29 January 2017

East Timor National Holidays 2017

National holidays in 2017
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Sixth Constitutional Government
Dili, January 18th, 2017

Press Release
National holidays in 2017

The public holidays with a fixed date and variable date for 2017, determined by the Law n.10/2005 of 10th of August, are:

a) 1st of January – New Year’s Day (fixed date public holiday)

b) 3rd of March – Veterans Day (fixed date public holiday)

c) 14th of April – Holy Friday (variable date public holiday)

d) 1st of May – World Labour Day (fixed date public holiday)

e) 20th of May – Restoration of Independence Day (fixed date public holiday);

f) 15th of June – Corpus Christi (variable date public holiday);

g) 26th of June – Idul Fitri (variable date public holiday);

h) 30th of August – Popular Consultation Day (fixed date public holiday);

j) 1st of September – Idul Adha (variable date public holiday);

j) 1st of November – All Saints Day (fixed date public holiday);

k) 2nd of November – All Souls Day (fixed date public holiday);

l) 12th of November –National Youth Day (fixed date public holiday);

m) 28th of November – Proclamation of Independence Day (fixed date public holiday);

n) 7th of December – Memorial Day (fixed date public holiday);

o) 8th of December – Day of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception and Timor-Leste Patroness (fixed date public holiday);

p) 25th of December – Christmas Day (fixed date public holiday).

q) 31st of December – National Heroes Day (fixed date public holiday).

The Law n. 10/2005, of 10th of August, determines national public holidays, official commemorative dates and the granting of days-off, and has been amended by Law n. 3/2016, of 25th of May, to recognise key historical dates of the Timorese Struggle for National Liberation. ENDS

ETLJB

Joint Statement by the Governments of Timor-Leste and Australia and the Conciliation Commission Constituted Pursuant to Annex V of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sean

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF TIMOR-LESTE AND AUSTRALIA AND THE CONCILIATION COMMISSION CONSTITUTED PURSUANT TO ANNEX V OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA 

 Delegations from both Timor-Leste and Australia participated in a series of confidential meetings with the Conciliation Commission in Singapore from 16 to 20 January 2017. These meetings are part of an ongoing, structured dialogue in the context of the conciliation between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Commonwealth of Australia being conducted pursuant to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

These meetings will continue over the course of the year in an effort to resolve the differences between the two States over maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea. In October 2016, the Conciliation Commission reached agreement with the Parties on certain confidence-building measures, which included a series of actions by both Timor-Leste and Australia to demonstrate each Party’s commitment to the conciliation process and to create the conditions conducive to the achievement of an agreement on permanent maritime boundaries. As part of this integrated package of confidence-building measures, the Foreign Ministers of TimorLeste and Australia and the Conciliation Commission issued a Trilateral Joint Statement on 9 January 2017, noting Timor-Leste’s intention to terminate the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea and setting out the Parties’ agreement on the legal consequences of such termination.

On 10 January 2017, Timor-Leste formally notified Australia of the termination of the Treaty, which shall cease to be in force on 10 April 2017, in accordance with its terms. Over the course of the week, the Commission met with the Parties to explore their negotiating positions on where the maritime boundary in the Timor Sea should be set with a view to identifying possible areas of agreement for discussion in future meetings. Both Timor-Leste and Australia agreed that the meetings were productive, and reaffirmed their commitment to work in good faith towards an agreement on maritime boundaries by the end of the conciliation process in September 2017.

The Commission intends to do its utmost to help the Parties reach an agreement that is both equitable and achievable. Recognizing that the Parties are undertaking good faith negotiations on permanent maritime boundaries, and in continuation of the confidence-building measures and the dialogue between the Parties, on Friday, 20 January 2017, Timor-Leste wrote to the tribunals in the two arbitrations it had initiated with Australia under the Timor Sea Treaty in order to withdraw its claims. These arbitrations had previously been suspended by agreement of the two governments following the Commission’s meeting with the Parties in October 2016.

The withdrawal of these arbitrations was the last step in the integrated package of confidence-building measures agreed during the Commission’s meetings with the Parties in October 2016. The Commission and the Parties recognise the importance of providing stability and certainty for petroleum companies with current rights in the Timor Sea. The Parties are committed to providing a stable framework for existing petroleum operations.

They have agreed that the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty and its supporting regulatory framework will remain in force between them in its original form until a final delimitation of maritime boundaries has come into effect. As this process continues, the Commission and the Parties will ensure that the issue of transitional arrangements for any new regime will be included in the program of work for the conciliation with a view to ensuring that current rights of these companies are respected. Timor-Leste and Australia enjoy a close and strong friendship.

The governments of both countries are committed to their important relationship and working together on many shared interests. This statement is being issued simultaneously by the Government of Timor-Leste, the Government of Australia, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration on behalf of the Conciliation Commission.

Trilateral Joint Statement 24 January 2017

04 January 2017

Difficult memories The independence struggle as cultural heritage in East Timor

By Michael Leach
This chapter examines the way difficult sites of imprisonment, trauma and resistance are being remembered in the newly independent nation of East Timor.

While the difficult challenge of memorialising massacre sites, places of political imprisonment, torture and human rights abuses confronts many post-conflict societies, few represent as profound a loss as Timor-Leste, having suffered an estimated minimum 102,000 casualties during the Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999, along with forced population displacements and extensive nonfatal
human rights violation through arbitrary detention, torture and rape (CAVR).
 
In Timor-Leste, these difficult legacies are complicated by the distinct cultural and linguistic affiliations promoted by successive colonial regimes, political schisms within the former independence movement, a lack justice for the victims of human rights abuses during the Indonesian occupation, and the recent rise of regional tensions. These fissures have complicated the process of nation-building, and the articulation of a unifying post-colonial national identity. As such, they are critical to understanding the cultural heritage of the independence struggle and its conservation in Timor-Leste, which is itself an exercise in articulating cultural nationalism.

See the full chapter at http://www.cultura.gov.tl/sites/default/files/MLeach_Difficult_memories_2008.pdf