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Timor's basket-case police force needs rebuilding: UN

Source
The Australian - April 8, 2008

Mark Dodd – East Timor's police force is tribalised, corrupt, inadequately trained and has no public trust. A scathing UN report, obtained by The Australian, argues the force is politically manipulated, chronically mismanaged and massively underfunded.

And it warns a long-term commitment is needed by East Timor's international backers to repair the damage exacerbated by deadly inter-communal violence in 2006.

Australia – East Timor's principal national security guarantor – is expected to shoulder a significant part of the financial and training burden to rebuild the police force.

But experts warn there are few examples in the world of a successfully rebuilt police force when there is no stable democratic government.

The frailty of the force was underscored in February when army rebel Alfredo Reinado and armed supporters were involved in an alleged assassination attempt against Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and a separate attack that left President Jose Ramos Horta critically wounded.

During political violence in April and May 2006, which cost 38 lives, the East Timor police commander, his two deputies and senior officers deserted their posts, leading to the disintegration of the force.

Since then, police training has been uncoordinated, with most officers failing to gain even a basic understanding of criminal or human rights law.

The UN report said political interference in the 3200-strong police force was rife. Of special concern, the report warned of a potential "lack of political will to approve the needed changes" to reform the police.

The UN report – "PNTL (police) Organisation, Strategic Plan for Reform, Restructuring and Rebuilding" – argues the force's problems range from a lack of a strategic development plan to basic logistics.

Security for most police buildings, "in addition to their state of decay", is "non-existent". Detention facilities are criticised as being in most cases sub-standard, failing to meet the basic minimum required by international human rights provisions of which East Timor is a signatory.

There is no functioning national police radio network to allow stations scattered across the remote mountainous half-island country to stay in touch, while most portable radio equipment lies in disrepair.

Police transport is pitiful. "The current state of the PNTL vehicle fleet is indicative of the failure to have in place adequate vehicle maintenance and replacement programs," the report says.

Contact between police officers and court officials including judges and prosecutors is minimal, with many cases being resolved by "traditional means".

A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the minister wanted to examine the report's findings before making a response.

Since 1999, Canberra has provided more than $500 million in aid to East Timor, including funding to rebuild and train the police force.

Respected national security expert Hugh White told The Australian a radical new approach was needed in rebuilding the East Timor police force.

"I think there are real grounds for asking whether the approach we are taking in East Timor... is going to make any real difference. The fact is we don't have a model. There is no ready template that this is the way you build a police force when you don't have a decent government."

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