Twenty leaders of eight different martial arts groups in Timor- Leste have finished an innovative year-long training as peace builders. The programme was conducted by Action Asia, a Cambodia-based regional peacebuilding network, and HAK Association, a Timorese human rights organization.
Speaking at UNMIT Headquarters this week, Action Asia's cofounder and coordinator, Emma Leslie said the leaders of the martial arts groups, who were in the forefront of the street violence that swept the country in 2006, only committed to sitting together in a room one week every two or three months, and nothing else.
"During that week we took them through a variety of exercises, talking about the meaning of political manipulation and non-violence, and had them do their own analysis of the conflict," she said. Following a two-week trip last March to the Philippines, where the entire group met prisoners, the military, and rebel groups involved in conflict resolution, the leaders began working together and held a "Martial Arts for Peace March" in Dili in May. "It's a very small step," she said. "But these are the key people, strategically located within these groups, to start trying to make some kind of transformation within these groups. I'm not claiming any huge success story here, except that it's a beginning."
The men have also identified a need for the women martial arts leaders to also go through this process. "Starting
tomorrow the same groups are sending two women leaders from each martial arts group to begin and go through
this process together. I think this came out of a recognition that it was the women who do a lot of behind the
scenes negotiating between groups before violence happens. And that they themselves felt that they want to be
better equipped to do that," she said.
Negotiations are now underway to offer the same training to the country's security services. According to Ms.
Leslie, the martial arts leaders are asking if they can conduct the peace training for the military and the police.
