Challenges too strong for the nascent State of Timor-Leste: Petitioners and mutineers

Asian Survey

Volumn 49, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 429-449

  Arnold, Matthew B ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Intervention; Post conflict reconstruction; Security sector reform; State building; Timor Leste

Indexed keywords

ARMED FORCES; CONFLICT MANAGEMENT; DISPUTE RESOLUTION; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; MILITARY INTERVENTION; NATIONAL SECURITY; POLITICAL VIOLENCE; STATE BUILDING;

ASIA; EURASIA; LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS; MALAY ARCHIPELAGO; SOUTHEAST ASIA; SUNDA ISLES; TIMOR; TIMOR-LESTE;

EID: 67649986269     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: 1533838X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2009.49.3.429     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. For an analysis of the U.N.'s specific activities from 1999 to 2004, see "East Timor" in James Dobbins, et al., The U.N.'s Role in Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, 2005), pp. 151-80.
2. For the most recent and comprehensive review of Timor-Leste's development since 2002, see East Timor: Beyond Independence, eds. Damien Kingsbury and Michael Leach (Melbourne: Monash University Press, 2007).
3. Jonathon Steele, "Nation Building in East Timor," World Policy Journal 19:2 (Summer 2002), pp. 76-87.
4. Joseph Nevins, "Timor-Leste in 2006: The End of the Post-Independence Honeymoon," Asian Survey 47:1 (January/February 2007), pp. 162-67, p. 163.
5. Simon Philpott, "East Timor's Double Life: Smells like Westphalian Spirit," Third World Quarterly 27:1 (February 2006), pp. 135-59, p. 151.
6. Australian Defense Force, Operation Astute, , accessed November 10, 2008.
7. United Nations, Report of the Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste (Geneva, October 2, 2006), p. 42.
8. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform, Asia Report No. 143 (Brussels, January 17, 2008), p. 3.
9. James Cotton, "Timor-Leste and the Discourse of State Failure," Australian Journal of International Affairs 61:4 (December 2007), pp. 455-70, p. 464.
10. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste's Displacement Crisis, Asia Report No. 148 (Brussels, March 31, 2008), p. 1.
11. The most detailed description of the attack can be found in a leaked U.N. report investigating its response to it. See .
12. There are many confl icting interpretations of the attack on Ramos-Horta, ranging from an assassination attempt, foiled kidnapping attempt, to it being a periodic meeting that, for unknown reasons, exploded into violence. There have been no public, formal conclusions made regarding the incident, and the Timor-Leste government has resisted calls for an independent investigation while a criminal one is ongoing. There was a coroner's report on Reinado's death, which raised even more controversy as it highlighted the possibility that Reinado might have actually been executed or ambushed. The best source of documents surrounding the attack are to be found at .
13. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform, p. 19.
14. Interview with international observer, Dili, April 17, 2008.
15. Interview with international observer, Dili, April 22, 2008.
16. International Crisis Group, Resolving Timor-Leste's Crisis, Asia Report No. 120 (Brussels, October 10, 2006), p. 7.
17. This was a common theme throughout the interviews conducted by the author in Dili.
18. Interview with Joaquim Fonseca, special advisor to Prime Minister Gusmao, Dili, April 15, 2008.
19. Ibid.
20. Prime Minister's Office, Government of Timor-Leste, Strategy to Resolve the Petitioners' Case (Dili, not dated but a statement released to the diplomatic community indicates late March 2008), p. 2.
21. Interview with Ed Rees, country director of Peace Dividend Trust NGO, Dili, April 7, 2008.
22. Prime Minister's Office, Strategy to Resolve the Petitioners' Case p. 3.
23. Fonseca interview.
24. Prime Minister's Office, Strategy to Resolve the Petitioners' Case pp. 4-5.
