Culuhun tragedy

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Police officers carry the coffins at the memorial service for the victims from Motael Church

The tragedy of Culu Hun refers to a violent incident in the Culuhun de Baixo ( Suco Acadiru Hun , Nain Feto administrative office ) district of the East Timorese capital Dili on November 18, 2018 .

Happening

On Sunday morning, police officer José Mina, who was off duty, shot and killed three young men on a kore metan in Culu Hun . It was a memorial service for a friend or family member who died a year earlier. Three other young adults were injured, one of them life-threatening. Two injured people were able to leave the Guido Valadares National Hospital quickly after initial treatment . The shooting began after an argument between two guests at the celebration. Mina, who was wearing civilian clothes, had drawn his gun to tell the opponents to stop the argument when the power went out. Mina, who, according to witnesses, was standing on a bench very drunk, shot into the dark. The gunman and three other officers involved were arrested. One of them had shot in the air, the other two had also carried their service weapons as civilians at the ceremony. The Dili District Court issued arrest warrants for the two shooters pending trial. All four officers were suspended from duty , according to police chief Júlio Hornay .

The funeral service for the three dead Leonildo (Leo) Eduardo Ximenes Sequeira, Luis Quevin Saldanha Belo and Erick Joni Robertus Bria took place on November 21 in the Church of Santo António de Motael . Policemen carried the coffins out of the church. The victims were buried side by side in the Becusi (Suco Becora ) cemetery. President Francisco Guterres condensed: “The shooting in Culuhun shook our hearts. To see a police officer breaking the law, firing a gun in plain clothes and shooting young people is painful for us. ” Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak and other members of the government also offered condolences to the families of the victims.

Reactions

Injured in the Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares

The murder sparked widespread outrage over the National Police (PNTL), general behavior of officials and widespread police violence. Protests erupted in the streets across the city on November 19, with demonstrators shouting "Policemen are murderers" and demanding justice. Graffiti with the inscription "Fuck Police" and the like were sprayed. In social networks such as Facebook, users added the words “hanoin kuluhun” ( German  commemorates Culu Hun ) and the sentence “PNTL la prexiza lori kilat!” ( German  PNTL does not need to carry weapons ) to their portraits . Pictures of the dead and injured were also shared. The mood, especially among the youth, was irritable anyway because just a few days earlier 22 students had been arrested at a demonstration. The protests were directed against the parliamentary decision to sell the old company cars of former MPs of the Toyota Prado type to them at a discount. The police used excessive tear gas in the demonstrations at the time and struck ruthlessly and hard. The two demonstrations took place independently of each other.

So far, the police have enjoyed a high level of acceptance among the population, even if the law-and-order methods , increasing militarization and incidents of human rights violations have been criticized for years . Researchers in the police also identified a “toxic” machismo , as is otherwise widespread in East Timorese society. The researchers also see here the reason for the ongoing violations of Article 5 of the service order, which prohibits police officers from carrying weapons outside of duty. Before the Culu Hun tragedy, there were tragic incidents involving service weapons, in which police officers withdrew their firearms in private disputes, or in which children played with the loaded guns found at home.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Facebook page of the Prime Minister: GOVERNU HATO'O SENTIDU KONDELÉNSIA BA FAMÍLIA VITIMA KULUHUN , November 19, 2018 , accessed on November 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c João Almeida, Gordon Peake, Bu Wilson: Tragic Dili shooting shows Timor policing still in need of reform , November 20, 2018 , accessed November 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c The New York Times: Policeman Accused of Killing 3 at Party in East Timor , November 19, 2018, accessed November 21, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lusa: Quatro polícias detidos após disparos que fizeram três mortos em festa em Díli. November 18, 2018, accessed November 19, 2018.
  5. ↑ RTP: Presidente timorense reitera que polícias nicht podem andar armados fora de serviço. November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Facebook page of the Prime Minister's wife: Primeiru Ministru Taur Matan Ruak nia kaben, Sra. Isabel da Costa Ferreira partisipa missa funebre matebian Leo, Quevin no Erick iha Igreja Parokia Santo Antonio Motael, Kuarta (21/11). November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  7. ↑ Machel Silveira: Aerial photos of the funeral , accessed on November 21, 2018.
  8. ↑ Article 5 of the PNTL's instructions (Portuguese).