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 ...
is a country in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
known as Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
and the nearby islands of
Atauro
Atauro ( pt, Ilha de Ataúro, Tetum and Indonesian: ''Pulau Atauro'' or ''Ata'uro''), also known as Kambing Island ( id, Pulau Kambing), is an island and municipality ( pt, Município Ataúro, links=no, tet, Munisípiu Atauro, links=no or ) ...
and Jaco. The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of
Australoid
Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
and
Melanesian
Melanesian is the adjectival form of Melanesia. It may refer to:
* Melanesians
* Melanesian mythology
* Melanesian languages In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceani ...
peoples. The
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
began to trade with Timor by the early 16th century and
colonised
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
it throughout the mid-century. Skirmishing with the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty for which Portugal ceded the western half of the island.
Imperial Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
occupied East Timor during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the
Japanese surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
.
East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal in 1975, but was
invaded by Indonesia. The country was later incorporated as a
province of Indonesia
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
. During the subsequent
two-decade occupation, a campaign of pacification ensued. Although Indonesia did make substantial investment in infrastructures during its occupation in East Timor, dissatisfaction remained widespread. From 1975 to 1999, there were an estimated 102,800 conflict-related deaths (approximately 18,600 killings and 84,200 'excess' deaths from hunger and illness), the majority of which occurred during the Indonesian occupation.
In 1999, in a
UN-sponsored referendum, an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. Immediately following the referendum,
anti-independence Timorese militias – organised and supported by the
Indonesian military
, founded = as the ('People's Security Forces')
, current_form =
, disbanded =
, branches =
, headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta
, website =
, commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo
...
– commenced a
scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
campaign. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into
West Timor
West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ca ...
as refugees. The majority of the country's infrastructure was destroyed during this attack. The
International Force for East Timor
The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...
(INTERFET) was deployed to the country and brought the violence to an end. Following a
United Nations-administered transition period, East Timor was internationally recognised as an independent nation in 2002. It is the poorest country in Southeast Asia with a 20% unemployment rate, and approximately one third of the population is illiterate.
Pre-colonial history
The island of
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
was populated as part of the human migrations that have shaped Australasia more generally. As of 2019, the oldest traces of human settlement are 43,000 to 44,000 years old, and were found in the
Laili cave in
Manatuto Municipality
Manatuto (, ) is one of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of 45,541 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,783.3 km². The capital of the municipality is also n ...
. These early settlers had high-level maritime skills, and by implication the technology needed to make ocean crossings to reach Australia and other islands, as they were catching and consuming large numbers of big deep sea fish such as tuna. One of the oldest fish hooks in the world, dated between 16,000 and 23,000 years old, was excavated at the
Jerimalai cave. It is believed that survivors from three waves of migration still live in the country. The first is described by anthropologists as people of the
Veddo-
Australoid
Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
type.
Around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Melanesians. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the mountainous interior. Finally, proto-Malays arrived from south
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and north
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
.
Timorese origin myths tell of ancestors that sailed around the eastern end of Timor arriving on land in the south.
These multiple waves of migrations combined with the mountainous geography of the island led to a diverse mix of languages and culture. What is now East Timor was split between up to 46 kingdoms. However, there was little influence from the large Islamic Javanese powers to the west.
The later Timorese were not seafarers, rather they were land focused people who rarely made contact with other islands. Timor was part of a region of small islands with small populations of similarly land-focused people that now make up eastern Indonesia. Contact with the outside world was via networks of foreign seafaring traders from as far as China and India that served the archipelago. Outside products brought to the region included metal goods, rice, fine textiles, and coins exchanged for local spices,
sandalwood
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...
, deer horn, bees' wax, and slaves.
Several fortifications uncovered in Timor were built between 1000 and 1300. Climatic changes, in particular during the
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...
, and the increased trade in sandalwood, are thought to have increased tensions around the control of resources during that time.
The first known mention of Timor in writing can be found in the 13th-century Chinese
Zhu Fan Zhi
''Zhu Fan Zhi'' (), variously translated as '' A Description of Barbarian Nations'', ''Records of Foreign People'', or other similar titles, is a 13th-century Song Dynasty work by Zhao Rukuo. The work is a collection of descriptions of countrie ...
, which describes various products and civilisations found outside China. In the Zhu Fan Zhi, Timor is called ''Ti-Wen'' and is noted for its sandalwood. In 1365, the
Nagarakretagama
The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a ''kakawin'' by Mpu Prapan ...
, which contains descriptions of the Majapahit Empire at its peak, identifies Timor as an island within Majapahit's realm. However, as Portuguese chronologist Tomé Pires wrote in the 16th century, all islands east of Java were called "Timor".
Early European explorers report that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms in the early 16th century. One of the most significant is the
Wehali
Wehali (''Wehale'', ''Waihali'', ''Veale'') is the name of a traditional kingdom at the southern coast of Central Timor, now in the Republic of Indonesia. It is often mentioned together with its neighbouring sister kingdom, as Wewiku-Wehali (Waiwi ...
kingdom in central Timor, to which the
Tetum
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
,
Bunaq and
Kemak ethnic groups were aligned.
The first circumnavigation of the world, the
Magellan expedition
The Magellan expedition, also known as the Magellan–Elcano expedition, was the first voyage around the world in recorded history. It was a 16th century Spanish expedition initially led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to the Moluccas ...
, visited Timor and they recorded that Lucoes (People from
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, Philippines) traded in East Timor in order to gather Sandalwood for export abroad.
[The Mediterranean Connection](_blank)
By William Henry Scott (Published in "Philippine Studies" ran by Ateneo de Manila University Press)
Portuguese rule
The first Europeans to arrive in the area were the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, who landed near present-day
Pante Macassar
Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar Administrative Post, Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand ...
. These Portuguese were traders that arrived between 1512 and 1515. However, only in 1556 did a group of
Dominican friars
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...
establish their missionary work in the area, settling just north in
Solor
Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip of Flores island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in the Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been whaling for hundreds of years. They speak the lang ...
.
War with the Netherlands reduced Portuguese control in the Malay archipelago, limiting them mostly to the
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...
. Later wars further reduced Portuguese influence, with Solor falling in 1613, and
Kupang
Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...
in the west of Timor falling in 1653.
By the seventeenth century the village of
Lifau
Lifau is a village and suco in the East Timor exclave of Oecusse District. The village is located west of the mouth of the Tono River. 1,938 people live in the suco.
History
Lifau was the first European settlement on the island of Timor. Do ...
