The UNTAET Crime Scene Detachment was the common title for an elite investigative unit created in the war-torn and newly liberated country of

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-west ...

in November 1999, under the direction of the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), ( pt, Administração Transitória das Nações Unidas em Timor Leste), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades long East Timorese cri ...

, consisting of

International Police The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

, Australian

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

military police. The unit was tasked with performing the

exhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s of several hundred East Timorese homicide victims killed during the UN mandate for the East Timor mission. The unit became best known for its investigations and exhumations relating to both the

Liquiçá Church Massacre The Liquiçá Church massacre was a mass-killing that occurred in April 1999, during East Timor's bid for independence. It was the first case to be heard by the Second Special Panel. Events and Aftermath During the event, up to some 200 Ea ...

and the Manuel Carrascalão House Massacre. After the crime scene detachment, the International Police assigned to the unit would investigate the case. The International Police portion of the unit primarily worked out of

Liquiçá Liquiçá (Tetum: ''Likisá'') is a coastal city in East Timor, 32 km to the west of Dili, the national capital. Liquiçá is the capital of Liquiçá District. The city has a population of 5,005 inhabitants. History A part of the colo ...

and its surrounding districts, whereas the military element worked island-wide throughout East Timor. Initially commanded by Steve Minhinnet of Great Britain, the unit was later commanded by American investigator Karl Clark. Throughout its existence, it relied heavily on intelligence information collected by American intelligence officer Alan Williams. With the rotation of new International Police into East Timor, the unit was eventually disbanded toward the end of 2000, and absorbed into the

Human Rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

investigative unit in Dili, called the

Serious Crimes Unit The Serious Crimes Unit was the official title given to an elite unit of International Police investigators during the United Nations 1999 to 2004 mission in East Timor. The unit ultimately took over the investigation of Human Rights violations ...

. Karl Clark, an original member of the unit, eventually played a pivotal role in human rights investigations in East Timor, while other unit police members moved on to other UN mission locations.

References

* * * https://web.archive.org/web/20060425031821/http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2005-April/023693.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20061020023805/http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=%2Fnews2005%2F0406-04.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20060829154235/http://cpa.org.au/garchve05/1223massacre.html * Law enforcement units {{UN-stub