Dionísio Babo Soares

Babo Soares was born in Ermera in the north west of East Timor on {{Birth date|1966|8|16|df=y}}. He graduated in constitutional law from Udayana University in Denpasar, Indonesia, in 1990. As a student, he actively participated in the resistance movement against the occupation of his home country and was a member of various groups, such as the Liga dos Estudantes Patriotas (LEP). In 1989, he was involved in a petition to make the United Nations aware of the fate of East Timor. He also took part in demonstrations at the Indonesian embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.{{cite web |title=Ministério da Administração Estatal: Ministro |trans-title=Ministry of State Administration: Minister |url=http://www.estatal.gov.tl/pt/ministro/ |website=Government of Timor-Leste |access-date=6 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101103536/http://www.estatal.gov.tl/pt/ministro/ |archive-date=1 November 2015 |language=pt}}

In 1995, Babo Soares completed a master's degree in philosophy with a focus on development studies at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.{{cite thesis |last=da Costa Babo Soares |first=Dionísio |year=1995 |type=Masters thesis |title=The relationship between foreign development assistance and human rights {{as written|pe|erformance [sic]}}: a case study of the United States of America, Canada, The Netherlands and Indonesia |publisher=Massey Research Online, Massey University |hdl=10179/13511 |url=https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/13511}} Between 1995 and 1999, he was a member of the academic staff of the then Universitas Timor Timur (UNTIM), now absorbed into the National University of Timor-Leste. From 1998, he was a doctoral student in anthropology at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University in Canberra.{{cite web |title=Library of Congress Authorities: Babo-Soares, Dionisio |url=https://lccn.loc.gov/no2002015896 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=6 April 2020}} His research focused on political and social developments in Timor-Leste during its preparation for independence between 1999 and 2002.{{cite book |editor1-last=Fox |editor1-first=James J. |editor2-last=Babo Soares |editor2-first=Dionísio |editor1-link=James J. Fox |title=Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor |date=2003 |publisher=ANU Press |location=Canberra |doi=10.22459/OA.11.2003 |doi-access=free |isbn=9780975122914 |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/out-ashes |access-date=6 April 2020}}

In 2003, Babo Soares worked at the Asia Foundation in Timor-Leste. The same year, he was a co-founder of the {{ill|East Timor Coffee Institute|de}}.{{cite web |title=ETCI selebra loron Dies Natalis ba Dala XI |url=http://www.jornalbisnistimor.com/lalenok-sidade-dili/2155-etci-selebra-loron-dies-natalis-ba-dala-xi |website=Business Timor |access-date=6 April 2020 |language=tet |date=22 September 2014}} In addition, he taught from 2003 to 2012 at the Universidade da Paz, and in 2003 and 2004 at the Universidade Dili (UNDIL).

From 2005 to 2008, Babo Soares, together with {{ill|Benjamin Mangkoedilaga|id}} of Indonesia, co-chaired the Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), which was tasked with working on behalf of the Presidents of both countries in dealing with human rights violations during the 1999 East Timorese crisis.{{cite news |last1=Widiadana |first1=Rita A. |title=RI, Timor Leste urged to get behind truth commission |url=http://www.etan.org/et2006/may/13/17ctf.htm |access-date=6 April 2020 |work=The Jakarta Post |date=20 May 2006}} Pro-Indonesia militia and Indonesian security personnel had inflicted a wave of violence upon the occupied East Timor after the population had voted for independence in a referendum. Around 250,000 East Timorese had fled or been deported to West Timor, and around 2,000 to 3,000 people had died. The CTF's final report found that Indonesia's government, military and police were “to blame for the serious violations of human rights” in the 1999 crisis.{{cite book |last1=Hirst |first1=Megan |title=Too Much Friendship, Too Little Truth: Monitoring Report on the Commission of Truth and Friendship in Indonesia and Timor-Leste |date=January 2008 |publisher=International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) |location=New York |url=https://unsw.adfa.edu.au/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/sites/default/files/documents/hirst.ctf.critique.pdf |access-date=6 April 2020}}{{cite web|title=Per Memoriam Ad Spem|url=http://wcsc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/East_Timor_and_Indonesia/Reports/PER%20MEMORIAM%20AD%20SPEM%20Eng_ver.pdf|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101224230/http://wcsc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/East_Timor_and_Indonesia/Reports/PER%20MEMORIAM%20AD%20SPEM%20Eng_ver.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2014|url-status=dead}} Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono then expressed his "very deep remorse at what happened in the past".{{cite web |last1=Williamson |first1=Lucy |title=Indonesia regrets E Timor wrongs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7506702.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=6 April 2020 |date=15 July 2008}}

