East Timor Essay ⋆ History Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, or East Timor, was a Portuguese colony until 1975. On the eve of the Portuguese departure in August 1975, a civil war broke out, leading to the deaths of 1,500 to 2,000 people. There was a unilateral declaration of independence on November 28, 1975, by the East Timorese people. With U.S. assistance, Indonesia invaded East Timor in December. Afterward, Indonesia incorporated East Timor as its 27th province in July 1976. The United Nations (UN) did not recognize this. A guerrilla war against Indonesian occupation followed amid reports of brutality by the army. The ensuing civil war was marked by brutality, loss of life, and human rights abuses. From 1982 onward, the UN secretary-general endeavored to bring a peaceful solution to the conflict. In 1998 Indonesia was prepared to grant autonomy to East Timor, but its proposal was rejected by the East Timorese. It was decided to hold a plebiscite in East Timor, resulting in a declaration of independence on August 30, 1999.

The army, along with pro-Indonesian militia, unleashed a reign of terror in East Timor. There was a pacification campaign during which more than 1,300 people were killed and 300,000 more were forcibly sent into West Timor as refugees. The ethnic conflict and genocide by Indonesian troops devastated East Timor. Violence was brought to an end by an international peacekeeping force. The Timorese tragedy had taken the lives of 21–26 percent of the population. East Timor was placed under the transitional administration of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) on October 25, 1999. There were about 8,000 peacekeepers and civilian police helping the administration. The National Consultative Council (NCC), consisting of 11 East Timorese and four UNTAET members, worked as a political body in the transitional phase. An 88-member Constituent Assembly was elected in August 2001 to frame a new constitution. East Timor became a fully independent nation on May 20, 2002, with international recognition.

Nation-building was difficult for the East Timorese. The reconstruction of their damaged infrastructure and the creation of viable administrative machinery became priorities for the new regime. The United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), which had replaced the UNTAET, gave necessary support to the new government, which was headed by Xanana Gusmão.

Bibliography:

Emmerson, Donald K., ed. Indonesia Beyond Suharto: Polity, Economy, Society, Transition. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1999;
Kiernan, Ben. “Genocide and Resistance in East Timor, 1975–1999: Comparative Reflections on Cambodia.” In War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century. Mark Selden and Alvin Y. So, eds. New York: Routledge, 2003;
Ricklefs, M. C. A History of Modern Indonesia: c. 1300 to the Present. 2nd ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993.

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