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Disarmament: Agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Portuguese Republic on the question of East Timor

Implementations

Disarmament – 1999

The militias took most of their arsenal to West Timor and INTERFET confiscated all other weapons but permitted Falintil to remain armed within specified cantonments for some time.¹ However, the Falinitl were then demobilized and a formal military was created during UNTAET. The role of the military and the veterans were much debated during UNTAET (it was decided that they should not be allowed to play a role in politics as long as they were in the military forces). Politically, it is still quite sensitive. For example, the problems stemming from how the military and police were set up in relation to the political establishment were critical to the renewed violence in 2006.

Michael G. Smith and Moreen Dee, Peacekeeping in East Timor: The Path to Independence, International Peace Academy Occasional Paper Series (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), 49-50.

Disarmament – 2000

Falintil was not disarmed. According to a senior UN military observer, the bigger role for Falintil “could be a matter for negotiation. The leadership is extremely well-respected. But whether we can allow them to carry arms is another question. The INTERFET mandate specified disarmament of all irregular forces. So Falintil can only carry arms outside their cantonment zone if they are given some de facto regular status.”¹

“Old guard guerrillas give way to new generation in East Timor,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, February 4, 2000.