On 12 May 2005, Babo Soares was sworn in as a member of the {{ill|Superior Council for Defence and Security (Timor-Leste)|de|lt=Superior Council for Defence and Security|Konsellu Superior Defeza no Seguransa}} of Timor-Leste.{{cite thesis |last1=Nuttall |first1=Ruth |title=The Origins and Onset of the 2006 Crisis in Timor-Leste |type=PhD |date=2017 |publisher=Australian National University |location=Canberra |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317679678 |access-date=5 April 2020}} In April 2006, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Timor-Leste's Public Broadcasting Service.{{cite journal |title=Decreto do Presidente da República Número 4/2006 |trans-title=Decree of the President of the Republic Number 4/2006|journal=Jornal da República |date=26 April 2006 |volume=1 |issue=8 |page=1 |url=http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2006/serie_1/serie1_no8.pdf |access-date=5 April 2020 |publisher=Government of Timor-Leste |language=pt}}

In 2007, Babo Soares became Secretary-General of the CNRT, which was then in the process of being founded by Xanana Gusmão.{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=Gavin |title=Political Parties and Groupings of Timor-Leste |date=May 2007 |publisher=Australian Labor Party |location=Kingston, ACT, Australia |page=13 |url=http://www.ip.alp.org.au/download/now/timor_leste_political_parties_and_groupings_2nd_edition.pdf |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607042520/http://www.ip.alp.org.au/download/now/timor_leste_political_parties_and_groupings_2nd_edition.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2007}} From the parliamentary elections of 2007 until 2017, the CNRT was part of the government, initially with Gusmão as Prime Minister, and from 2015 under Rui Maria de Araújo of Fretilin.

Between 2007 and 2012, Babo Soares worked as a consultant to the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, José Luís Guterres.{{cite book |title=Timor celebrates 10 years of Independence with Conference on Social Programmes |date=16-18 February 2012 |publisher=International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) |location=Dili |url=http://pressroom.ipc-undp.org/event/ipc-ig-expert-attends-timors-10th-anniversary-conference-on-social-programmes/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519183754/http://pressroom.ipc-undp.org/event/ipc-ig-expert-attends-timors-10th-anniversary-conference-on-social-programmes/ |archive-date=19 May 2012}} In the parliamentary elections of 2012, in which the CNRT achieved the highest number of votes, Babo Soares was elected to the National Parliament as the #2 candidate on the CNRT list.{{cite book |title=Timor-Leste elections: List of Candidates |date=2012 |page=66 |url=http://www.laohamutuk.org/misc/eleisaun2012/ElectedPartySlates.pdf |access-date=10 April 2020}} However, on 8 August 2012 he was sworn in as the new Justice Minister of Timor-Leste, and therefore did not take up his parliamentary seat.{{cite web |title=IV Constitutional Government |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=7526&lang=en&lang=en |website=Government of Timor-Leste |access-date=25 January 2019}} During the government reshuffle in February 2015, Babo Soares became Minister of State, Coordinator of State Administration Affairs and Justice, and Minister of State Administration.{{cite web |title=VI Constitutional Government is sworn-in |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=11261&lang=en&lang=en |website=Government of Timor-Leste |access-date=5 April 2020 |date=16 February 2015}}{{cite web |title=VI Constitutional Government |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=18770&lang=en |website=Government of Timor-Leste |access-date=5 April 2020}}

File:2019-07-16 Dionísio Babo und António Guterres.jpg in 2019]]

In 2017, Babo Soares lost his post as Secretary General of the CNRT to Francisco Kalbuadi Lay at the party congress.{{cite news |author1= |title=Xanana continua presidente do maior partido de Timor-Leste, Kalbuadi eleito secretário-geral |trans-title=Xanana remains president of Timor-Leste's largest party, Kalbuadi elected secretary-general |url=https://www.dn.pt/lusa/xanana-continua-presidente-do-maior-partido-de-timor-leste-kalbuadi-eleito-secretario-geral-6257840.html |access-date=5 April 2020 |work=Diário de Notícias |agency=Lusa |date=1 May 2017 |language=pt}} He became president of the party's national executive council.{{cite news |last1=Sampaio |first1= António |title= Timor-Leste/Eleições: A campanha mais profissional e sofisticada de sempre |trans-title= Timor-Leste / Elections: The most professional and sophisticated campaign ever |url= https://www.dn.pt/lusa/timor-lesteeleicoes-a-campanha-mais-profissional-e-sofisticada-de-sempre-8623597.html |access-date=5 April 2020 |work=Diário de Notícias |agency=Lusa |date=9 July 2017 |language=pt}} In the parliamentary elections of 2017, Soares was again elected to the National Parliament as the CNRT's #2 list candidate. However, as the CNRT went into opposition after that election, Babo Soares lost his executive office in the government.{{cite web |title=Who is in Timor-Leste's new Parliament? / Se tuir iha Parlamentu Nasionál foun? |url=http://laohamutuk.blogspot.com/2017/07/who-will-be-in-timor-lestes-next.html |website=La'o Hamutuk: Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis |access-date=5 April 2020 |date=23 July 2017}}