– today part of the
Oecussi
Oecusse (also variously ''Oecussi'', ''Ocussi'', ''Oekussi'', ''Oekusi'', ''Okusi'', ''Oé-Cusse''), also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, Mun ...
enclave – had become the centre of Portuguese activities. At this time, the Portuguese began to convert the Timorese to Catholicism. Starting in 1642, a military expedition led by the Portuguese Francisco Fernandes took place. The aim of this expedition was to weaken the power of the Timor kings and even as this expedition was made by the
Topasses
Topasses (Tupasses, Topas, Topaz) were a group of people led by the two powerful families – Da Costa and Hornay – that resided in Oecussi and Flores. The Da Costa families were descendants of Portuguese Jewish merchants and Hornay were Dutch ...
, the 'Black Portuguese', it succeeded to extend the Portuguese influence into the interior of the country. In 1702 the territory officially became a Portuguese colony, known as
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 ...
, when
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
sent its first governor, with
Lifau
Lifau is a village and suco in the East Timor exclave of Oecusse District. The village is located west of the mouth of the Tono River. 1,938 people live in the suco.
History
Lifau was the first European settlement on the island of Timor. Do ...
as its capital. Portuguese control over the territory was tenuous particularly in the mountainous interior.
Dominican friars, the occasional Dutch raid, and the Timorese themselves provided opposition to the Portuguese. In 1769, seeking to wrest control from the Topasses, the Portuguese governor moved his administration along with 1,200 people from Lifau to what would become
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
.
The control of colonial administrators, largely restricted to Dili, had to rely on traditional tribal chieftains for control and influence.
For both Portugal and the Netherlands, Timor remained a low priority with little presence outside of the cities of Dili and Kupang.
Nonetheless, continuing disputes over competing spheres of influence with the Dutch led to a number of treaties aimed at formalising borders and eliminating enclaves.
The border between Portuguese Timor and the Dutch East Indies was formally decided in 1859 with the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
. Portugal received the eastern half, together with the north coast pocket of Oecussi.
There are competing views over whether this border reflected existing cultural differences.
This 1859 treaty saw Portugal take control of
Maubara
Maubara is a village in Maubara Subdistrict ( Liquiçá District, East Timor), just west of the city of Liquiçá. Most of the inhabitants speak Tocodede. It lies near the Maubara Important Bird Area, encompassing the small coastal Lake ...
, where the Dutch had begun
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
cultivation, in exchange for formally relinquishing claims in Solor and Flores.
In 1844 Timor, along with Macau and Solor, was removed from the jurisdiction of
Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
. A few years later in 1850,
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 ...
was removed from the jurisdiction of the governor of Macau, before being returned to the jurisdiction of Portuguese India in 1856. In 1863, Dili was declared a city (although the news may not have arrived to the city until the next year), and East Timor became directly subordinate to the Lisbon government. In 1866 the territory was again put under the jurisdiction of Macau. An 1887 mutiny in Dili led to the death of the Governor at the time. The territory was separated from Macau for the last time in 1896, again coming directly under the jurisdiction of Lisbon, and becoming a full province in 1909.
In 1910–12, the
East Timorese rebelled against Portugal. Troops from Mozambique and naval gunfire were brought in to suppress the rebels. The definitive border was drawn by
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
in 1914,
and it remains the international boundary between the modern states of East Timor and Indonesia.
Maucatar became part of Portuguese Timor during this period.
The
Portuguese Timorese pataca
The pataca was a monetary unit of account used in Portuguese Timor between 1894 and 1958, except for the period 1942–1945, when the occupying Japanese forces introduced the Netherlands Indies gulden and the roepiah. As in the case of the Maca ...
became the sole official currency in 1915. Difficulties in communication and logistics arising as a result of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
led to trade disruptions. Economic difficulties and an inability to pay salaries led to a small revolt in 1919.
For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a neglected trading post until the late nineteenth century. Investment in infrastructure, health, and education was minimal. The island was seen as a way to exile those who the government in Lisbon saw as "problems" – these included political prisoners as well as ordinary criminals. Portuguese ruled through a traditional system of liurai (local chiefs). Sandalwood remained the main export crop with coffee exports becoming significant in the mid-nineteenth century. In places where Portuguese rule was asserted, it tended to be brutal and exploitative. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a faltering home economy prompted the Portuguese to extract greater wealth from its colonies.
Portuguese Timor had been a place of exile for political and social opponents deported from the metropolis since the late nineteenth century. Among them a large proportion were members of the
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
and
anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
movement, which until the Second World War was the most influential of the left-wing movements in Portugal. The main waves of deportations to Timor were in 1896, 1927, and 1931. Some of the activists continued their resistance even in exile. After World War II, the remaining exiles were pardoned and allowed to return.
![Centro de Instrução do Marobo (restored)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Centro_de_Instru%C3%A7%C3%A3o_do_Marobo_%28restored%29.jpg)
Although Portugal was neutral during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in December 1941, Portuguese Timor was occupied by
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n and Dutch forces, which were expecting a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
invasion. This Australian military intervention dragged Portuguese Timor into the Pacific War but it also slowed the Japanese expansion. When the Japanese did occupy Timor, in February 1942, a 400-strong Dutch-Australian force and large numbers of Timorese volunteers engaged them in
a one-year guerrilla campaign. After the allied evacuation in February 1943 the East Timorese continued fighting the Japanese, with comparatively little
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
with the enemy taking place. This assistance cost the civilian population dearly: Japanese forces burned many villages and seized food supplies. The Japanese occupation resulted in the deaths of 40,000–70,000 Timorese.
Portuguese Timor was handed back to Portugal after the war, but Portugal continued to neglect the colony. Very little investment was made in infrastructure, education and healthcare. The colony was declared an 'Overseas Province' of the Portuguese Republic in 1955. Locally, authority rested with the Portuguese Governor and the Legislative Council, as well as local chiefs or ''liurai''. Only a small minority of Timorese were educated, and even fewer went on to university in Portugal (there were no universities in the territory until 2000).
During this time,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
did not express any interest in Portuguese Timor, despite the anti-colonial rhetoric of President
Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
. This was partly as Indonesia was preoccupied with gaining control of
West Irian
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
, now called Papua, which had been retained by 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 ...
after Indonesian independence. In fact, at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, Indonesian diplomats stressed that their country did not seek control over any territory outside the former Netherlands East Indies, explicitly mentioning Portuguese Timor.
In 1960 East Timor
gained the right to self-determination under international law, as a
Non-Self-Governing Territory. It retained this status, with Portugal as the administering power, throughout Indonesian rule.
