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ABSTRACT
This article investigates the transformation of the FALINTIL guerrilla organisation into the national armed forces in post-independence Timor-Leste. It focuses on how these former rebels interpret and legitimise their role in a changed socio-political environment vis-à-vis other national security actors as well as the population. By tackling the issue of the evolution of guerrilla organisations into formal security actors, the paper speaks to the recent research trend on the legacies of rebel governance, as well as the field of civil-military relations. Based on a qualitative interview case study, it argues that the behaviour of the state security actors, and their respective understanding of their role within the Timorese state, have been determined by internalised socialisation practices of their past. It becomes clear, that particularly the armed forces struggled with their constitutionally limited role on matters of national defence but strove to expand their role into domestic security affairs.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Hanna Pfeifer, Regine Schwab, Joseph Verbovszky as well as the anonymous reviewers for their most valuable comments to earlier drafts of this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Kasfir, “Rebel Governance,” 24.
2. Terpstra, “Rebel Governance, Rebel Legitimacy,” 1144.
3. Ibid., 1147.
4. Reno, “Predatory Rebellions and Governance,” 282.
5. Mawby, “Models of Policing,” 15.
6. Neocleous, War Power, Police Power, 11.
7. Arjona et al., “Introduction”; and Kasfir et al., “Introduction.”
8. Glassmyer and Sambanis, “Rebel-Military Integration,” 376; and Krebs and Licklider, “United They Fall,” 94–97.
9. Licklider, “South Africa,” 119–121.
10. Hall, “From Rebels to Soldiers,” 103.
11. Ogura, “Challenges of Combatant’s Rehabilitation,” 226.
12. Wilson, Varieties of Police Behavior.
13. Reiner, The Politics of the Police.
14. Herspring, “Civil-Military Relations.”
15. Checkel, “Socialization and Violence.”
16. Tillmann, Sozialisationstheorien, 17.
17. Maccoby, “Historical Overview of Socialization,” 3f.
18. Hurrelmann, Einführung in die Sozialisationstheorie, 65f.
19. Bandura, “Die Analyse von Modellierungsprozessen,” 12f.
20. Bandura, “Influence of Models’ Reinforcement,” 594; and Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory,” 14f.
21. Bandura, Sozial-Kognitive Lerntheorie, 27; and Bandura, “Social Foundations,” 54.
22. Wilson, Varieties of Police Behavior, 1–16.
23. Reiner, The Politics of the Police, 85–91.
24. Goffman, Asylums, 11–20.
25. Apelt, “Militärische Sozialisation,” 374; Hagen, Homo Militaris, 246f; and Levy and Sasson-Levy, “Militarized Socialization,” 350.
26. Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation, The History of the Conflict, 89–92; and Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation, Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances, 187–191.
27. Mobekk, Policing Peace Operations, 43–45.
28. Della-Giacoma, Police Building in Timor-Leste, 5f; and Kocak, “Security Sector Reconstruction,” 350.
29. Peake, “Police Reform and Reconstruction,” 150.
30. Myrttinen,”Poster Boys No More,” 27.
31. Bull, No Entry without Strategy, 204; and Greener, The New International Policing, 52.
32. Goldsmith, “It Wasn’t Like Normal Policing,” 120–124; and United Nations, Independent Special Commission of Inquiry, 24–42.
33. Kocak, “Security Sector Reconstruction,” 356f.
34. Author’s interview with the Timorese Provedor, Díli, 27.07.2012.
35. Chinn and Everett, A Survey of Community-Police Perceptions, 8.
36. Author’s interview with a former activist of a Timorese pro-independence clandestine network, Díli, 14.078.2012.
37. Author’s interview with the Director of local NGO, Díli, 23.07.2012.
38. Author’s interview with an International Police Advisor, Díli, 25.07.2012.
39. Author’s interview with the Local Director of an International Organization, Díli, 01.08.2012.
40. Author’s interview with the Counsel to the Timorese State Secretary for Security, Díli, 24.07.2012.
41. Rees, Edward, on Online Opinion, https://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=666.
42. Arnold, “Challenges Too Strong,” 445.
43. Author’s interview with the Director of a Local NGO, Díli, 13.06.2011.
44. Author’s interview with the Spokesman of a Timorese Human Rights Organization, Díli, 06.07.2011.
45. Rees, “Under Pressure,” 29–31.
46. Burton, “Security Sector Reform,” 99–101.
47. International Crisis Group, Security Sector Reform, 16f; and Simonsen, “East Timor’s Security Institutions,” 580.
48. United Nations, Independent Special Commission of Inquiry, 52.
49. Ministry of Defence of Timor-Leste, Defence 2020, 148.
50. Author’s interview with an International Military Advisor, Díli, 14.07.2011.
51. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Constitution, Article 146.
52. Author’s interview with a Security Advisor to the Timorese President, Díli, 05.07.2011.
53. Soeters et al., “Military Culture,” 247.
54. Author’s interview with the Director of an International Police Programme, Díli, 13.07.2011.
55. Author’s interview with the Commander of the F-FDTL, Díli, 05.07.2011.
56. International Crisis Group, Timor-Leste’s Veterans, 2f.
57. Adelman, Communist Armies in Politics, 1–15.
58. See note 44 above.
59. Dunn, East Timor, 296 f; Fernandes, “Indonesia’s War”, 873–876.
60. Author’s interview with an International Advisor to the Timorese Government, Díli, 13.07.2011.
61. See note 40 above.
62. Author’s interview with the Director of a Local NGO, Díli, 15.08.2012.
63. See note 38 above.
64. Author’s interview with a Member of a PNTL-Special Police Unit, Díli, 09.08.2012.
65. See note 50 above.
66. Author’s interview with an Employee of the Timorese State Department, Díli, 04.07.2011.
67. Author’s interview with a Member of the Timorese Parliament, Díli, 29.06.2011.
68. Kammen, “The Armed Forces in Timor-Leste,” 120f.
69. Centre for International Governance, Security Sector Reform Monitor, 10–12.
70. United Nations, Human Rights Developments, 4–6.
71. Author’s interview with an International Security Advisor, Díli, 08.08.2012.
72. Wilson, Exception Becomes the Norm, 7f.
73. Fundasaun Mahein, Saida Mak Operasaun.
74. Centre for International Governance, Security Sector Reform Monitor, 11.
75. Author’s interview with a Former UNPOL-Officer, Canberra, 18.07.2012.
76. See note 55 above.
77. International Crisis Group, Stability at What Cost?, 21.
78. Author’s interview with the Commander of a PNTL-Special Police Unit, Díli, 04.08.2012.
79. See note 40 above.
80. Ibid.
81. Fundasaun Mahein, The Joint Operation; Fundasaun Mahein, Police Brutality is Increasing; and Kocak, “Spatial-Temporal Diffusion,” 36.
82. Donais, “Ownership”, 3.
83. Licklider, “Introduction,” 4.
84. Fundasaun Mahein, Lere’s Controversial Statements.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Deniz Kocak
Deniz Kocak is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Chair of Political Science, in particular Political Theory at the Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (HSU/UniBw H), Associated Member with the Interdisciplinary Research Network ‘Maritime Security’ (iFMS), and Research Associate with the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (GIDS), Hamburg. He studied or conducted research at the University of Potsdam, the Humboldt-University Berlin, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Singapore Management University, and Freie University Berlin. His main research focuses on the security sector transformation of Southeast Asian countries.