Publication

This briefing updates earlier Crisis Group reporting on police reform in Timor-Leste since the 2006 crisis and the subsequent deployment of the UN’s third-largest policing mission. Subject to the renewal of its mandate in February 2011, UNMIT’s 1,500-strong police contingent is due to complete a handover of policing responsibilities to the national police ,bringing an end to its executive policing role. The exact timing of this is unclear, but the government has recently mooted a date of March 2011 and negotiations for the future role of the UN police have begun. There is agreement from all parties that more training is needed but no plan for how it will be provided.