SUMMARY
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was declared independent in 1975 but was occupied and forcibly incorporated into Indonesia, which feared that East Timor would become yet another communist state in the region, barely a week later. Despite the repressive Indonesian rule, the resistance against the occupation was led by CNRT (most well-known as Fretilin and persisted for 24 years until Indonesia left East Timor in 1998. The territory subsequently became independent in 2002.
IN DEPTH
Portugal leaves and Indonesia invades
The territory of East Timor is made up of the eastern half of the island of Timor; it also includes the island of Atuaro, the islet of Jaco, and the enclave of Oé-Cusse. The Timor Sea surrounding the island has oil and natural gas and this has contributed to the strategic interest, dating centuries back, which the territory has had for international powers. The first Portuguese settlement was established in 1556 by Dominican friars. Eventually, colonial competition with the Netherlands led to skirmishes. In the 1859 Treaty of Lisbon, the island of Timor was officially divided between the Dutch and the Portuguese, with Portugal remaining in control over the eastern parts. Until 1975, Portuguese rule was only interrupted by a brief Japanese annexation of the territory during the Pacific World War II.
The Portuguese revolution in 1974 led to a sudden political change in Portugal that brought about the rapid onset of decolonization of its colonies. Neighboring Indonesia claimed that East Timor would not be competent as an independent state and announced its willingness to let the former colony join the Republic of Indonesia. This option was however rejected by the majority of the Timorese population.
An attempted coup by pro-Indonesian groups in 1975 led to clashes between pro-independence and pro-Indonesian groups. The Portuguese, being afraid to get involved, pulled out faster than planned and left behind a violent and chaotic situation. The widely supported popular socialist movement then known as Fretilin but later renamed CNRT independent on 28 November 1975. The Indonesian President General Suharto claimed that the creation of another communist state in the region was a threat to regional security. Indonesia also feared that an independent East Timor would inspire the numerous separatist movements within Indonesia. On 7 December 1975, Indonesian forces arrived in Dili and within a couple of weeks a large-scale military operation had incorporated East Timor into Indonesia. In July 1976 East Timor was formally established as the 27th province of Indonesia.
Conflict dynamics
Indonesian rule was brutal and the Indonesian security personnel committed various kinds of human rights violations against the Timorese people. Throughout the conflict, Indonesia restricted any reporting from the territory. However, refugees described East Timor as a country of hunger, corruption and violence. The situation increased popular support for Fretilin and its armed wing; the FALINTIL (Forças Armadas da Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste; the Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor) which continued the resistance against Indonesia. The FALINTIL resistance was at its greatest in 1976–1978. However, after a few years of conflict, and alleged human rights abuses from both sides, the conflict became suppressed as a result of Indonesia’s large-scale military offensives. The resistance thereafter continued at a low level of activity.
Indonesia pursued a harsh policy of forced integration in East Timor. The program included forced resettlement and imposing the Indonesian language and what was considered Indonesian values. This made the Timorese nationalism grow stronger and a new generation of resistance fighters arose. The resistance movements united in 1988 when FALINTIL leader José Xanana Gusmao established the political umbrella organization CNRM (National Council of the Maubere Resistance). In connection to this, the FALINTIL formally separated itself from the Fretilin, changing it from the armed wing of one political party into a national army of liberation, not linked to one specific party.
International involvement
The government of Indonesia received support from the U.S. and Australia for its policy towards East Timor – especially in the 1970s and 1980s, as CNRT (then known as Fretilin) was perceived as a communist threat in the post-Vietnam war era. The U.S. helped with training the Indonesian armed forces and by military aid. The U.S. also contributed to the legitimizing of Indonesia's activities by vetoing Security Council resolutions.
After reports of atrocities during the Indonesian offensive in the 1970s became public, Portugal became active in supporting the East Timorese independence movements politically. Since the UN did not recognize Indonesian sovereignty of the territory, it was still internationally considered to be under Portuguese jurisdiction. Beginning in 1983, the UN was involved at a number of occasions in organizing talks between Portugal and Indonesia on the East Timor question.
Termination
The combination of small-scale guerrilla warfare, civilian protests, and an active exiled lobby brought the conflict onto the international agenda in the late 1980s. Before this, the international interest for East Timor had remained lukewarm although the UN, in a number of resolutions, had condemned the Indonesian invasion. After intense lobbying by Portugal and exiled Timorese, the UN general assembly in 1983 gave the Secretary-General a specific mission to find a solution to the conflict. A line of events, such as the Santa Cruz massacre of 1991, the jailing of Gusmao in 1992 and the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the East Timorese independence leaders Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, finally gained the attention of the international community.
No direct negotiations took place between Fretilin and Indonesia. As a result of the financial crisis that struck Indonesia and the whole region in 1997, and the subsequent ousting of Suharto, Portugal and Indonesia undertook discussions regarding East Timor mediated by the UN. These talks led to the decision to let the Timorese people decide about East Timor’s future status in a referendum. A UN mission administered the referendum in August 1999 with 98.6% of the population participating, 78.6% of whom voted for independence.
A UN-sanctioned regional peacekeeping force arrived in September, and on 31 October 1999 the last Indonesian soldiers left the territory, leaving behind a UN Transitional Administration already in control of the territory. Even though anti-independence militias were active throughout 1999 and early 2000 (see one-sided violence, government–civilians for more information about the large-scale violence against civilians in 1999), the transition followed the schedule and on 20 May 2002, Timor Lorosae became an independent state. Four months later, the state became a member of the United Nations. The former leader of Fretilin, José Xanana Gusmao, now the head of the political party CNRT (National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor) which was the transformed CNRM (National Council of the Maubere Resistance), was elected the first President of the independent state.
The UN peacekeeping mission concluded on 20 May 2005, but a smaller contingent of about 275 international security and government advisers remained in the country.
