Justice and Security in Timor-Leste | Current Resources of Interest

Justice and Security in Timor-Leste

The attempts to respond to past and potential violence in Timor-Leste have led to ongoing Globalism Institute research into the intersection between the themes of Justice and Security. Rather than particularly emphasizing the development of the formal justice or security sectors, our research has sought to understand how the juncture between the two has impacted upon patterns of social integration and identity. We are interested in finding out if justice processes can facilitate an amelioration of social tensions, both directly in terms of programmatic intentions, but also through fermenting broader patterns of social cohesion. However, ongoing insecurity may equally give rise to cyclical demands for justice that are seen as impossible to sufficiently meet, leading to an ongoing culture of impunity and further violence.

The central focus of this research has been the work of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR). While there have been various other institutional responses to the crimes committed during the Indonesian occupation, such as the trials in Jakarta and the establishment of the Serious Crimes Unit in Timor-Leste, the work of CAVR was carried through East Timorese society with extensive justice and truth seeking programs across all districts. As such, the potential for CAVR to secure forms of justice, and in turn kinds of security, has been of particular interest, not least because of the patterns of social integration that such programs can create.

The longer-term effects of various institutional attempts to secure justice and peace in Timor-Leste continue to remain unclear. For instance, the political leadership of Timor-Leste has dealt with the vexed question of pursuing justice against former members of the Indonesian military by calling for reconciliation rather than prosecution, rather than risk antagonising their enormous neighbour. This strategy has frequently drawn criticism within Timor-Leste, suggesting that the emerging political system has been unable to meet the ethical expectations of its own population.

Not only have the political and social crises across 2006 and 2007 highlighted the difficulty of developing coherent and successful responses to forms of violence, the crises have also added another serious layer of complication to the relationship between justice and security. The complexity of the situation, with myriad accusations and counter-allegations, has led to a situation where any perception of a lack of justice could serve to consolidate cycles of violence that will carry into the future.

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Current Resources of Interest

The following represent recently-released documents of particular pertinence to the theme of nation building in Timor-Leste. Please see our Justice and Security Resources page for a more extensive list of relevant resources.

    . Camps for Internally Displaced People in Dili 13 August 2006 (Map)
    . Dili Security Hot Spots 24 October 2006 (Map)
    . Estimated IDPs in the Districts of Timor-Leste 20 September 2006 (Map)
    . High Risk Camps - Water Sanitation and Drainage 11 October 2006 (Map)
    . Police Posts at Hot Spots in Dili 13 November 2006 (Map)
    . Brady, Cynthia and David G. Timberman, The Crisis in Timor-Leste: Causes, consequences and options for conflict management and mitigation, USAID, Dili, November 2006.
    . Byrne, Mark, Trauma and Forgiveness: Lessons from South Africa and East Timor, Catholic Social Justice Series, no. 60, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, North Sydney, 2007 (order here).
    . Harrington, Andrew, '25th of May 2006 Massacre & War Crimes in Timor-Leste', East Timor Law Journal, wwww.eastimorlawjournal.org, 24 January 2007, 55 pgs.
    . Holthouse, Kym, 'Playing the Man in Timor-Leste', Arena Magazine, Issue 84, August-September 2006, pp. 47-49.
    . International Crisis Group, Resolving Timor-Leste's Crisis, Asia Report no. 120, International Crisis Group, Jakarta and Brussels, 10 October 2006.
    . Neto, Félix, Maria da Conceiçao Pinto and Etienne Mullet, 'Intergroup Forgiveness: East Timorese and Angolan perspectives', Journal of Peace Research, vol. 44, no. 6, November 2007, pp. 711-728.
    . Scambary, James with Hippolito Da Gama and Joao Barreta, A Survey of Gangs and Youth Groups in Dili, Timor-Leste, A report commissioned by Australia's Agency for International Development, AusAID, Dili, 15 September 2006.
    . Trindade, Jose 'Josh' and Bryant Castro, Rethinking Timorese Identity as a Peacebuilding Strategy: The Lorosa'e - Loromonu Conflict from a Traditional Perspective, The European Union's Rapid Reaction Mechanism Programme: Technical Assistance to the National Dialogue Process in Timor-Leste, Dili, 6 June 2007.
    . United Nations, Report of the United Nations Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste, English version and Tetum version, United Nations, Geneva, 2 October 2006.



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