Minutes of the "Partners" Meeting on the Seminars on the Reform and Development of the East Timor Security Sector

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR THE REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SECURITY SECTOR

Minutes of the "Partners" Meeting on the Seminars on the Reform and Development of the Security Sector

Date: 11 February 2009

Venue: Palácio das Cinzas

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Participants:

Lt. Col. Pedro Ochôa, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Security Matters
Mr. David Ximenes, Member of Parliamentary Committee B
Ms. Maria Angela Carrascarão, Chief of Staff of the Secretary of State of Defence (SSoD)
Mr. Gordon Peak, Advisor to the Secretary of State of Security (550S)
Mr. Michael Page, UNDP Representative
Mr. Clemens, UNDP Assistant
Mr. Nathan Dalton, UNMIT/SSSU Representative
Ms. Upasana Garoo, UNMIT/SSSU Representative
Mr. Roque Rodrigues, CCRDSS
Mr. Alcino Báris, CCRDSS
Ms. Ana Filipa Carvalho, CCRDSS
Mr. Loro Horta, CCRDSS
Ms. Joana Costa, CCRDSS

Agenda:

1. Publication of the proceedings of the "Seminar on the Reform and Development of the Security Sector in Timor-Leste";

2. The topic for the next Seminar;

Item 1: Publication of the proceedings of the "Seminar on the Reform

and Development of the Security Sector in Timor-Leste"

· Mr. Page suggested the publication of the proceedings of the "Seminar on the Reform and Development of the Security Sector in Timor-Leste" in three languages (Tetum, Portuguese and English). The publication should contain all the presentations made at the seminar. Later, a CD-ROM would be produced to make facilitate access to the materials.

· Mr. Page suggested that an initial number of 500 copies should be
produced in Tetum, and 250 copies each in Portuguese and English. The exact number of copies in the latter language versions would depend on printing costs.

· Mr. Michael Page will be in charge of the final revision of the English version and Ms. Joana Costa will be in charge of the Portuguese version. There is still no agreement on a reviser for the Tetum language version.

· It was decided that official approval of the publication plan will be sought at the Project Management Board meeting on 19 March 2009.

Item 2: The topic for the next seminar

· Lt. Col. Pedro Ochoa said that at his latest meeting with H.E. the Prime Minister, the latter stressed the urgency of adopting the legal package for the Defence and Security sector. The Prime Minister also mentioned how important it was to get the "National Security Policy" document adopted by the National Parliament, as well as to produce adequate definitions of overall context (enquadramento) and threat.

· Mr. Roque Rodrigues suggested that the next seminar to be held should be on the theme of Security and Defence Policy, with a special focus on the notions of internal and external threats to National Security.

· Mr. Michael Page pointed out that in order to organise a schedule of seminars for 2009, it was important to have some kind of plan that could assist the Timorese in their planning strategy.

· Member of Parliament David Ximenes stressed that, for the sake of Timor- Leste, it was important of found the reform and development of the security sector in the past, present and future of Timor-Leste.

Conclusions:

· Participants will discuss proposals for topics to be addressed at the seminar on "National Security Policy" with their respective institutions, and will add further suggestions if deemed appropriate.

· Should a seminar on "National Security Policy" be convened, it will have to be addressed from the perspective of a post-conflict society.

· The next seminar will have to be part of the overarching process of Review and Reform of the Security Sector.

· The group of "partners" will develop are Road Map for the forthcoming seminars.

· The presence of an interpreter will be requested for the next meeting so as to help discussions and the overall management of the meeting.

· A decision on the date of the next meeting shall be made later.