The small
1959 Viqueque rebellion
The 1959 Viqueque rebellion was an uprising against the Portuguese rule in the southeastern part of East Timor. It was concentrated in the remote regions of Uatolari and Uatocarbau. It was an anti-colonial rebellion against the Portuguese, who had ...
saw attempts by the rebels to seek support outside their local area, although it did not overcome local rivalries. Its calls for better services and rights led to some changes in Portuguese policy such as increases in education and civil employment. Basic schooling was increased, and more advanced schools that included secondary education were available to the most Portuguese individuals: those considered
mestiço
Mestiço is a Portuguese term that referred to persons born from a couple in which one was an aboriginal person and the other a European.
Mestiço community in Brazil
in Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons born from ...
or
assimilado. A catholic school in
Soibada
Soibada is a town in the Soibada Administrative Post, Manatuto District 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 compris ...
, the
Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima
The Minor Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima is a Roman Catholic seminary, located in Dare, Dili, East Timor. Established in 1936, it is the oldest Roman Catholic seminary in East Timor. The seminary was initially established in Manatutu district, so ...
in
Dare
Dare may refer to:
Places
* Dare, East Timor, a city
* Darè, Italy, a commune
* Dare County, North Carolina, United States
* Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
Name
* Dare (name), a list of people and fictional c ...
, and the
Liceu Dr. Francisco Machado
The The expression ''Liceu Dr. Francisco Machado'' means "Dr Francisco Machado High School", but is usually not translated in English language sources is a neoclassical / Portuguese colonial former school building in the Colmera '' suco'' of ...
were important educational establishments during this time. Fatumaca College was established near
Baucau
Baucau ( pt, Baucau, tet, Baukau) is the second-largest city in East Timor, after Dili, the capital, which lies to its west.
Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau municipality, located in the eastern part of the ...
in 1969, and an ''Escola Tecnica'' was set up in 1973. The politicians who came to prominence at the end of Portuguese rule tended to have studied in these schools, and some cited the Viqueque rebellion as an inspiration.
This "Timorisation", which resulted in greater local participation in administration and the military, remained mostly limited to the aforementioned upper class, and did not substantially affect the majority of the population.
Decolonisation, coup, and independence
The decolonisation process instigated by
the 1974 Portuguese revolution saw Portugal effectively abandon the colony of Portuguese Timor. A civil war between supporters of Portuguese Timorese political parties,
Fretilin
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 ...
and the
UDT, broke out in 1975 as UDT attempted a coup which Fretilin resisted with the help of local Portuguese military.
One of the first acts of the new government in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
was to appoint a new governor for the colony on 18 November 1974, in the form of
Mário Lemos Pires
Mário Lemos Pires (30 June 1930 – 22 May 2009) was a major-general of the Portuguese Army and the last colonial governor of Portuguese Timor.
Biography
Born in Lamego, Portugal in 1930, Lemos Pires moved to Lisbon at age 18 to commence his s ...
, who would ultimately be, as events were to prove, the last governor of Portuguese Timor.
One of his first decrees made upon his arrival in
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
was to legalise political parties in preparation for elections to a
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
in 1976. Three main political parties were formed:
* The ''União Democrática Timorense'' (UDT,
Timorese Democratic Union
The Timorese Democratic Union ( pt, União Democrática Timorense, UDT) is a conservative political party in East Timor. It was the first party to be established in the country on May 11, 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal.
...
), was supported by the traditional elites, initially argued for a continued association with Lisbon, or as they put it in
Tetum
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
, ''mate bandera hum'' — 'in the shadow of the
ortugueseflag', but later adopted a 'gradualist' approach to independence. One of its leaders, Mário Viegas Carrascalão, one of the few Timorese to have been educated at university in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, later became
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n Governor of East Timor during the 1980s and early 1990s, although with the demise of Indonesian rule, he would change to supporting independence.
* The ''Associação Social Democrática Timorense'' (ASDT, Timorese Social Democratic Association) supported a rapid movement to independence. It later changed its name to ''Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente'' (Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor or
Fretilin
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 was regarded by many in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
as being Marxist, its name sounding reminiscent of
FRELIMO
FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's first ...
in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
. The party committed itself to "the universal doctrines of socialism".
* The ''Associação Popular Democrática Timorense'' ("Apodeti",
Timorese Popular Democratic Association
The Timorese Popular Democratic Association ( pt, Associação Popular Democrática Timorense, APODETI; id, Asosiasi Demokratik Rakyat Timor) was a political party in East Timor established in 1974, which advocated for integration into Indonesia. ...
) supported integration with Indonesia, as an autonomous province, but had little grassroots support. One of its leaders, Abílio Osório Soares, later served as the last Indonesian-appointed Governor of East Timor. Apodeti drew support from a few ''liurai'' in the border region, some of whom had collaborated with the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It also had some support in the small
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
minority, although
Marí Alkatiri, a Muslim, was a prominent Fretilin leader, and became prime minister in 2002.
Other smaller parties included ''Klibur Oan Timur Asuwain'' (KOTA,
Tetum
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
for 'Sons of the Mountain Warriors'), which sought to create a form of
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
involving the local ''liurai'', and the ''Partido Trabalhista'' (Labour Party), but neither had any significant support. They would, however, collaborate with Indonesia. The ''Associação Democrática para a Integração de Timor-Leste na Austrália'' (ADITLA) advocated integration with
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, but folded after the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n government emphatically ruled out the idea.
This period saw the emergence of a unified national consciousness among the social elites who led the newly established political parties.
Parties compete, foreign powers take interest
Developments in Portuguese Timor during 1974 and 1975 were watched closely by
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
's
"New Order", which had effectively eliminated Indonesia's Communist Party
PKI PKI may refer to:
* Partai Komunis Indonesia, the Communist Party of Indonesia
* Peter Kiewit Institute
The Peter Kiewit Institute is a facility in Omaha, Nebraska, United States which houses academic programs from the University of Nebraska ...
in 1965, was alarmed by what it saw as the increasingly left-leaning Fretilin, and by the prospect of a small independent leftist state in the midst of the archipelago inspiring separatism in parts of the surrounding archipelago.
Australia's Labor prime minister,
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
, had developed a close working relationship with the Indonesian leader, and also followed events with concern. At a meeting in the
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
nese town of
Wonosobo
Wonosobo Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦮꦤꦱꦧ, Kabupatèn Wanasaba) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Wonosobo, located at , about 120 km fr ...
in 1974, he told Suharto that an independent Portuguese Timor would be 'an unviable state, and a potential threat to the stability of the region'. While recognising the need for an act of self-determination, he considered integration with Indonesia to be in Portuguese Timor's best interests.
