Nobel Peace Prize laureate and East Timorese religious leader Carlos Belo said that dictatorships speak the same language of repression.

"A common feature of dictatorships all over the world has been the repression of civil society. Dictators do not allow alternative voices because they know this will puncture their aura of invincibility," Belo told a hundred-strong audience at the St Francis Xavier Church in Petaling Jaya on Saturday.

"Any criticism becomes an act of treason because the dictator pretends that he is the sole source of authority," he said.

Belo paid Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar a courtesy call this morning at Wisma Putra but did not hold a press conference on the last of his three-day visit to Malaysia.

Belo, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with fellow Timorese and independence fighter Jose Ramos-Horta, also exhibited pride in the fact that "Timorese voices were never stilled in East Timor".

"Our organisations may have been closed down and many individuals suffered greatly, but they were never silent.

"Now those voices must re-emerge in the form of organisations capable of providing honest analysis and critique of our progress. This the true secret of democracy - allowing many voices to be heard and enabling decisions to be taken openly and transparently.

"No system of government can work without these alternative voices," he stressed.

Colonial rule

East Timor, located to the east of Java, experienced 400 years of Portuguese colonial rule only to be subjected again to the colonial yoke of neighbouring Indonesia in 1975. Jakarta's repressive rule ended in a democratic vote for independence in late 1999.

It was during Indonesia rule in 1991 that Malaysian human rights activist Kamal Bamadhaj was killed in the Santa Cruz massacre when the military opened fired on civilians.

Belo added that the East Timorese are determined to bring about a modern system of law which will place human rights at its centre - and not the principles of nepotism, corruption and collusion.

"Human rights are the building blocks for peace and development. No amount of money spent on roads, clinics can bypass the need for laws that are fair for all and which reflect our special culture," he said.

Belo also called on the need for the East Timorese to take charge of their lives and not leave it in the hands of foreigners.

"The rule of law must be put in place in East Timor and this process must involve the ordinary people as much as possible.

"And I hope that during that time the United Nations role will become an advisory one only and that sovereignty can rest with our Timorese people as it should," he said.

Popular elections

East Timor is currently under the administration of the United Nations Transitional Authority for East Timor and expecting popular elections later this year.

"We need economic and social rights too, rights to housing and health as well as security, brought into law and put in place, reflecting the worth of every single person without exception.

He also asked Malaysians not to forget that there are Timorese being held against their will in West Timor.

The ground-breaking referendum in 1999, which saw a majority of Timorese voting for independence, later erupted in a bloody civil war when pro-Indonesian militia groups rejected the decision.

To date 125,000 East Timorese refugees remain in camps in Indonesia's West Timor.

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