Francisco Dionisio Fernandes

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Francisco Dionisio Fernandes (born June 24, 1974 in Dili , Portuguese Timor ), battle name Mau-Kura or Maucura ( German  "the man who campaigns for peace" ), is an East Timorese diplomat.

Career

Fernandes is the oldest of seven siblings. Paulo Fernandes and Jacinta da Gloria, Fernandes' parents, moved from the country to Dili, the colonial capital of what was then Portuguese Timor, in the 1950s. The father was an artillery soldier in the Portuguese colonial army in Laclubar from 1967 to 1970 . towards the end of the colonial period, the father fought in the civil war in East Timor in 1975 on the side of FRETILIN under Rogério Lobato . The year after Fernandes was born, the Indonesians occupied East Timor. The father took part in the defensive struggle in the border area and in Atabae .

Fernandes attended junior high school and SMP 2 high school in Colmera . During this time Fernandes came into contact with the freedom movement, for example with Natalino dos Santos Nascimento . At the age of 16 he began to work as an activist in the independence movement, but Fernandes did not join the armed resistance himself. In Dili, his small group provided logistical support and information for the Forças Armadas de Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste (FALINTIL). In addition to educational activities, the activists collected food, medicine and clothing for the fighters and also passed information on to journalists. The English-speaking Fernandes tried to bring the East Timorese struggle for freedom closer to foreigners, who were allowed to visit the country again from 1991. Among his targets in 1993 was the American activist Joseph Nevins. Fernandes also took part in peaceful demonstrations and strikes. Fernandes was one of the group of activists who sought refuge from the Indonesian security forces in the church of Santo António de Motael on the night of October 27-28. When the Indonesians entered the church, they shot the activist Sebastião Gomes . His funeral on November 12, 1991 turned into a demonstration against the Indonesian occupation. Indonesian security forces opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators. At least 271 people died in the Santa Cruz massacre . Fernandes escaped unharmed while friends were killed, injured or disappeared, but a week later he was arrested and held at the Indonesian military headquarters in Dili for almost two months.

From 1995 Fernandes attended the Catholic University Widya Karya in Malang , Indonesia , from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree. Here he became a member of the Resistência Nacional dos Estudantes de Timor-Leste , of which Fernandes was Deputy Secretary General from 2000 to 2004. In the spring of 1999 he returned to East Timor and joined the independence campaign in the run-up to the independence referendum on August 30th . Following the success of the independence advocates, the Indonesians hit the country one last time with a wave of violence . Almost half of the population had to flee their homes, most of the infrastructure was destroyed and 2000 people died. The United Nations sent an international force (INTERFET) to restore law and order. After three years of UN administration , East Timor was given independence.

While still under UN administration, Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta began to set up the East Timorese diplomatic service. Fernandes was one of 50 East Timorese who completed a diplomatic course organized by the United Nations in Dili. Fernandes completed other courses in Kuala Lumpur , Madrid and New Zealand . With the independence of East Timor on May 20, 2002 Fernandes became a full diplomat at the East Timorese Foreign Ministry .

In his role, Fernandes visited Benin and several other trips to Africa followed, including Kenya , Ghana , Liberia and Guinea-Bissau . He traveled several times to Portugal and to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York , as well as to Germany and Austria as part of the Foreign Minister's delegation and to most of the ASEAN countries. Fernandes has repeatedly attended meetings of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). From April 2007 to April 2010 he was a diplomat at the East Timorese Embassy in Manila . In January 2011 he became National Director for National Cooperation and in November 2012 he headed a delegation for bilateral consultations between East Timor and Thailand.

From August 28, 2013 to August 18, 2016, Fernandes was Charge d'Affaires at the East Timorese embassy in Thailand , where he was initially also responsible for Cambodia and Laos , until East Timor also opened embassies there. His service in Bangkok ended on January 3rd, 2017 . Fernandes became director of bilateral relations in West, Central and South Asia and represented East Timor in political diplomacy in bilateral meetings with the People's Republic of China , Japan , South Korea and India . On March 28, 2017, Fernandes was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center “Chega” (CNC). The public institute promotes solidarity with the most vulnerable survivors of human rights abuses.

Fernandes was formerly a member of FRETILIN , but now belongs to the Frenti-Mudança (FM) party . He ran unsuccessfully for the FM in the parliamentary elections in East Timor in 2012 at number 10 and 2017 at number 8 on the electoral list. Fernandes is FM Vice-Coordinator in 2018.

Others

Fernandes is a Roman Catholic, married and has three children. He speaks Tetum , Portuguese , English , some Spanish and Malay .

Awards

  • Ordem Lorico Asuwain (gold medal) for his services in the national resistance and the independence movement

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e STL: Francisco Dionisio Fernandes , accessed February 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Big Chili: From activist to diplomacy: Timor-Leste's man in Bangkok , February 2, 2016 , accessed on February 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Forum Hakesuk: Francisco Dionisio Fernandes alias Maucara , accessed on February 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ Monika Schlicher: East Timor faces its past , missio-hilft.de , accessed on January 28, 2019.
  5. ↑ Government of East Timor: Reunião do Conselho de Ministros de 28 de março de 2017 , March 28, 2017 , accessed on February 20, 2018.
  6. ↑ Lao Hamutuk: List of candidates from all parties 2012 , accessed February 20, 2018.
  7. ↑ Lao Hamutuk: List of candidates from all parties 2017 , accessed February 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ Tatoli: Franciscvo Maukura Fila Fali Ba FRETILIN , January 24, 2018 , accessed on February 20, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Fernandes, Francisco Dionisio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mau-Kura (battle name); Maucura (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION East Timorese diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Dili , Portuguese Timor