First General Prosecutor for East Timor sworn in by UN mission
4 August -- The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) today swore in the territory's first General Prosecutor, marking another step towards a fully functioning judiciary.
"This is yet another important milestone in the transition," UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello said at the swearing-in ceremony for Mohamed Chande Othman, from Tanzania, who formerly served as Chief of Prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. "With the appointment of Mohamed Chande, we are reinforcing the capacity of the judiciary in East Timor to cope with a responsibility that ... is fundamental to credibility and the integrity of the new judiciary that we are establishing in East Timor."
In other news, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other relief agencies were forced to halt food distribution and pull out of a refugee camp for East Timorese in Tuapakan, outside the West Timor capital of Kupang, after fighting broke out among refugees. No injuries were reported, according to UNHCR.
At least 103 security incidents against aid workers and refugees have been recorded in West Timor since the beginning of UNHCR's assistance programmes there in September. Because of deteriorating security in the last several weeks, the refugee organization has been forced to take a low profile in the camps, although essential assistance continues.
The agency temporarily stopped its repatriation programme to East Timor after the 24 July murder of a UN soldier near the border, but hopes to resume it next week.
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