Student demonstrators claim mistreatment, rights violations

By; CJITL - Centru Jornalista Investigativu Timor Leste

Two months after police officers used tear gas and force to break up student demonstrations at the National University of Timor-Leste, two students who were injured say they were mistreated that day. One of them says she plans to seek justice in court.

The spokesman for the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL), meanwhile, says the police will cooperate in any court proceedings because officers do not have the right to act arbitrarily or unprofessionally.

“If an officer acts unprofessionally, or is someone is prejudiced by police attitudes, that person can bring the case to court so the court can decide,” said spokesman Joao dos Reis Belo. “If someone is treated unfairly, the door is open to the court.”

It may not be easy to determine which police officers were responsible. Valerio Magno Ximenes, director of human rights in the Office of the Provedor, said that his office has completed its investigation of the demonstrations but has not identified the officers accused of mistreating students.

The demonstrations began July 7, when several hundred students upset about Parliament’s plan to purchase new four-wheel-drive vehicles for its members began a protest at the main UNTL campus, which is just across from the entrance to the Parliament building.

Police, citing a law barring demonstrations within 100 meters of a government building, told the demonstrators to move to Democracy Field, which is several hundred meters away from Parliament. When the students refused, the police dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

Manuel Sabino, a 6th-semester agriculture student of UNTL, was taken to the Hospital Nasional Guide Valadares , where he was treated for injuries. A second student told CJITL she was mistreated in the detention center in Caicoli-Dili.

Sabino said in an interview that he was struck repeatedly by police from the Task Force and Rapid Intervention units of the National Police force (PNTL) on the first day of the demonstration.

He said he arrived on campus shortly after 8 a.m. to go to class with some friends but the PNTL would not allow them to enter. “We were about to go back home and, before leaving, I said to the PNTL that they’d better close our campus if they weren’t going to allow us to go in,” he said.

“We passed by and soon I was called by them and they beat me. They hit me in the face three times and in the chest five times and I fell to the ground,” he said. “They kept beating me while I was walking off the place and my friends took me to the hospital for treatment.”

Martinho Sarmento Calo, who was selling items from a three-wheeled cart near the Parliament that morning, said he saw four police officers strike Sabino. A doctor who did not wish to be identified confirmed that Sabino had been treated for minor injuries at the hospital.

The second student, Jelita R. da Costa Sousa, said she was struck by her cousin, PNTL Officer Terezinha de Sousa, when she was being held in the police detention center in Caicoli. Jelita Sousa is a fourth-semester student in the Social and Political Science faculty of UNTL.

“She beat me and said the demonstration was illegal,” said Jelita Sousa. Her account was confirmed by Joana M. Pereira, a sixth-semester student of Social and Political Science of UNTL who said she witnessed the attack.

Officer Sousa admitted that she hit Jelita Sousa.

“Yes, I did beat Jelita. I beat her because she is my cousin, my uncle’s daughter. I told her not to join the demonstration because it was illegal,” she said. “I was upset because while I was at work , I got a call from my uncle, Jelita’s father, saying that she was in the police station. Maybe I was wrong because I was in uniform but I beat her because she is my cousin and not because I am a police officer,” she said.

Jelita Sousa said she doesn’t accept that explanation. “If she thinks she beat me because she is my cousin, why didn’t she beat me at home?” she said. “I don’t accept this (excuse) because she wore a uniform and beat me in the (detention) cell.”

Jose da Costa Sousa, Jelita’s father, confirmed that he called his niece Terezinha and asked her to check on his daughter, but said he never told her to hit her. He said he is planning to contact a lawyer.

Lawyer Natercia de Jesus of Asosiasaun HAK, who is assisting the university students, said Officer Sousa’s actions violated her cousin’s human rights as well as provisions in the Timor-Leste constitution barring mistreatment of suspects in detention cells.

She also rejects Officer Sousa’s argument that this was a family dispute, noting that any actions taken within working hours are official police work and not family matters. She said she will pursue the matter in court.

Officer Sousa said she is ready to cooperate . “I’m ready to go to court if they bring it to the court. I will go, as a citizen I have to cooperate,” she said.

In a related matter, the president of Parliament’s Commission C says she wants a thorough investigation of police actions relating to the demonstrations. Fernanda Borges, the commission president, said in July the police intervention appeared to violate student rights, which is why she has sent a formal letter to the Provedor of Human Rights and Justice, general prosecutor, and PNTL to demand an investigation.

She questioned why Marcelino X. Magno, the head of the Parliamentary cabinet, sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Security urging action against the demonstration. The letter was signed by 14 members of Parliament.

“We have a letter , that is written by the head of the national parliament cabinet and sent to the secretary of state for security, telling him to do something against the kids (demonstrators). Using the names of National Parliament members is wrong,” Borges said.

Natercia de Deus, the Yayasan HAK lawyer, said she believes the letter violates Article 42 in the Timor-Leste constitution, which guarantees the right of free assembly.

Magno declined repeated requests for comment.