UN Road Accidents Must Be Addressed

.

Jornal Independente- By Wendy Frew

Jose Maria de Jesus was riding on a motorbike with her father and sister past the Presidential Office in Dili last December when the family was hit by a United Nations vehicle.

Badly injured, the four-year-old was rushed to hospital where she later died. The driver of the car, a UN Police officer from Jordan, has not been prosecuted.

Jose Maria is one of the many casualties from accidents involving Timorese drivers and pedestrians, and UN vehicles. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Dili today to discuss the withdrawal of UN troops by year’s end, the father of another victim of such accidents has called on the UN to recognise the personal and financial cost of these tragedies to local families.

Domingos Da Costa lost the second of his six children, Pedro, more than a year ago when a UN policeman hit Pedro’s motorbike, late one night. Pedro and his friend were killed and the bike was crushed under the UN vehicle’s wheels.

Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste at that time, Ms Ameerah Haq, visited the family and gave the local Police $US1000 for the family.

But Mr Costa remains angry about his son’s death and is pursuing UNMIT’s insurer, Chartis Insurance Company, for more than $US500, 000 in compensation.

“The [$US1000] money does not take away the pain,” said Mr Costa, speaking to the Independente from his home in Dili.

“In another country, if you hit a car or an animal you would pay for it. But this was not an animal, it was two human beings,” he said.

Many Dili residents travel by motorbike and while adults usually wear helmets, the children who ride with them rarely do. Motorbike riders have to contend with heavy, four-wheel drive traffic on poorly sealed roads that have few traffic lights. In rural areas, the rough roads are even more dangerous.

There were 1237 road accidents in Timor-Leste between January 1 and August 9, this year, 837 of them occurring in Dili, according to Transit Police data.

This year, UN vehicles were involved in xxx accidents. There are 1608 UN Police personnel in Timor-Leste, plus some military and civilian staff.

People living in rural areas often complain that UN vehicles turn on their sirens even when they do not need to, said Police Transit Commander Sub-Inspector Antonio Soares.

The Transit Police investigate accidents involving UN staff and then hand the information to the UN to deliberate upon. One member of the National Parliament, Arao Noe, CNRT, earlier this year reportedly said that crimes committed by UN staff in Timor-Leste were committed with impunity because they were immune from prosecution in countries where they worked.

“The judicial process against criminals is handled by the UN and not by the Timorese judicial system,” he reportedly told Parliament, last year.

.