ABC Radio Australia - There's concern that a peace agreement between martial arts groups in East Timor may not hold if political trouble starts during future election campaigns.
The various groups have been used in the past by political parties as proxy fighters - particularly during unrest in 2006 and 2007 - but have also been involved in clashes over land and personal disputes. A public declaration of peace between some of the major groups was overseen by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao last week, but it remains to be seen if that will translate to restraint on the ground.
Reporter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Nelson Belo, director of the security analysis organisation Fundasaun Mahein; Venancio Lopes, senior leader of biggest martial arts group, PSHT
The various groups have been used in the past by political parties as proxy fighters - particularly during unrest in 2006 and 2007 - but have also been involved in clashes over land and personal disputes. A public declaration of peace between some of the major groups was overseen by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao last week, but it remains to be seen if that will translate to restraint on the ground.
Reporter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Nelson Belo, director of the security analysis organisation Fundasaun Mahein; Venancio Lopes, senior leader of biggest martial arts group, PSHT
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COCHRANE: When people talk about martial arts groups in East Timor, it's not really the same thing as the local karate or taekwondo clubs that most of us would be familiar with.
These groups do train in martial arts but they've also been involved in politicised fighting and just general thuggery over the years.
There's estimated to be tens of thousands of members of more than a dozen martial arts groups... which is significant in a country with just 3,000 police officers.
It's a complex situation - political alliances amongst the groups are fluid, personal grievances and revenge can be a factor - but the end result is sporadic clashes, houses gutted by fire and sometimes deaths.
Some suburbs of Dili are considered the turf of a particular group and the graffiti on the walls indicate whether you're in an area controlled by, say the PSHT, or by the 77 group or by Korka.
Nelson Belo, director of the security analysis organisation Fundasaun Mahein, explains how these martial arts groups came to be so popular and so controversial.
BELO: It was created by Indonesian military, Indonesian police, so the reasons why they want to create to destroy resistance, that's the first thing. The second thing they want to setup a kind of time bomb for when Timor independence, so after we got independence these martial arts groups become very popular because of the members they were not well educated, they were very violent because of that, they were used by Indonesian military, and apart from that they also, most of them because they're not well educated, most of they are unemployed.
COCHRANE: My translator and guide Guido takes me to one of neighbourhoods in Dili that's known to be controlled by the country's biggest martial arts group, PSHT.
COCHRANE: So I've come to the suburb of Aimutin, it's a PSHT stronghold, in fact the President of the martial arts group PSHT lives in the house just across the road from us. During the 2006 conflict this was a scene of some pretty serious fighting and it was a dangerous place to be. But for the last few months, this has been a peaceful place I'm told and there have been efforts to control the martial arts group with a compromise deal, which culminated in the swearing of an oath last week in front of the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. It's hoped that the martial arts groups will stay out of election campaigning and any trouble that might ensure, and we're going to try and find some members of one of the martial arts groups in the neighbourhood.
COCHRANE: Not far away, we come to a training place and we meet Venancio Lopes, a 29 year old who is a senior leader of PSHT.
He was involved in the fighting during 2006 and 2007.
LOPES: Actually we fight with other groups from seven suburbs, Korka, and some other groups and other areas, where every day we fight and even to kill until some of our members were killed in the past.
COCHRANE: While the violence has decreased since the clashes of 2006-7 - which left at least 37 but perhaps as many 250 people dead - it does continues to flare up.
On the 14th of April, a clash between PSHT and Korka left six people injured and several houses torched.
But Venancio Lopes is keen to stress the peacemaking efforts they've made... and thinks this recent declaration of peace by martial arts group leaders, is significant.
LOPES: It's a brilliant idea, it's good for martial arts groups in East Timor, and especially for PSHT group that are left here.
COCHRANE: Security analyst, Nelson Belo, has a different view of the recent peace agreement.
BELO: I think it's not important, the reason why it's not important because in East Timor the law is not common. This kind of peace has been so many times conducted, and then so many times in front of politicians, in front of the Timorese leaders, and then we drink based on the oral culture that we will drink blood and then blah, blah, blah. It's a kind of bad habit that we're doing, but we never implement it.
