The people of East Timor, whatever side of the issue they are on, are determined to have their say in this ballot. |
The political killings are one of the most serious human rights issues, but the key problem there is to identify properly where responsibility lies and that's why I think an impartial mechanism could be of assistance. |
The right to peaceful assembly should be respected and nobody should be arbitrarily arrested or detained for exercising their right to a peaceful assembly. |
This is not a situation that can continue indefinitely. |
This is the moment when the leadership of CPN (Maoist) must give clear and public instructions to its cadres to end all abductions of civilians, must release any other civilians still held after being abducted, and must ensure that those instructions are followed. |
We have been told by police that around 70 people have been arrested. We have not yet had access to them in detention but we are seeking it. |
We have noticed that there are women victims but the numbers are not so big, though women face the greater fatalities. |
We have witnessed a worrying trend of excessive use of force. |
We will be actively monitoring the general strike ... to ensure there is no excessive use of force. |
What I hear is not the message I would like to hear from the government, that peaceful protests is a right and should be upheld and security forces should use only absolute minimum force in maintaining law and order. |