In September 2017, Babo Soares was appointed as a delegate to the National Parliamentary Group at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) {{cite journal |title= Resolução do Parlamento Nacional N.o 20 / 2017 de 27 de Setembro |trans-title= National Parliament Resolution No. 20/2017 of 27 September |journal=Jornal da República |date=27 September 2017 |volume=1 |issue=38 |page=1601 |url=http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2006/serie_1/serie1_no8.pdf |access-date=5 April 2020 |publisher=Government of Timor-Leste |language=pt}} In that month, he also became a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Affairs, Justice, Public Administration, Local Jurisprudence and Anti-Corruption (Committee-A).{{cite web |url=http://www.parlamento.tl/comisaun/pt/IV_legislatura.php |title=Comissões Especializadas Permanentes: Comissão de Assuntos Constitucionais e Justiça (Comissão-A) |trans-title=Permanent Specialised Committees: Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Justice (Committee-A)|date=2017 |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191345/http://www.parlamento.tl/comisaun/pt/IV_legislatura.php |archive-date=4 October 2017 |language=pt}}

In 2018, the National Parliament of Timor-Leste was dissolved early. In the elections that followed the dissolution, Babo Soares was again elected to the National Parliament, this time in 10th place on the list of the Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP), of which the CNRT was part.{{cite press release |title=Aviso: Lista Definitiva de Candidaturas Eleição Parlamentar 12 de Maio de 2018 |trans-title=Notice: Final List of Candidates Parliamentary Election 12 May 2018 |url=http://www.laohamutuk.org/Justice/2018/ElPar/ListaCandidatos.pdf |language=pt |publisher=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste |access-date=5 April 2020}} On 22 June 2018, Babo Soares was sworn in as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and therefore again automatically relinquished his parliamentary seat.{{cite web |author1= |title=Primeiro grupo de membros do VIII Governo timorense tomou posse em Díli| trans-title=First group of members of the VIII Timorese Government take office in Dili |url=https://24.sapo.pt/noticias/internacional/artigo/primeiro-grupo-de-membros-do-viii-governo-timorense-tomou-posse-em-dili_24395746.html |website=SAPO 24 |agency=Lusa |access-date=9 March 2020 |language=pt |date=22 June 2018}}

At the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, Babo Soares was scheduled to give a speech, but fell ill. He was replaced at short notice by Timor-Leste's Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York, Milena Pires. Soon afterwards, Babo Soares underwent heart surgery in New York.{{cite news |title=Ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros timorense submetido a cirurgia devido a problema cardíaco |trans-title=Timorese Foreign Minister underwent surgery due to heart problem |url=https://observador.pt/2018/10/02/ministro-dos-negocios-estrangeiros-timorense-submetido-a-cirurgia-devido-a-problema-cardiaco/ |access-date=5 April 2020 |work=Observador |agency=Lusa |date=2 October 2018 |language=pt}}

Following the breakdown of the AMP coalition in the first few months of 2020, the CNRT decided on 30 April 2020 that its members serving in the VIII Constitutional Government would resign their positions.{{cite news |last1=Soares Martins |first1=Evaristo |title=CNRT Members Told to Resign from Council of Ministers |url=http://www.tatoli.tl/en/2020/05/11/cnrt-members-told-to-resign-from-council-of-ministers/ |access-date=27 May 2020 |work=Tatoli |date=11 May 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515001721/https://tatoli.tl/en/2020/05/11/cnrt-members-told-to-resign-from-council-of-ministers/ |url-status=dead }} The CNRT informed the government of its decision on 8 May 2020, and Babo Soares resigned as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation on 25 May 2020.{{cite news |last1=Sanchez |first1=Hortencio |title=Foreign Minister Dionísio Soares Among Five MPs to Resign From Cabinet |url=http://www.tatoli.tl/en/2020/05/25/dionisio-soares-resigns-as-foreign-minister/?fbclid=IwAR0-sF4xO6Uge6FXDXLKZ9btn3Qpe03xhReTxumx1vPCcplykh1_rf_sbLk |access-date=27 May 2020 |work=Tatoli |date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=30 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630030524/http://www.tatoli.tl/en/2020/05/25/dionisio-soares-resigns-as-foreign-minister/?fbclid=IwAR0-sF4xO6Uge6FXDXLKZ9btn3Qpe03xhReTxumx1vPCcplykh1_rf_sbLk |url-status=dead }}

• Branching from the Trunk: East Timorese Perceptions of Nationalism in Transition (Canberra: PhD thesis, Australian National University, 2003; {{OCLC|793206496}})
• Elections and Constitution Making in East Timor (Canberra: State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project, Australian National University, 2003; {{ISBN|0731533496}})
• {{cite book |title=Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p68261/pdf/book.pdf}} (ed) (with James J. Fox (ed)) (Canberra: ANU Press, 2003; {{ISBN|9780975122914}})
• Tetum, Language Manual for East Timor (5th ed.) (with Geoffrey Hull and Jorge da Conceição Teme) (Winston Hills, NSW, Australia: Sebastião Aparício da Silva Project, 2005; {{ISBN|186341875X}})

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Category:Living people

Category:Foreign ministers of Timor-Leste

Category:Ministers of justice of Timor-Leste

Category:Members of the National Parliament (Timor-Leste)

Category:National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction politicians

Category:Udayana University alumni

Category:1966 births

Category:21st-century East Timorese politicians

Category:Massey University alumni