In local elections on 13 March 1975, Fretilin and UDT emerged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for independence.
Indonesian military intelligence, known as BAKIN, began attempting to cause divisions between the pro-independence parties, and promote the support of Apodeti. This was known as ''Operasi Komodo'' or 'Operation Komodo' after the giant
Komodo
Komodo may refer to:
Computers
* Komodo Edit, a free text editor for dynamic programming languages
* Komodo IDE an integrated development environment (IDE) for dynamic programming languages
* Komodo (chess), a chess engine
People
* Komodo ...
lizard found in the eastern Indonesian island of the same name. Many Indonesian military figures held meetings with UDT leaders, who made it plain that
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
would not tolerate a Fretilin-led administration in an independent East Timor. The coalition between Fretilin and UDT later broke up.
During the course of 1975, Portugal became increasingly detached from political developments in its colony, becoming embroiled in civil unrest and political crises, and more concerned with decolonisation in its
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n colonies of
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
and
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
than with Portuguese Timor.
Many local leaders saw independence as unrealistic, and were open to discussions with Jakarta over Portuguese Timor's incorporation into the Indonesian state.
The coup
On 11 August 1975, the UDT mounted a coup, in a bid to halt the increasing popularity of Fretilin. Portuguese Governor
Mário Lemos Pires
Mário Lemos Pires (30 June 1930 – 22 May 2009) was a major-general of the Portuguese Army and the last colonial governor of Portuguese Timor.
Biography
Born in Lamego, Portugal in 1930, Lemos Pires moved to Lisbon at age 18 to commence his s ...
fled to the offshore island of
Atauro
Atauro ( pt, Ilha de Ataúro, Tetum and Indonesian: ''Pulau Atauro'' or ''Ata'uro''), also known as Kambing Island ( id, Pulau Kambing), is an island and municipality ( pt, Município Ataúro, links=no, tet, Munisípiu Atauro, links=no or ) ...
, north of the capital,
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
, from where he later attempted to broker an agreement between the two sides. He was urged by Fretilin to return and resume the decolonisation process, but he insisted that he was awaiting instructions from the government in Lisbon, now increasingly uninterested.
Indonesia sought to portray the conflict as a civil war, which had plunged Portuguese Timor into chaos, but after only a month, aid and relief agencies from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and elsewhere visited the territory, and reported that the situation was stable. Nevertheless, many UDT supporters had fled across the border into Indonesian Timor, where they were coerced into supporting integration with Indonesia. In October 1975, in the border town of
Balibo
Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District.
It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during t ...
, two Australian television crews (the "
Balibo Five
The Balibo Five was a group of journalists for Australian commercial television networks who were murdered in the period leading up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The Balibo Five were based in the town of Balibo in East Timor (then ...
") reporting on the conflict were killed by Indonesian forces, after they witnessed Indonesian incursions into Portuguese Timor.
Unilateral declaration of independence
While Fretilin had sought the return of the Portuguese governor, pointedly flying the Portuguese flag from government offices, the deteriorating situation meant that it had to make an appeal to the world for international support, independently of Portugal.
On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a
unilateral declaration of independence
A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...
of the ''
Democratic Republic 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-wester ...
'' (''República Democrática de Timor-Leste'' in Portuguese). This was not recognised by either Portugal, Indonesia, or Australia; however, the UDI state received formal diplomatic recognition from six countries that were led by leftist or Marxist–Leninist parties, namely
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
,
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, and
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...
. Fretilin's
Francisco Xavier do Amaral
Francisco Xavier do Amaral (3 December 1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the ''Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente'' (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor wh ...
became the first president, while Fretilin leader
Nicolau dos Reis Lobato
Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (24 May 1946 – 31 December 1978) was an East Timorese politician who is considered the national hero of the country.
Biography
Lobato was born in Soibada, Portuguese Timor on 24 May 1946.
Lobato was the first prim ...
was prime minister.
Indonesia's response was to have UDT, Apodeti, KOTA and Trabalhista leaders sign a declaration calling for integration with Indonesia called the ''
Balibo
Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District.
It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during t ...
Declaration'', although it was drafted by Indonesian intelligence and signed in
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
, Indonesia not Balibo, Portuguese Timor.
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 ...
, now the country's prime minister, described this as the 'Balibohong Declaration', a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on the
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
word for 'lie'.
East Timor solidarity movement
An international ''East Timor solidarity movement'' arose in response to the
1975 invasion of East Timor by Indonesia and the occupation that followed. The movement was supported by churches, human rights groups, and peace campaigners, but developed its own organisations and infrastructure in many countries. Many demonstrations and vigils backed legislative actions to cut off military supplies to Indonesia. The movement was most extensive in neighbouring
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, but had significant force in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
José Ramos-Horta
José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...
, later president of East Timor, stated in a 2007 interview that the solidarity movement "was instrumental. They were like our peaceful foot soldiers, and fought many battles for us."
Indonesian invasion and annexation
![Capture of Portuguese flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Capture_of_Portuguese_flag.jpg)
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor began on 7 December 1975.
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n forces launched a massive air and sea invasion, known as ''Operasi Seroja'', or 'Operation Komodo', almost entirely using US-supplied equipment even if Kissinger feared this would be revealed to the public. Moreover, according to declassified documents released by the
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The Nat ...
(NSA) in December 2001, the United States gave its agreement to Indonesia for the invasion. In fact, when the Indonesian president Suharto asked the understanding of taking rapid drastic action in East Timor to US president
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
, he replied, "We will understand and not press you on the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have."
The Australian government did not react to this invasion. The reason may be the existence of oil found in the waters between Indonesia and Australia. This lack of action resulted in massive protests by Australian citizens remembering the heroic actions of the Timorese during World War II.
Reasons given by Indonesia for the invasion included the potential for a communist government, the need to develop the territory, national and regional security risks. Public statements denied that the invasion was aimed at taking the territory, and noted continued support for
self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
. Nominal elections were held under Indonesian coercion, and on 17 December Indonesia declared that an East Timorese Provisional Government would be formed that included representatives from Apodeti, UDT, KOTA, and the Labour Party.
Attempts by the
United Nations Secretary General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-ge ...
's Special Representative,
Vittorio Winspeare-Guicciardi
Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor (name), Victor.
People with the given name Vittorio include:
* Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy
* Vittor ...
to visit Fretilin-held areas from
Darwin, Australia
Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
It is the smalle ...
