Timor-Leste

The security threat at Indonesia and Timor-Leste’s shared border has decreased sharply since the latter’s 2002 independence, but failure to finalise agreement on the border and normalise cross-border traffic could allow limited but long-standing local disputes to escalate.

The United Nations should hand over formal control of the Timor-Leste police as soon as possible.

A year after the near-fatal shooting of President José Ramos-Horta, security in Timor-Leste is strikingly improved.

The shooting of President José Ramos-Horta in February 2008 underscored the urgency of addressing sources of conflict and violence in Timor-Leste.

Four years after Timor-Leste gained independence, its police and army were fighting each other in the streets of Dili.

Timor-Leste has just elected a new president and will hold parliamentary elections on 30 June 2007.

The worst crisis in Timor-Leste’s short history is far from over. The country is in political limbo, waiting for the report of the UN-appointed Independent Special Commission of Inquiry that is expected to name names and recommend prosecutions for perpetrators of the April-May violence in Dili that killed more than 30 people.

The legacy of “losing” Timor-Leste (East Timor) continues to haunt Indonesia, affecting attitudes toward Aceh and Papua, heightening suspicions about foreign intervention, complicating relations with Australia and perpetuating fears for territorial integrity.