31 December 2010

Timorese Military Police Unit yet to receive official letter from PNTL

Diario Nacional, December 17, 2010 language source: Tetun - The Timorese Military Police Unit Commander Lieutenant Abel Xavier has confirmed that they are yet to receive an official letter from the Timorese National Police (PNTL) regarding their plan to hold joint operations during the Christmas and New Year Eve.

"We the Military Police have a plan to help the PNTL particularly in the traffic aspect but we will provide help if they ask and we will not hold operations directly," Lieutenant Xavier said.

Lieutenant Xaier added that although the PNTL is yet to send them official letter asking their help, they have prepared a platoon to prevent undesirable things that might happen during the Christmas and New Year eve. Dili District Police Commander, Superintendent Pedro Belo refused to give comments on this matter saying that it is the competence of the General Commando of the PNTL to talk about it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable, Crazy, Stupid, What the hell is PM (Military Police) think they are doing in civilian policing that they have no jurristiction for in PNTL mandates.

Timor-Leste is not in a state of war or even crisis and F-FDTL PM should only should only be policing F-FDTL personel.

This is a real national security risk the Brig. and PM should intervene urgently

East Timor Law Journal said...

Of course your are right anonymous to point out what should already be clear to those charged with respecting the constitution and not unlawfully fusing the military and the police in the enforcement of the civil law.

Unfortunately, there are already several instances of the unconstitutional merging of the miliatary and the civilian police authority, the most blatent of which was the joint task force established during the 2006 crisis. see Joint Command for PNTL & F-FDTL Undermines Rule of Law & Security Sector Reform in Timor-Leste at http://eastimorlawjournal.org/ARTICLES/2008/Joint-Command-PNTL-F-FDTL-Undermines-Rule-of-Law-Wilson.html


It is certainly the case that the military must, in a purely democratic state, be strictly islolated from the enforcement of the civil peace through the administration of the criminal law by the police.

Apart from the defence of the nation from external threats, the only appropriate non-military role for the defence forces is to render assistance to the civil authorities in times of such things as natural disaster.

The admixture of the military and police powers conflicts with the estalished democratic principles and constitutionally correct behavior by the state organs - and those in charge of them.