VZCZCXRO0907
RR RUEHPB
DE RUEHDT #0132/01 0900841
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 310841Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3418
INFO RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0898
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0848
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0699
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0957
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0011
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0783
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0093
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 2777

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DILI 000132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS 
PACOM FOR POLAD AND JOC 
TOKYO FOR HANS KLEMM 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/30/2017 
TAGS: KPKO MOPS MARR PGOV PREL ASEC UN TT
SUBJECT: SECURITY SECTOR UPDATE 
 
REF: A) DILI 119, B) 120 
 
DILI 00000132  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Seiji T Shiratori, Deputy Chief of Mission, EXEC, 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (a), (b), (d) 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Post remains concerned by developments in the 
security sector following a United Nations Police (UNPOL) 
request to the GOET to deploy elements from the East Timorese 
Defense Force (F-FDTL) into the capital city of Dili.  While the 
Commander of the F-FDTL, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, gave 
reassurances to both UNMIT and the Australian-led International 
Stabilization Force (ISF) on March 20 that all of his soldiers 
now understood their rules of engagement (ROE), violations 
continue to occur.  According to UNMIT Special Representative of 
the Secretary-General (SRSG) Atul Khare, several of these 
infractions are currently being investigated by UNMIT, but it is 
unclear whether these measures will lead to any accountability. 
Meanwhile, international military observers continue to speak of 
the inevitability of conflict between F-FDTL units and ISF 
elements, largely because of poor coordination which exists 
between the two organizations, further complicated by the 
significant professional divide which seriously impairs their 
ability to function together on the same proverbial playing 
field.  It appears that Dili remains in a potentially dangerous 
holding pattern as long as the F-FDTL elements are deployed in 
town.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) ISF sources report that F-FDTL violations of their own 
ROE continue.  The following list details previously unreported 
incidents which have occurred since March 18, including a few 
incidents of significance.  Reftel A provides information on 
incidents which occurred prior to March 18. 
 
a. March 21:  ISF reported that there are now 200 F-FDTL 
soldiers operating in the Dili area. 
 
b. March 21:  Residents living near the Ministry of Education 
expressed to UN Police (UNPOL) their displeasure regarding the 
behavior of an F-FDTL element providing static security there. 
They complained about the detention of local persons, in 
addition to a shooting incident which took place on March 18. 
When UNPOL and ISF raised concerns about the incidents of FFDTL 
misconduct at this and other locations, Ruak apparently agreed 
and stated that "he would like to replace it with an UNPOL 
detachment."  However, as of March 29 the F-FDTL section remains 
at site. 
 
c. March 22:  A nine-man armed F-FDTL patrol was seen in the 
vicinity of Comoro.  According to the F-FDTL's ROE, F-FDTL is 
not supposed to be patrolling, only providing static security. 
 
d. March 23:  An armed F-FDTL patrol was spotted near the 
Ministry of Finance.  Separate reporting on this date also 
indicates that F-FDTL personnel responded to verbal abuse by 
civilians with weapon butt strokes and kicks. 
 
e. March 24:  An armed F-FDTL section was sighted in Kampung 
Baru.  Reports indicated that members were intoxicated. 
 
f. March 25:  The same F-FDTL section reported on March 24 was 
cited in Kampung Baru again, and members were reportedly 
intoxicated.  After being confronted by a Malaysian UNPOL unit, 
the F-FDTL section commander threateningly charged his M-16A2 
rifle at the Malaysians.  However, the incident was defused 
shortly thereafter by an ISF patrol which arrived and managed to 
get the F-FDTL members to return to their headquarters at Tasi 
Tolu. 
 
g. With reference to the five men who were detained March 16 by 
F-FDTL but not brought to the Comoro UNPOL station by F-FDTL 
(Ref A), F-FDTL still has not provided any accounting to UNMIT 
for what happened to them.  Additionally, during March 21 
meeting with SRSG Atul Khare, SRSG was asked whether he was 
aware of the fact that these individuals brought to UNPOL by 
F-FDTL had in fact been beaten, to which Khare replied that this 
had not occurred.  Two days later Khare contacted the Embassy 
and corroborated earlier reporting that these individuals had in 
fact been beaten.  He stated that he would demand that PM Jose 
Ramos-Horta conduct a formal inquiry.  UNMIT's Human Rights Unit 
later confirmed to Embassy that four of the 10 who were detained 
did have visible evidence of abuse when they were released by 
F-FDTL. 
 
 
DILI 00000132  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶3. (C) All of the above incidents occurred following a March 20 
statement by Ruak to Ramos-Horta, ISF Commander Brigadier Mal 
Rerden, and the SRSG that "there are now systems in place to 
prevent such transgressions from happening again,"  begging the 
question of what Ruak is in fact doing to control his forces in 
Dili. Several reports of incidents where F-FDTL soldiers have 
been drunk while on duty also suggest that Ruak is not in full 
control of his soldiers. 
 
¶4. (C) Additionally, the F-FDTL liaison officer to the ISF told 
us on March 28 that he receives little to no guidance from his 
headquarters, and rarely if ever is able to provide F-FDTL 
operational details to the ISF because he knows nothing about 
them.  He added that he had not even met with Ruak since 2004, 
and that the only reason he knew of a recent F-FDTL deployment 
to the World Food Program warehouse in Dili was because he 
happened upon F-FDTL soldiers who had secured the site the 
previous weekend. A senior UNMIT official also noted that 
several of the F-FDTL static positions do not have access to 
reliable means of communication with either UNPOL or their own 
headquarters in the event of an incident.  All of these factors 
point to UNMIT's and ISF's collective dilemma to engage in 
simple operational coordination with F-FDTL, and underscore the 
risks assumed in collaborating with a defense force of such 
meager levels of capability.  It was UNPOL Commissioner Rodolfo 
Tor who requested that the GOET utilize F-FDTL in Dili. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment:  Senior ISF, UNMIT, and diplomatic sources 
continue to paint the deployment of F-FDTL in Dili in a cautious 
light, and uniformly assert that it is only a matter of time 
before there will be an armed engagement involving an ISF 
element intervening at the scene of an F-FDTL ROE transgression. 
 Post concurs with this assessment, noting that F-FDTL soldiers 
in Dili are strongly of the opinion that they are here to 
paternalistically "protect the community."  To the typical 
F-FDTL soldier, this may mean that a few rifle butt strokes and 
warning shots are acceptable.  As this is an unacceptable 
paradigm from the perspective of the ISF and UNMIT, 
opportunities for conflict between F-FDTL and the ISF (or UNPOL) 
likely remain.  If there is an armed engagement between the ISF 
and F-FDTL, regardless of scope, there will be pressures from 
the ranks of F-FDTL to respond.  And if Ruak is unable to get 
his units to even follow their own ROE, it could be even more 
difficult to control his defense force if he suddenly were faced 
with the prospect of ISF-induced F-FDTL casualties.  In light of 
the events of the past year, such an incident could lead to 
increased tensions between Timorese regional groups, National 
Police (PNTL) and F-FDTL, and certainly again raise the specter 
of anti-Australian outbursts.  Post judges it unlikely that 
there would be a conflict between UNPOL and F-FDTL because of 
the lightly-armed status of UNPOL members (in fact, many are 
unarmed).  Most military observers in East Timor believe if 
there is an incident involving F-FDTL and UNPOL, UNPOL members 
will quickly back down.  End comment. 
 
 
HARSHA 
NAGY