1999, in accordance with the General
Agreement;
"(b) Making available a number of civilian police officers to act as
advisers to the Indonesian Police in the discharge of their duties in East
Timor and, at the time of the consultation, to supervise the escort of ballot
papers and boxes to and from the polling sites;
"4. Stresses the importance of the requests made to the Secretary-
General in the General Agreement to report the result of the popular consultation
to the Security Council and the General Assembly, as well as to the Governments
of Indonesia and Portugal and the East Timorese people, and, during the
interim period between the conclusion of the popular consultation and the
start of the implementation of either option, an autonomy within Indonesia
or transition to independence, to maintain an adequate United Nations presence
in East Timor;
"5. Stresses also the responsibility of the Government of Indonesia
to maintain peace and security in East Timor in order to ensure that the
consultation is carried out in a fair and peaceful way and in an atmosphere
free of intimidation, violence or interference from any side and to ensure
the safety and security of United Nations and other international staff
and observers in East Timor;
"6. Stresses further the importance of the assistance of the Government
of Indonesia in ensuring that the United Nations is able to carry out all
the tasks entrusted to it for the implementation of the Agreements;
"7. Welcomes the establishment by the Secretary-General of a Trust
Fund to enable Member States to make voluntary contributions to assist in
the financing of the United Nations presence in East Timor, and urges all
Member States who are in a position to do so to contribute without delay;
"8. Requests the Secretary-General to keep the Security Council closely
informed of the situation in East Timor, to report to it as soon as possible,
and in any event by 24 May, on the implementation of this resolution and
of the Agreements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, inter alia specifying
the detailed modalities of the consultation process, to make detailed recommendations
to the Council for decision on the mandate, size, structure and budget of
the United Nations Mission, including civilian police officers envisaged
in paragraph 3 above, and to report to the Council thereafter every fourteen
days;
"9. Expresses its intention to take a prompt decision on the establishment
of a United Nations Mission on the basis of the report referred to in paragraph
8 above;
"10. Requests the Secretary-General to inform the Council prior to
the start of voter registration on whether, on the basis of the objective
evaluation of the United Nations Mission, the necessary security situation
exists for the peaceful implementation of the consultation process;
"11. Decides to remain seized of the matter."
Secretary-General's Report
As the Council met this afternoon, it had before it the Secretary- General's
report on the question of East Timor (document S/1999/513). In it, he reports
that since 1983 the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal have undertaken,
through the good offices of the Secretary-General, to find a just, comprehensive
and internationally acceptable solution to the East Timor question. The
culmination of the good offices process was the 5 May signing of an overall
Agreement between the two Governments, which entrusts the Secretary-General
with organizing a consultation to determine whether the East Timorese accept
or reject a proposed constitutional framework for special autonomy within
Indonesia. It further requests him to immediately establish a mission to
conduct the consultation. The Agreement is attached to the report as Annex
I.
The Agreement specifies that, should the autonomy proposal be accepted,
Indonesia would act to implement it and Portugal would act to remove East
Timor from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, and
the question of East Timor from the Council and the General Assembly agendas.
It also states that if the proposal is rejected, Indonesia would take the
necessary constitutional steps to terminate its links with East Timor. At
the same time, Portugal, Indonesia and the Secretary-General would agree
on a transfer of authority to the United Nations, which would then initiate
moves to independence. The Agreement also foresees a United Nations presence
between the consultation and the implementation of either outcome. Should
the autonomy proposal be accepted, it also authorizes a United Nations presence
to monitor compliance with the proposal.
Two supplementary agreements -- Annex II and III -- specify, among other
things, the modalities of the consultation, security arrangements and 8
August as the date for balloting. The Secretary-General also reports that
he has specified the elements that would need to be in place to begin the
consultation, including control of armed civilians, arrest of those who
incite violence and redeployment of the Indonesian military.