Joaquim da Fonseca

Joaquim da Fonseca (right), with the British Foreign Secretary Hugo Swire (2014)

Joaquim António Maria Lopes da Fonseca is an East Timorese diplomat. Until 2020 he was East Timor’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands .

Career

During the Indonesian occupation, Fonseca participated in the resistance against the invaders. In 1996 he was a co-founder of the Yayasan HAK . During the 1999 independence referendum in East Timor , he worked for the Human Rights Advocacy Division on voter education and reporting on human rights violations. The organization's premises were attacked by pro-Indonesian militias and Fonseca and the other East Timorese workers only survived because two foreign activists refused to be brought to safety without their East Timorese colleagues.

For the independent East Timor, Fonseca was involved in drawing up the constitution . From 2006 to 2007, Fonseca was a human rights advisor to the Prime Minister and oversaw the preparation of the country's first human rights report.

Between September 2007 and December 2008, Fonseca was an advisor to the Prime Minister on civil society issues. He was tasked with reintegrating the former rebels after the unrest in East Timor in 2006 .

In 2009, Fonseca became the East Timor’s Ambassador to Geneva with a wide range of responsibilities. On February 9th, 2009 he was accredited for the United Nations in Geneva, on May 7th for Switzerland and on May 28th for Monaco . He stayed in this post until February 2013. The focus of his work was the UN Human Rights Council . Fonseca in Geneva was replaced by Marciano da Silva . On August 6, 2013, Fonseca was appointed East Timor's first ambassador to the United Kingdom , based in London . He handed over his accreditation on February 14, 2014. He also became East Timor’s Ambassador to the Netherlands. At the same time, Fonseca represented his country before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in the border disputes between Australia and East Timor in 2013/14 . Fonseca's tenure in London ended in 2020.

Private

Three of Joaquim da Fonseca's brothers were killed by the Indonesian occupation.

Fonseca speaks English, Portuguese, Tetum , Fataluku , Indonesian, Javanese and Batak . He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Individual evidence

1. ^ UK Government: The London Diplomatic List , accessed July 29, 2014
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Embassy Magazine: Elizabeth Stewart: Rebel with a cause , February 18 ( memento of the original from July 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 12, 2016. 
3. ↑ Timor-Leste.org on Zoominfo: Mr. Joaquim da Fonseca AML , accessed on July 12, 2016.
4. ↑ ^{a b} OECD: Global Forum VIII International Investment: Biographies of speakers , 7. – 8. December 2009 , accessed July 12, 2016.
5. ↑ Palais Princier de Monaco: Remise des lettres de créance de HE Monsieur Joaquim Antonio Maria Lopes DA FONSECA, Ambassadeur Extraordinaire et Plénipotentiaire de la République Démocratique du Timor Leste , May 28, 2010 , accessed on July 14, 2016.
6. ↑ LinkedIn: Joaquim da Fonseca's profile , accessed July 12, 2015.
7. ^ Government of East Timor: Embaixadas de Timor-Leste , accessed on July 6, 2016.
8. ↑ Sapo: PR timorense nomeia novos embaixadores para a CPLP, Reino Unido e Suíça , August 7, 2013 , accessed on July 14, 2016.
9. ↑ Getty images: Credentials Presented at Buckingham Palace , accessed July 12, 2016.
10. ↑ Diplomat magazine: Timor-Leste, facing the great challenges , March 1, 2015 , accessed on July 12, 2016.
11. ↑ ABC news: East Timor demands return of seized documents , December 20, 2013 , accessed July 12, 2016.
12. ↑ SAPO: Oito novos embaixadores timorenses, incluindo em Lisboa, tomam posse este mês , January 17, 2020 , accessed on January 18, 2020.