COCHRANE: Nelson Belo says the martial arts groups remain a volatile part of East Timor's security situation.
BELO: The fighting between martial arts groups in Timor Leste is still going on, it's very fragile and easy to provoke it. The politicians they keep using it.
COCHRANE: So, as the country looks toward election campaigns next year, there's both hope for peace and the fear martial arts groups could be once again be used as agents of violence in the neighbourhoods and districts of East Timor.
These groups do train in martial arts but they've also been involved in politicised fighting and just general thuggery over the years.
There's estimated to be tens of thousands of members of more than a dozen martial arts groups... which is significant in a country with just 3,000 police officers.
It's a complex situation - political alliances amongst the groups are fluid, personal grievances and revenge can be a factor - but the end result is sporadic clashes, houses gutted by fire and sometimes deaths.
Some suburbs of Dili are considered the turf of a particular group and the graffiti on the walls indicate whether you're in an area controlled by, say the PSHT, or by the 77 group or by Korka.
Nelson Belo, director of the security analysis organisation Fundasaun Mahein, explains how these martial arts groups came to be so popular and so controversial.
BELO: It was created by Indonesian military, Indonesian police, so the reasons why they want to create to destroy resistance, that's the first thing. The second thing they want to setup a kind of time bomb for when Timor independence, so after we got independence these martial arts groups become very popular because of the members they were not well educated, they were very violent because of that, they were used by Indonesian military, and apart from that they also, most of them because they're not well educated, most of they are unemployed.
COCHRANE: My translator and guide Guido takes me to one of neighbourhoods in Dili that's known to be controlled by the country's biggest martial arts group, PSHT.
COCHRANE: So I've come to the suburb of Aimutin, it's a PSHT stronghold, in fact the President of the martial arts group PSHT lives in the house just across the road from us. During the 2006 conflict this was a scene of some pretty serious fighting and it was a dangerous place to be. But for the last few months, this has been a peaceful place I'm told and there have been efforts to control the martial arts group with a compromise deal, which culminated in the swearing of an oath last week in front of the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. It's hoped that the martial arts groups will stay out of election campaigning and any trouble that might ensure, and we're going to try and find some members of one of the martial arts groups in the neighbourhood.
COCHRANE: Not far away, we come to a training place and we meet Venancio Lopes, a 29 year old who is a senior leader of PSHT.
He was involved in the fighting during 2006 and 2007.
LOPES: Actually we fight with other groups from seven suburbs, Korka, and some other groups and other areas, where every day we fight and even to kill until some of our members were killed in the past.
COCHRANE: While the violence has decreased since the clashes of 2006-7 - which left at least 37 but perhaps as many 250 people dead - it does continues to flare up.
On the 14th of April, a clash between PSHT and Korka left six people injured and several houses torched.
But Venancio Lopes is keen to stress the peacemaking efforts they've made... and thinks this recent declaration of peace by martial arts group leaders, is significant.
LOPES: It's a brilliant idea, it's good for martial arts groups in East Timor, and especially for PSHT group that are left here.
COCHRANE: Security analyst, Nelson Belo, has a different view of the recent peace agreement.
BELO: I think it's not important, the reason why it's not important because in East Timor the law is not common. This kind of peace has been so many times conducted, and then so many times in front of politicians, in front of the Timorese leaders, and then we drink based on the oral culture that we will drink blood and then blah, blah, blah. It's a kind of bad habit that we're doing, but we never implement it.
COCHRANE: Nelson Belo says the martial arts groups remain a volatile part of East Timor's security situation.
BELO: The fighting between martial arts groups in Timor Leste is still going on, it's very fragile and easy to provoke it. The politicians they keep using it.
COCHRANE: So, as the country looks toward election campaigns next year, there's both hope for peace and the fear martial arts groups could be once again be used as agents of violence in the neighbourhoods and districts of East Timor.
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