, were obstructed by the Indonesian military, which blockaded East Timor. On 31 May 1976, the government selected 37 individuals to for a 'People's Assembly' in Dili. This assembly unanimously endorsed integration into Indonesia, cementing an Indonesian narrative of union with Indonesia as an act of self-determination.
On 17 July, East Timor officially became the 27th province of the Republic of Indonesia (
Timor Timur
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...
). The provisional government made appeals to the UN to have this integration recognised as a legitimate act of self-determination.
Nonetheless, the occupation of East Timor remained a public issue in many nations, Portugal in particular, and the UN never recognised either the regime installed by the Indonesians or the subsequent annexation. We can refer to the resolution approved by the United nations General Assembly on 12 December 1975, saying "having heard the statements of the representatives of Portugal, as the Administering Power, concerning developments in Portuguese Timor...deplores the military intervention of the armed forces of Indonesia in Portuguese Timor and calls upon the Government of Indonesia to withdraw without delay its armed forces from the Territory...and recommends that the Security Council take urgent action to protect the territorial integrity of Portuguese Timor and the inalienable right of its people to self-determination". From 1975 to 1982, the General Assembly asserted each year the right of East Timor to self-determination. Portugal remained the recognised administering authority, and Indonesian forces were called to withdraw.
José Ramos-Horta
José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...
represented FRETILIN at the UN, where he campaigned for independence.
Despite this international opposition, few actions were taken to support independence. Many states tacitly accepted Indonesian control. Australia went as far as to officially recognise the annexation, and downplay the
death of five Australian journalists during the invasion. Such actions were caused by attempts to remain on good terms with Indonesia, especially in the context of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Despite an expressed aversion to the use of military force, the Indonesian invasion was not seriously opposed. Indeed, there was to implicit support. The United States held joint military drills with Indonesia prior to the invasion, and at the time of the invasion around 90% of Indonesia's arms originated from the United States. Military support continued, and even increased, after the invasion. There was also little support among other countries in
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
for East Timorese independence, with a similar fear of communism, as well as fear of regional instability. Malaysia provided strong support in international forums, despite previous conflicts with Indonesia, as it sought to repress its own independence movement and leave open the option of incorporating
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
. The Philippines and Thailand also voted with Indonesia in the UN, with the Philippines also fighting separatists at the time. Singapore was less initially supportive, but later sought to have the situation accepted ''fait accompli''. Portugal, while not providing strong opposition leading up to the invasion, later led international support for self-determination.
Resistance shifted to the interior, where FRETILIN continued to hold territory (knows as the ''zonas libertadas''). In 1976 administration of these areas was divided into six sectors, each with civilian and military leadership. These sectors covered the traditional regions (''concelhos'') of Portuguese rule, and were similarly divided into posts (''postos''), ''sucos'', and ''aldeias''. The ''sucos'' level was removed in 1977. Continuing Indonesian campaigning led to the slow capture of these territories, which this conquest being completed in 1978.
In an effort to stamp greater control over its dissident new province – whose seizure was condemned by the United Nations – Indonesia invested considerable sums in Timor-Leste leading to more rapid economic growth which averaged 6% per year over the period 1983–1997. Unlike the Portuguese, the Indonesians favoured strong, direct rule, which was never accepted by the Timorese people, who were determined to preserve their culture and national identity.
By 1976 there were 35,000 Indonesian troops in East Timor. Falintil, the military wing of Fretilin, fought a guerrilla war with marked success in the first few years but weakened considerably thereafter. The cost of the brutal takeover to the East Timorese was huge; it's estimated that at least 100,000 died in the hostilities, and ensuing disease and famine. Other reported death tolls from the 24-year occupation range from 60,000 to 200,000.
[A lot of rape were also taking place] A detailed statistical report prepared for the
cited a lower range of 102,800 conflict-related deaths in the period 1974–1999, namely, approximately 18,600 killings and 84,200 'excess' deaths from hunger and illness. There were also reports of rapes, burning and sacking of buildings.
By February 1976, with troops spreading out from the capital to occupy villages to the east and south, East Timor's Indonesian-appointed deputy governor, Lopez la Cruz, admitted that 60,000 East Timorese had been killed. Troop numbers were increased and draconian controls were imposed on the population, isolating the territory from the outside world.
By 1989, Indonesia had things firmly under control and opened East Timor to tourism. Then, on 12 November 1991 Indonesian troops fired on protesters gathered at the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili to commemorate the killing of an independence activist. With the event captured on film and aired around the world, the embarrassed Indonesian government admitted to 19 killings, although it's estimated that over 200 died in the massacre.
While Indonesia introduced a civilian administration, the military remained in control. Aided by secret police and civilian Timorese militia to crush dissent, reports of arrest, torture, and murder were numerous.
Towards independence
![Re-enactment Santa Cruz massacre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Re-enactment_Santa_Cruz_massacre.jpg)
Timorese groups fought a campaign of resistance against Indonesian forces for the independence of East Timor, during which many atrocities and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, 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 ce ...
violations by the Indonesian army were reported, which Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...
accepted in 2008 that Indonesia had been guilty of. Foreign powers such as the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n government, concerned to maintain good relations with Indonesia, had been consistently reluctant to assist a push for independence (despite popular sympathy for the East Timorese cause among many in the Australian electorate).
However, the departure of President Suharto and a shift in Australian policy by the
Howard Government in 1998 precipitated a proposal for a referendum on the question of independence.
Ongoing lobbying by the Portuguese government also provided impetus.
Effects of the Dili Massacre
The
Dili Massacre
The Santa Cruz massacre (also known as the Dili massacre) was the murder of at least 250 East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991, during the Indonesian occupation of Eas ...
on 12 November 1991 was a turning point for sympathy for pro-independence East Timorese. A burgeoning
East Timor solidarity movement grew in Portugal, Australia, and the United States. After the massacre, the US Congress voted to cut off funding for IMET training of Indonesian military personnel. However, arms sales continued from the US to the
Indonesian National Armed Forces
, founded = as the ('People's Security Forces')
, current_form =
, disbanded =
, branches =
, headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta
, website =
, commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo
, ...
.
[ETAN.org](_blank)
U.S. Policy toward East Timor, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
cut off all US military ties with the Indonesian military in 1999.
[ETAN.org](_blank)
ETAN Backgrounder for 20 May Independence, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network. The Australian government promoted a strong connection with the Indonesian military at the time of the massacre, but also cut off ties in 1999.
''Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
''. Retrieved on 16 August 2007.
The Massacre had a profound effect on public opinion in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, especially after television footage showing East Timorese praying in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, and independence leader
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 ...
gained widespread respect, being awarded the Portugal's highest honour in 1993, after he had been captured and imprisoned by the Indonesians.
Australia's troubled relationship with the Suharto regime was brought into focus by the Massacre. In
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, there was also widespread public outrage, and criticism of Canberra's close relationship with the Suharto regime and recognition of Jakarta's sovereignty over East Timor. This caused the Australian government embarrassment, but Foreign Minister
Gareth Evans played down the killings, describing them as "an aberration, not an act of state policy". Prime Minister
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
's (1991–1996) first overseas trip was to Indonesia in April 1992 and sought to improve trade and cultural relations, but repression of the East Timorese continued to mar co-operation between the two nations.
Gareth Evans and Keatings gave maintenance of close relations with the Indonesian government a high priority, as did the subsequent prime minister
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
and foreign minister
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...
during their first term in office (1996–1998). Australian governments saw good relations and stability in Indonesia (Australia's largest neighbour) as providing an important security buffer to Australia's north.
Nevertheless, Australia provided important sanctuary to East Timorese independence advocates like
José Ramos-Horta
José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...
(who based himself in Australia during his exile).
The fall of President Suharto and the arrival of President
B. J. Habibie
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
in 1998 and the rise of Indonesian democracy brought a new prospect for a potential change in the dynamic between the Australian and Indonesian governments.
Role of the Catholic Church
The
Catholic Church in East Timor
, native_name_lang = pt
, image = DiliSé.jpg
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Dili
, abbreviation =
, type = National po ...
played an important role in society throughout the Indonesian occupation. While just 20% of East Timorese called themselves Catholics in 1975, the figure surged to reach 95% by the end of the first decade after the invasion. During the occupation,
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
Carlos Ximenes Belo became one of the most prominent advocates for
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, 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 ce ...
in East Timor and many priests and nuns risked their lives in defending citizens from military abuses.
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
's 1989 visit to East Timor exposed the occupied territory's situation to world media and provided a catalyst for independence activists to seek global support. Officially neutral, the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
wished to retain good relations with Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation. Upon his arrival in East Timor, the Pope symbolically kissed a cross then pressed it to the ground, alluding to his usual practice of kissing the ground on arrival in a nation, and yet avoiding overtly suggesting East Timor was a sovereign country. He spoke fervently against abuses in his sermon, whilst avoiding naming the Indonesian authorities as responsible.
In 1996, Bishop
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo SDB, commonly known as Carlos Belo or Ximenes Belo (born 3 February 1948) is an East Timorese prelate of the Catholic Church. He became a bishop in 1988 and served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of ...
and José Ramos-Horta, two leading East Timorese activists for peace and independence, received the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
for "their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor".
A number of priests and nuns were murdered in the violence in East Timor that followed the 1999 Independence referendum. The newly independent nation declared three days of national mourning upon the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
International lobbying
Portugal started to apply international pressure, raising the issue with its fellow
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
members as well as in wider forums such as the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...
and the
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
.
However, other EU countries like the UK had close economic relations with Indonesia, including arms sales, and saw no advantage in forcefully raising the issue.
Appeals by those advocating for East Timorese independence were targeted at western citizens as well as governments, emphasising the vision of the new state as a liberal democracy.
In the mid-1990s, the pro-democracy People's Democratic Party (PRD) in Indonesia called for withdrawal from East Timor. The party's leadership was arrested in July 1996.
In July 1997, visiting
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n President
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
visited Suharto as well as the imprisoned
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 ...
. He urged the freeing of all East Timorese leaders in a note reading, "We can never normalize the situation in East Timor unless all political leaders, including Mr. Gusmão, are freed. They are the ones who must bring about a solution." Indonesia's government refused but did announce that it would take three months off Gusmão's 20-year sentence.
In 1998, the
reformasi movement in Indonesia led to the resignation of Suharto and his replacement by President Habibie, which brought political reform towards a more democratic system. In June 1998, facing increasing domestic and international pressure on the issue, Jakarta offered East Timor autonomy within the Indonesian state,
although it ruled out independence, and stated that Portugal and the UN must recognise Indonesian sovereignty.
Referendum for independence, violence
New Indonesian President
B. J. Habibie
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
was prepared to consider a change of status for East Timor.
Portugal had started to gain some political allies firstly in the EU, and after that in other places of the world to pressure Indonesia. In late 1998, the Australian Prime Minister
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
with his Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...
drafted a letter setting out a major change in Australian policy. The letter supported the idea of autonomy but went much further by suggesting that the East Timores be given a chance to vote on independence within a decade. The letter, which compared East Timor to
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, upset Habibie, who saw it as implying Indonesia was a "colonial power". He decided in response to announce a snap referendum to be conducted within six months.
Other reasons for this change of attitude include shifting priorities, greater consideration of international image, and a belief that East Timor would vote for autonomy. In his announcement of the referendum, Habibie cited "norms of democracy and justice" as a reason to allow for self-determination.
News of the proposal provoked a violent reaction in East Timor from pro-Indonesian militia. The Indonesian army did not intervene to restore order. At a summit in Bali John Howard told Habibie that a United Nations Peace Keeping force should oversee the process. Habibie rejected the proposal, believing it would have insulted the Indonesian military.
The
United Nations Mission in East Timor
The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was established by Security Council Resolution 1246 on 11 June 1999 for a period up to 31 August 1999. By Security Council Resolution 1257 of 3 August UNAMET was extended to 30 September 1999. ...
(UNAMET) was created to oversee the referendum in June 1999, six months after Habibie's January announcement. Intimidation from pro-Indonesian militia continued during this period, and the referendum was delayed twice. Eventually,
the referendum was held on 30 August. It produced a clear majority (78.5%) in favour of independence, rejecting the alternative offer of being an autonomous province within Indonesia,
to be known as the Special Autonomous Region of East Timor (SARET).
Before official results were announced, Indonesian military-supported
East Timorese pro-integration militia and Indonesian soldiers began a campaign of violence and terrorism in retaliation, "Operation Clean Sweep". Between 1,500 and 3000 Timorese were killed, and in addition to internal displacement
300,000 were forcibly pushed into West Timor as refugees. The majority of the country's infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water supply systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of the country's electrical grid were destroyed.
