Canberra Jung Society: Dr Martin Hess: “Moral Injury” 5th April 2024
April 5, 2024 at 01:35PM
Friday 5th April 2024
Dr Martin Hess: “Moral Injury”
at MacKillop House, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham ACT (and by Zoom)
Moral injury occurs when a person believes or realizes accurately or not that they have compromised their own standards of conduct or have violated universal moral standards and bear significant responsibility for that violation.
Relating to the pain you’ve caused someone or breaking your moral code are two of the core reasons you may experience guilt. Whether you broke your partner’s favorite pen, forgot an important anniversary, or cheated your way to a promotion, feeling a sense of wrongdoing is equated with the emotion of guilt.
Moral Injury arose from the 1999 UN sponsored ballot in East Timor, known as UNAMET, of which I was a police member.
This was a seminal mission for many reasons, not the least of which was that it paved the way for the eventual independence of the nation of Timor Leste in 2002. Unfortunately, UNAMET experienced a great deal of pre-mediated violence on the part of those tasked with security and protection, the Indonesian police, military and militia proxies.
The protectors became predators and the resultant destruction of most of the infrastructure and the murder of a confirmed 1,400 (suspected 1,600) East Timorese and the forced deportations of a further 250,000 East Timorese to West Timor marred this ballot.
Due to a flawed security agreement negotiated between Indonesia and Portugal, under the auspices of the UN, unarmed UN Civilian Police (UNCIVPOL) lacked a mandate and capacity to prevent this violence as we were outnumbered and out gunned, but stood as witnesses to many of these atrocities, until we were withdrawn to Darwin under threat of death. Many UNCIVPOL stood between predator and intended prey at the extreme risk to their own lives.
The violence was so extensive that an international military intervention led by Australia (INTERFET) was raised and deployed.
Service with UNAMET was traumatic but has been overshadowed by INTERFET and has been downplayed for various reasons, including the strategic relationship between Australia and Indonesia, in the light of an ascendant China and increased Islamic jihadism. This has resulted in inadequate post mission support and recognition for police, which has compounded the trauma experienced during the mission itself.
This is a complex story with many moving parts and various agendas, which we will consider and discuss.
Dr Martin Hess was a member of the Australian Federal Police for 30 years. Detective. Background in investigations, intelligence, surveillance, close protection and international police deployments. PhD in Australian international policing from Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy at Australian National University. Interested in inter-agency, whole if government cooperation, criminology and geo-strategic affairs.
We meet from 7:30 pm for tea and coffee and snacks, music, discussion and library.
The Guest Speaker’s presentation is at 8pm for an hour or so,
then we resume for questions and discussion, finishing by 10 pm.
Details: https://ift.tt/R3ApYr0
View on YouTube