Recruitment for PNTL: A Long Way to Professionalism

Fundasaun Mahein, 14 December  2010

Press release

Recruitment for PNTL: A Long Way to Professionalism

This Voice of Mahein edition 15, emphasizes in depth the recruitment of PNTL members (PNTL) within the last few months. At the same time, FM focuses on the question of professionalism amongst the PNTL members during their ten years of existence, including the question of mal-administration within PNTL’s institution.

Through its monitoring programs, FM has discovered serious irregularities that have taken place during the process of rank promotion within the PNTL institution in 2010. The recent examples of irregularities are the people were promoted from the rank of Sergeant to Chief Inspector.  Officers are supposed to be promoted according to the laws of promotion for PNTL, but in the fact it appears that some officers who did not meet the criteria outlined in the promotion law for PNTL were also promoted to the higher ranks.

FM also identified that many of the irregularities in the promotion process were in regards officers who still had open cases still being heard in the courts, but were promoted anyway. FM recognizes that these irregularities came about because there is no proper coordination in place between the General Commander of PNTL and the Secretary of State for Security (SES). The recruitment process and promotion of rank have been the competence and with directed involvement of the General Commander of PNTL, even though the law for promotion gives full competence for these actions to the SES.

FM in this report also identifies that since its establishment, that with PNTL, until just recently, the major problem being faced was a lack of administration and their knowledge of the functions of state institutions in general. The other serious challenge has been their lack of understanding the laws of promotion which has become the major preoccupation for both the Commission of the Promotion of Rank as well as for most PNTL officers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the PNTL to disseminate the laws regarding the promotion of police officers.

FM recommends that in the future the PNTL Rank Promotion Committee involves the civil society by asking the church, academic and intellectual groups their opinions regarding future promotions of PNTL officers.

FM recommends that the PNTL General Commander explain to the public the laws about promotion, the promotion system, and answer other technical questions for his officers, so there is no confusion from PNTL officers who are not satisfied with the current rank promotion system.

FM recommends that the General Commander of PNTL always be consistent with the rank promotion system, and communicate in a direct way, that PNTL members who are involved in crime or have discipline problems will not be eligible for promotion until their cases are resolved in the court.

FM recommends the General Commander of PNTL and the PNTL Rank Promotion Committee promote police officers to positions of responsibility based on their experience, work capacity, ethics, discipline, and not based on emotional or family connections.

You can download the report here.

For more information on this issue, please contact

Nélson Belo,

Director of Fundasaun Mahein

Web: www.fundasaunmahein.wordpress.com

Email: direktor.mahein[at]gmail.com

tlp :   +670 737 4222