Activists in Portugal, Australia, the United States, and elsewhere pressured their governments to take action. The violence was met with widespread public anger in Australia. The Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Labor's
Laurie Brereton
Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton (born 29 May 1946) is a former Australian politician who was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and kingmaker in the election of several Australian Labor Party leaders, including Paul Keating and Mark ...
, was vocal in highlighting evidence of the Indonesian military's involvement in pro-integrationist violence and advocated United Nations peacekeeping to support the East Timor's ballot. The
Catholic Church in Australia
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown ...
urged the Australian Government to send an armed peacekeeping force to
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 ...
to end the violence. Street protesters harried the Indonesian Embassy.
![K-CNRT rally Dili 07'99-25](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/K-CNRT_rally_Dili_07%2799-25.jpg)
John Howard conferred with United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
and lobbied
U. S. President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
for an Australian led international peace keeper force to enter East Timor to end the violence. The United States offered crucial logistical and intelligence resources and an "over-horizon" deterrent presence. Finally, on 11 September, Bill Clinton announced:
Indonesia, in
dire economic straits relented and on 12 September, Indonesian President Habibie announced:
It was clear that the UN did not have sufficient resources to combat the paramilitary forces directly. Instead, on 15 September the UN authorised the creation of a multinational military force known as
INTERFET
The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...
(International Force for East Timor), with
Security Council Resolution 1264. Troops were contributed by 17 nations, about 9,900 in total. 4,400 came from Australia, the remainder mostly from South-East Asia. The force was led by Australian Major-General (now General)
Peter Cosgrove
General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is a retired senior Australian Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019.
A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Cosgrove fo ...
.
On 20 September 1999 INTERFET deployed to the country, and Indonesia withdrew both its military and its civilian administration.
United Nations administration
![Peter Cosgrove 2000](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Peter_Cosgrove_2000.jpg)
On 15 October 1999, the Indonesian
People's Consultative Assembly
The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Politics of Indonesia, Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the membe ...
repealed the law annexing East Timor.
The
administration of East Timor was taken over by the UN through 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 ...
(UNTAET), established on 25 October, and all remaining Indonesian forces left the territory in November.
The INTERFET deployment ended on 14 February 2000 with the transfer of military command to the UN.
The scope of the UNTAET mission exceeded previous UN peacekeeping efforts.
UNTAET exercised effective sovereignty during this period, and engaged in a
state-building
State-building as a specific term in social sciences and humanities, refers to political and historical processes of creation, institutional consolidation, stabilization and sustainable development of states, from the earliest emergence of state ...
process to develop institutions and local capacity, in addition to handling immediate humanitarian and security needs.
Tensions existed between the mandate of effective governance, and the mandate to quickly prepare the territory for democratic self-governance. Governance was strongly centralised, with less investment in local capacity. A rapid timetable and insufficient engagement with local authorities, including limited cooperation with the
National Council of Maubere Resistance
The National Council of Maubere Resistance (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional da Resistência Maubere, or CNRM) was an umbrella organisation of East Timorese individuals and organisations dedicated to resisting the Indonesian occupation of East T ...
, further limited institutional development.
Reconstruction efforts included rebuilding the education system. For this textbooks were bought in the new official language, Portuguese, despite many teachers and students being unable to speak it.
Elections were held in late 2001 for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution, a task finished in February 2002. East Timor became formally independent on 20 May 2002.
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 ...
was sworn in as the country's president. East Timor became a member of the UN on 27 September 2002.
The independent republic
On 4 December 2002, after a student had been arrested the previous day, rioting students set fire to the house of the Prime Minister
Marí Alkatiri and advanced on the police station. The police opened fire and one student was killed, whose body the students carried to the National Parliament building. There they fought the police, set a supermarket on fire and plundered shops. The police opened fire again and four more students were killed. Alkatiri called an inquiry and blamed foreign influence for the violence.
Relations with Indonesia have been cordial. The two countries have defined most of their borders. In 2005, the
reported on human rights violations in period of Indonesian rule and the year before and offered the first national history of East Timor driven by Timorese oral histories. In 2008, the
Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship
The Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission on Truth and Friendship (more commonly known by its Portuguese acronym CVA, ''Comissão Verdade e Amizade'') was a truth commission established jointly by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor in Augus ...
confirmed most of the earlier Commission's findings.
Australia–East Timor relations
Bilateral relations exist between Australia and East Timor. Both countries are near neighbors with close political and trade ties. East Timor, the youngest and one of the poorest countries in Asia, lies about 610 kilometres northwest of the Austr ...
have been strained by disputes over the
maritime boundary
A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Bound ...
between the two countries. Canberra claims petroleum and natural gas fields in an area known as the '
Timor Gap
The Timor Gap is an area of the Timor Sea between Australia and Timor Island. The island is divided between independent East Timor and West Timor province of Indonesia.
The Timor Gap is part of the Australia-East Timor border, Australia-Indones ...
', which East Timor regards as lying within its maritime boundaries. Articles relating to this topic include:
*
Timor Sea Treaty
Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United ...
*
Australia-East Timor spying scandal
*
Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea
Officially called the Treaty between Australia and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS), the treaty provides for the equal distribution of revenue derived from the disputed Greater Sunri ...
2006 crisis
Unrest started in the country in April 2006 following riots in Dili. A rally in support of 600 East Timorese soldiers, who were dismissed for deserting their barracks, turned into rioting where five people were killed and over 20,000 fled their homes. Fierce fighting between pro-government troops and disaffected Falintil troops broke out in May 2006. While unclear, the motives behind the fighting appeared to be the distribution of oil funds and the poor organisation of the Timorese army and police, which included former Indonesian-trained police and former Timorese rebels. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri called the violence a "coup" and welcomed offers of foreign military assistance from several nations.
As of 25 May 2006, Australia, Portugal, New Zealand, and Malaysia sent troops to Timor, attempting to quell the violence.
At least 23 deaths occurred as a result of the violence.
On 21 June 2006, President Xanana Gusmão formally requested Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri step down. A majority of Fretilin party members demanded the prime minister's resignation, accusing him of lying about distributing weapons to civilians. On 26 June 2006 Prime Minister
Mari Alkatiri
Mari bin Amude Alkatiri, GCIH ( ar, مرعي بن عمودة الكثيري '; born 26 November 1949) is a Timorese politician. He was Prime Minister of East Timor from May 2002 until his resignation on 26 June 2006 following weeks of politica ...
resigned stating, "I declare I am ready to resign my position as prime minister of the government... so as to avoid the resignation of His Excellency the President of the Republic". In August, rebel leader
Alfredo Reinado
Alfredo Alves Reinado (11 November 1968 in Dili – 11 February 2008), sometimes spelled Reinhado, was a major in the military of Timor-Leste, the Timor Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL). He deserted on 4 May 2006 to join approximately 600 for ...
escaped from Becora Prison, in Dili. Tensions were later raised after armed clashes between youth gangs forced the closure of
Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport
Dili Airport , officially Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport ( pt, Aeroporto Internacional Presidente Nicolau Lobato, ), and formerly Comoro Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Komoro), is an international airport serving Dili, the capital ...
in late October.