25. Simon Montlake, "East Timor Rebel Leader Surrenders," Christian Science Monitor, April 29, 2008, , accessed May 15, 2008.
26. April 17, 2008, interview.
27. Fonseca interview.
28. Petitioners who left the FDTL after January 31, 2006, received US$8,000, while those who had left before received three years salary plus US$1,500. Telephone interview with international observer, Dili, November 5, 2008.
29. April 22, 2008, interview.
30. "Ramos-Horta Attack 'Was Coup Attempt'," The Australian, May 21, 2008, , accessed May 22, 2008.
31. United Nations, Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste, p. 48.
32. See the YouTube video of an interview with Reinado in January 2008, , accessed May 15, 2008.
33. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform, p. 19.
34. To view a copy of the badge and supporting letter, see , accessed November 5, 2008.
35. Interview with Alison Cooper, UNMIT spokeswoman, Dili, April 15, 2008.
36. Interview with Maj. Phil Pyke, ISF spokesman, Australian Defense Force, Dili, April 21, 2008.
37. See the ISF's Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the Australian and Timor-Leste governments and the U.N. in 2007, at .
38. April 22, 2008, interview.
39. Oliver P. Richmond and Jason Franks, "Liberal Peacebuilding in Timor-Leste: The Emperor's New Clothes," International Peacekeeping 15:2 (April 2008), pp. 185-200, p. 189.
40. Paulo Gorjão, "The Legacy and Lessons of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor," Contemporary Southeast Asia 24:2 (August 2002), pp. 313-36, p. 326.
41. Simon Chesterman, "East Timor in Transition," International Peacekeeping 9:2 (Spring 2002), pp. 45-76, pp. 66-69.
42. International Crisis Group, Resolving Timor-Leste's Crisis, p. 8.
43. Loro Horta, "East Timor Riots Expose a Political Divide," Asia Times, May 18, 2006, , accessed May 19, 2006.
44. International Crisis Group, Resolving Timor-Leste's Crisis, p. 8.
45. Ibid., p. 11.
46. Reinado YouTube video.
47. United Nations, Report of the Independent Special Commission of Inquiry, p. 30.
48. April 22, 2008, interview.
49. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste's Parliamentary Elections, Asia Briefing No. 65 (Brussels, June 13, 2007), p. 7.
50. Fonseca interview.
51. Interview with Antonio Cardosso, FRETILIN member of Parliament, Dili, April 14, 2008.
52. Jarat Chopra, "Building State Failure in East Timor," Development and Change 33:5 (November 2002), pp. 979-1000, p. 982.
53. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform, p. 17.
54. Ludovic Hood, "Security Sector Reform in East Timor, 1999-2004," International Peacekeeping 13:1 (March 2006), pp. 60-77, p. 73.
55. Jonathan Head, "East Timor's Struggle to Build a Nation," BBC News, February 15, 2008, , accessed February 18, 2008.
56. Simon Philpott, "East Timor's Double Life," pp. 136-37.
57. Michael Leach, "History on the Line: East Timorese History after Independence," History Workshop Journal 61:1 (2006), pp. 222-37.
58. Rees interview.
59. Fonseca interview.
60. Ludovic Hood, "Security Sector Reform in East Timor," pp. 70-72.
61. Rees interview.
62. Interview with international military observer, Dili, April 10, 2008.
63. Ian Martin and Alexander Mayer-Rieckh, "The United Nations and East Timor: From Self-Determination to State-Building," International Peacekeeping 12:1 (Spring 2005), pp. 104-20, p. 112.
64. United Nations, Report of the Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste, p. 2.
65. Ludovic Hood, "Security Sector Reform in East Timor," p. 61.
66. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform, p. 5.
67. April 17, 2008, interview.
68. For an extended review of this question, see James Cotton, "Timor-Leste and the Discourse of State Failure," pp. 455-70.
69. April 17, 2008, interview.
70. Ibid.
71. Interview with Juan Carlos Arevulo, deputy commissioner of U.N. Police, Dili, April 17, 2008.
72. April 17, 2008, interview.
73. Hannah Beech, "East Timor's Broken Promises," Time (Online), March 8, 2007, , accessed March 9, 2007.
74. Lucy Williamson, "Ramos-Horta Wants U.N. to Stay in East Timor," BBC News, May 12, 2008, , accessed May 13, 2008.