Mauk Moruk, born Paulino Gama, (22 June 1955 – 8 August 2015) was an

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

ese former

Falintil The Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor (, FALINTIL) originally began as the military wing of the political party FRETILIN of East Timor. It was established on 20 August 1975 in response to FRETILIN's political conflict with ...

guerrilla commander, opposition figure, and

rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; s ...

leader of the Maubere Revolutionary Council (KRM). Moruk was a critic of the policies of the independent government of East Timor, advocating that the government do more to alleviate widespread

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

in the country. Moruk was particularly critical of the policies of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...

, who is also a former guerilla leader, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Moruk was born Paulino Gama in

Laga Laga may refer to: Places * Laga (East Timor), a subdistrict of Baucau in East Timor * Laga, Lochaber, a village on the north shore of Loch Sunart, Scotland * Club Laga, a concert venue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1991 to 2006 People * Mart ...

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

. Moruk's brother is

Cornelio Gama Cornelio or Cornélio may refer to: *Cornelio Bentivoglio (1668–1732), Italian nobleman and cardinal *Cornelio Da Montalcino, Franciscan friar who embraced Judaism, burned alive in 1554 *Cornelio Fabro (1911–1995), Italian Catholic priest and p ...

, a former

FALINTIL The Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor (, FALINTIL) originally began as the military wing of the political party FRETILIN of East Timor. It was established on 20 August 1975 in response to FRETILIN's political conflict with ...

commander, former member of the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, and leader of the

National Unity of Timorese Resistance The National Unity of Timorese Resistance (''União Nacional Democrática de Resistência Timorense'' UNDERTIM) is a political party in East Timor founded in 2005. Cornelio Gama, a former FALINTIL commander and former member of the National Pa ...

(UNDERTIM)

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

since its founding in 2005. Mauk Moruk was a senior commander in the

, the military wing of the

Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliame ...

(FRETILIN) during the war for independence against Indonesia. In 1984, Moruk was one of four Falintil officers who staged an internal coup attempt against the Commander of Falintil,

. The coup against Gusmão failed. In the aftermath of the failed coup, Maruk surrendered to Indonesian authorities and eventually went into exile in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Moruk eventually returned to East Timor from

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

in the Netherlands. He founded the Maubere Revolutionary Council (KRM), also called the Revolutionary Council (KR), a

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

group. Under Maruk, the KRM sought popular support against the government through

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

(known as maubere locally) appeals. In March 2015, Moruk's rebel group, the Maubere Revolutionary Council (KRM), began a series of attacks on police. Members of the KRM attacked a police compound using explosives and guns, in one of the March 2015 attacks, injuring four security personnel. The East Timorese government launched a military campaign against the KRM in March, announcing that the joint operation to "prevent and suppress criminal actions from illegal groups" in a May 2015 statement. According to the government, a number of KRM members had surrendered as a result. Mauk Moruk, the head of the KRM, was killed in a joint police and military operation against the group in the

suco The administrative posts (former subdistricts) of East Timor are subdivided into 442 ''sucos'' ("villages") and 2,336 ''aldeias'' ("communities").http://www.unmiset.org/legal/RDTL-Law/RDTL-Minist-Orders/Decree-Order-2003-6.pdf List of sucos by ...

(village) of Fatulia on Saturday, August 8, 2015. He died at the age of 60. The government of East Timor released a statement on the operation following Moruk's death, stating, "Every effort was made during the operation to avoid this outcome," a government spokesman said in a statement, calling for calm. "Regrettably the operation was unable to avoid a confrontation resulting in an exchange of gunfire." Moruk's death raised concerns that there could be an escalation of unrest in East Timor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moruk, Mauk 1955 births 2015 deaths Deaths by firearm in East Timor East Timorese exiles East Timorese rebels People from Baucau District