On Sunday, 16 July 2012, gun shots were heard throughout the night in Dili as the PNTL, national police force of Timor-Leste, declared a policy of zero tolerance. It was later reported on the local and international news that police also used tear gas to disperse crowds.
A young mother of two from Becora, one of the Eastern suburbs in Dili, told me that she had spent the Sunday night taking refuge in an area of palm trees with her two young ones. It was sad to hear her say that her children had never heard gun shots before and so it was hard for her and for her family to get through the night. This was an eerie reminder of the violent 2006 crisis in which children who were born after 1999 were of a generation who had not known the sound of gunfire for seven years. There is yet to be a generation that has not heard gunfire.
Live media telecasts of the leading party’s Congress sparked raw emotion as party members publicly denounced the opposition party. Again an eerie reminder of 2006 where a live telecast, twice, sparked violence. This time one male youth died in Hera, just east of Dili. His body was taken to the District of Viqueque to be buried and was widely televised and followed on facebook.
Trauma is still evident in Timor-Leste as public displays of emotion, particularly of grieving an unjust death, is common. Trauma is still evident when people flee their homes to seek shelter, rather than remaining in their homes.
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