In April 2007, Gusmão declined another presidential term. In the build-up to the
April 2007 presidential elections there were renewed outbreaks of violence in February and March 2007.
José Ramos-Horta
José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...
was inaugurated as
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 ...
on 20 May 2007, following his election win in the second round. Gusmão was sworn in as prime minister on 8 August 2007. President Ramos-Horta was critically injured in
an assassination attempt on 11 February 2008, in a failed coup apparently perpetrated by
Alfredo Reinado
Alfredo Alves Reinado (11 November 1968 in Dili – 11 February 2008), sometimes spelled Reinhado, was a major in the military of Timor-Leste, the Timor Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL). He deserted on 4 May 2006 to join approximately 600 for ...
, a renegade soldier who died in the attack. Prime Minister Gusmão also faced gunfire separately but escaped unharmed. The Australian government immediately sent reinforcements to East Timor to keep order.
From 2010s
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 ...
announced in early November 2012, it would be pulling its troops out of the country, saying the country was now stable and calm. Five New Zealand troops were killed in the 13 years the country had a military presence in East Timor.
Francisco Guterres
Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954), is an East Timorese politician who served as president of East Timor from 20 May 2017 to 20 May 2022. He is also the president of the political party Fretilin, and he was t ...
of centre-left
Fretilin
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 ...
party was the president of East Timor since May 2017 until 19 May 2022. The main party of AMP coalition,
National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction
The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction ( pt, Congresso Nacional de Reconstrução de Timor, CNRT) is a political party in East Timor founded by former President Xanana Gusmão in March 2007 in preparation for the 2007 parliamentary ...
, led by independence hero
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 ...
, was in power from 2007 to 2017, but leader of Fretilin
Mari Alkatiri
Mari bin Amude Alkatiri, GCIH ( ar, مرعي بن عمودة الكثيري '; born 26 November 1949) is a Timorese politician. He was Prime Minister of East Timor from May 2002 until his resignation on 26 June 2006 following weeks of politica ...
formed a coalition government after July 2017 parliamentary election. However, the new minority government soon fell, meaning second
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in May 2018. In June 2018, former president and independence fighter Jose Maria de Vasconcelos known as
Taur Matan Ruak
José Maria Vasconcelos (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who has served as the prime minister of East Timor since 22 June 2018. He was also President of E ...
of three-party coalition, Alliance of Change for Progress (AMP), became the new prime minister.
The Nobel prize winner, former president
José Ramos-Horta
José Manuel Ramos-Horta (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician currently serving as president of East Timor since May 2022. He previously served as president from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Fore ...
won the April 2022
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
runoff against the incumbent president, Francisco Guterres . In May 2022, Ramos-Horta was sworn in as East Timor president.
United Nations missions
* UNAMET
United Nations Mission in East Timor
The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was established by Security Council Resolution 1246 on 11 June 1999 for a period up to 31 August 1999. By Security Council Resolution 1257 of 3 August UNAMET was extended to 30 September 1999. ...
: June—October 1999
* UNTAET
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 ...
: October 1999 – May 2002
* UNMISET
United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor
The United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor (UNMISET) lasted from 20 May 2002 to 20 May 2005, when it was replaced by United Nations Office in Timor Leste (UNOTIL). It was established when East Timor became an internationally recognised ind ...
: May 2002 – May 2005
* UNOTIL
United Nations Office in Timor Leste
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
: May 2005 – August 2006
* UNMIT
United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste
The United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) was established on 25 August 2006 by UN Security Council Resolution 1704. Its objectives are "to support the Government in consolidating stability, enhancing a culture of democratic g ...
: August 2006 – December 2012
See also
*
Timeline of East Timorese history
This is a timeline of East Timorese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in East Timor and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of East Timor.
16th ...
*
List of years in East Timor
*
List of rulers of Timor
This is a list of rulers of Timor since the 17th century. Timor was traditionally divided into a large number of small kingdoms whose rulers were variously known as liurais, rajas, regulos, na'i, etc. They were drawn into the colonial spheres of t ...
*
History of Asia
The history of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe. See History of the Mi ...
*
History of Southeast Asia
The history of Southeast Asia covers the people of Southeast Asia from prehistory to the present in two distinct sub-regions: Mainland Southeast Asia (or Indochina) and Maritime Southeast Asia (or Insular Southeast Asia). Mainland Southeast As ...
*
History of Indonesia
The history of Indonesia has been shaped by geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars of conquest, the spread of Islam from the island of Sumatra in the 7th century AD and the establishment of ...
*
Politics of East Timor
Politics of East Timor takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of East Timor is the head of government and the President of East Timor exercises the functions o ...
Notes and references
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. (1999), ''Timor Loro Sae: 500 years.'' Macau: Livros do Oriente.
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. and Reyko Huang (2004: 2006), ''New Nation: United Nations Peacebuilding in East Timor'' (Faculty of Economics, Nagasaki University, Southeast Asia Monograph Series No.36/ reprint, author, Tipografia Macau Hung Heng Ltd., Macau
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Crisis profile East Timor
* The
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The Nat ...
GWU.edu East Timor Revisited:
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
,
Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...
and the
Indonesian Invasion document 4, pp 9,10
Onebigtorrent.org The Documentary ''Death of a Nation — The Timor Conspiracy'', written and presented by
John Pilger
John Richard Pilger (; born 9 October 1939) is an Australian journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He has been mainly based in Britain since 1962. He was also once visiting professor at Cornell University in New York.
Pilger ...
in 1994 details the occupation period and exposes the involvement of Western governments in providing essential weapons systems, financial aid and the political cover for the Indonesian regime.
ETAN.org East Timor Action Network
Laohamutuk.org East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis (
La'o Hamutuk
La'o Hamutuk (Tetum for "walking together"), or the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis, is an East Timorese non-governmental organisation (NGO). It is based on Avenida Dom Ricardo da Silva, , in the national capital, ...
)
HRW.org Human Rights Watch publications on East Timor
Timor's Tutorial in Oil Politics
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of East Timor