The force is too expensive and its presence is slowing development of local police, International Crisis Group says
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – The number of U.N. police officers in East Timor should be at least halved as the force is too large and expensive and its presence is slowing the development of local police, International Crisis Group (ICG) has said.
Security in East Timor, one of the world’s poorest nations, has been fragile, albeit improving, since its independence in 2002 , the non-governmental organisation said in a report this week.
The United Nations deploys some 1,500 police officers to support and train East Timor's national police. The force is the third-largest U.N. policing mission in the world after missions in Sudan’s Darfur and Haiti. It is part of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT).
“Real risks to the country’s stability do remain – many the result of the government’s failure to tackle impunity for the events of 2006,” the report said.
“These will be best addressed by the country’s political leaders rather than a continued international police presence.”
Not only has the U.N. force failed to reform East Timor’s police, partly as a result of the government’s disinterest, “it retards the development of the local force by masking operational shortcomings and equipment deficiencies that should be rectified by the government”, the group said.
For example, the investigations department in the capital, Dili, has no camera for photographing crime scenes and collecting evidence, it added.
The report said security has improved since 2006 when deadly riots broke out after the government sacked hundreds of soldiers and police and military clashed along ethnic lines and drove 150,000 people from their homes.
But the U.N. police has limited presence in several police units, the bulk of policing in many districts is handled is handled by the Timorese police and political jostling meant they were not involved in the policing of certain areas, findings from the report showed.
Also, more than four years into the mission, there is still no agreed plan for how to support the organisation of East Timor's police, and the government has shown little interest in U.N. recommendations on these issues, the report said.
While a rapid complete withdrawal of U.N. police officers could destabilise the country, a dramatic reduction in numbers would force the government to address shortcomings of national police as they become more exposed, ICG said.
“The international community is wasting time and money with the policing mandate of this mission and should instead think seriously about bringing this role to an end as quickly as possible,” it added.
Carlos Araujo, a spokesperson for UNMIT, told AlertNet that the mission welcomed the ICG's report and its perspective on the situation in East Timor and that some of its recommendations are already being undertaken by UNMIT.
However, he added "proposals such as ICG calls for reducing international police presence are matters to be decided by the U.N. Security Council, taking into consideration the views of the government...when it considers the UNMIT mandate."
A report produced by a commission of inquiry set up after the 2006 riots identified the former prime minister, former interior minister and ex-police commander as well as senior army executives as individuals suspected of participating in serious criminal activity.
Despite this no one has been jailed for any offence related to the 2006 crisis, ICG said. The president has pardoned all those convicted for their role. No one in the local police force has been dismissed for disciplinary reasons.
This sets a "dangerous precedent that perpetrators of political violence will not be punished," the report said.
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