FRETILIN
MEDIA RELEASE
Dili, January 30, 2010
Timor President silent after witnessing police bashing during
international fishing competition
FRETILIN MP, member of the parliamentary defence, security and foreign affairs committee and former
government minister Jose Teixeira today questioned why President Jose Ramos-Horta said and did
nothing after witnessing an unprovoked brutal police assault on a contestant in a fishing competition
promoted by the president.
Mr Teixeira said President Ramos-Horta saw police assault Mr Lhew Comacoshe, a 27 year old university
student taking part in Timor Leste's inaugural International Fishing Competition on 27 November 2009,
but remained silent until after FRETILIN MPs raised the incident in parliament this week and the media
began asking questions.
Mr Comacoshe, a participant in the fishing competition, which attracted entrants from Australia and Asia,
was punched, kicked and bashed with a rifle butt on a beach on Atauro Island, 25 kms off the coast of the
capital Dili, in full view of hundreds of people.
Film of the assault which happened soon after President Ramos-Horta officially opened the competition
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe was apparently beaten because he held up a placard on which was
written, “Fishing Group From Suco Maunroni, Sub-District of Atauro, District of Dili”, identifying from
where his group of competitors were and which he intended to affix to their boat, but the police took
objection to it without any explanation, and forcibly removed from his possession, afterwards assaulting
him.
Mr Teixeira said police were now persecuting Mr Comacoshe and his family for daring to report the
incident to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, the Attorney General and parliament.
"The assault on Mr Comacoshe partly reflects the gung-ho and very militaristic attitude introduced by the
new police commander Longuinhos Monteiro, who appears bent on creating a 'shadow army'," Mr
Teixeira said.
President Ramos-Horta reportedly told the Dili daily, Jornal Diario Nacional on January 29: "This poor
Timorese fellow, was merely holding up a placard, I saw the police beat him but because it was far away I
did not understand what was happening. Afterwards I heard that he was holding up a placard, I thought if
it was a placard then let him do it, there is no need to beat him just because he was only holding up a
placard."
Mr Teixeira said the president should not have remained silent about the incident, especially since Mr
Comacoshe, personally delivered a written complaint regarding the incident to the President's office on
17 December last year, and then subsequently, on 23 December last his brother delivered a copy of the
video to the President’s Office on his behalf.
"In an apparent act of revenge for having the temerity to lodge a complaint, police on 13 January evicted
Comacoshe's law-abiding family from a state owned house they had lived in for six years. There was no
formal notification from the government - the village chief and police turned up and threw their
belongings out the door, after having threatened him with loaded weapons.
"If president Ramos-Horta had spoken up earlier it might have avoided reprisals against Comacoshe and
his family, but the President obviously did not want to spoil the media glow generated by the
international fishing competition organized by his office. Many people, the victim included have asked
me, ‘Is this what it means to be a President for the for the poor and the weak, as he claims widely?’ I have
to ask the same question."
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe's family had now sought refuge in Dili and have yet to receive any
assistance from the government.
"Complaints of police brutality are happening with an unprecedented frequency and on an
unprecedented scale. We have citizens making complaints almost every day now. In the past two weeks
we received complaints about police joining in with martial arts groups and using violence against their
rivals.
"Late last year in Uatolari, Viqueque district, police allegedly assaulted and tortured a number of young
men. On 28 December 2009 police shot and killed an unarmed young musician at a party in Dili.
"There is something very wrong with the way police are being trained and commanded. Local media on
January 27 reported the new police commander Longuinhos Monteiro as saying in regard to alleged
criminal activity recently carried out in border districts by masked groups known as ninjas, 'Any Ninjas
who want to take us on, your final stop will be Santacruz' cemetery.'
"Dressed in military style fatigues, wearing black gloves, carrying an automatic rifle and fully equipped
with field battle vest Monteiro is personally leading the operation to search and arrest these alleged
ninjas. Last year he established a special heavily armed police unit named the 'Public Order Battalion' and
late last year attempted to enter into a contract to acquire hundreds of additional automatic rifles.
"The government pays lip service to 'community policing' but it is all about the use of force, force, force,
relying on weapons, weapons, weapons. We already have an army, we do not need a shadow army. We
have many professional and dedicated policemen and women who feel the same way we do and have
asked us to speak up for them to change the direction of policing in this country. They want to serve their
communities with pride and professionalism, and deserve our support," Mr Teixeira said.
He said FRETILIN was preparing to table the terms of reference for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry
into police action over the last two years to establish whether there have been breaches of the law and
what can be done in terms of improving police training and legal controls to make policing more
community friendly and respecting of human rights.
For further information contact Jose Teixeira on +670 728 7080
NEWS 
