Canberra’s defence spending has leapt by about 56 per cent in the past seven years to $25.66 billion, meaning it now spends more than some European Union countries. However, Australia is still dwarfed by the US, which has set aside $US696.30 billion ($832.7 billion) for its armed forces this year.

Judicial authorities in East Timor are investigating more than 40 allegations that armed forces have used violence, intimidation, and death threats against civilians. A United Nations report documents a litany of human rights abuses by local police and army officers in the course of their work.

Reports of executions by the security forces could stoke fresh divisions in the fledgling country, where ethnic tensions are still raw. The autopsy said burning and blackening around Reinado’s wounds in the eye, neck, chest and hand suggested he had been shot at a distance of less than 30 centimetres, rather than by guards standing 10 metres away, which is the official version of events.