Voters in East Timor Vote for Independence
In the late 20th century, East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, sought independence following a prolonged period of conflict marked by Indonesian occupation. After the 1974 Portuguese Revolution, Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, leading to severe human rights violations and a violent suppression of resistance by groups such as the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (FRETILIN). The situation gained international attention, particularly after the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to key activists advocating for East Timorese rights.
In 1999, under mounting international pressure, Indonesia agreed to a referendum allowing East Timorese voters to choose between limited autonomy and complete independence. On August 30, 1999, an overwhelming 78 percent of the participating population voted for independence. Following this democratic expression, widespread violence erupted from Indonesian-backed militias, prompting a humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations intervened, establishing a peacekeeping force and eventually facilitating the transition to full independence on May 20, 2002, when East Timor became the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Despite its newfound status, the country faced significant challenges, including economic struggles and political instability, as it worked to rebuild after years of conflict.
Voters in East Timor Vote for Independence
Date August 30, 1999
After East Timorese voted in favor of independence in a referendum sponsored by the United Nations, Indonesian-sponsored violence flared. The ensuing widespread conflict eventually led to international intervention and further U.N. missions to maintain security and guarantee the democratic aspirations of the territory’s inhabitants.
Locale East Timor
Key Figures
José Alexandre Gusmão (b. 1946), resistance leader and first president of East Timor, 2002-2007José Ramos-Horta (b. 1949), resistance leader and second president of East Timor beginning in 2007Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (b. 1948), Roman Catholic bishop and apostolic administrator of the Dili Diocese of East Timor, 1983-2002Kofi Annan (b. 1938), secretary-general of the United Nations, 1997-2006Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (b. 1936), president of Indonesia, 1998-1999Abdurrahman Wahid (b. 1940), president of Indonesia, 1999-2001
Summary of Event
Portugal began colonizing the small island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago in the sixteenth century but met resistance from its stronger colonial rival, the Netherlands, and from the Timorese themselves. In 1859, the two European countries formally divided the island, giving Portugal control of the eastern half of Timor along with the exclave of Oé-cusse on the northwestern coast and the smaller islands of Atauro and Jaco. Although western Timor became part of independent Indonesia in 1949, Portugal continued to rule eastern Timor, which had by now evolved a distinct culture of its own. However, Timorese plans to assume power after the Portuguese Revolution of 1974 were forestalled when Indonesian troops under the direction of President Suharto invaded the territory late the following year. Despite protests from the United Nations, Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony in 1975.
Faced with widespread resistance, Indonesia instituted a repressive and violent occupation that utilized random massacres, arson, starvation, torture, rape, and coerced sterilization. Initially Indonesia’s main opposition came from the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, or FRETILIN), founded in 1974. Indonesia agreed to a cease-fire with FRETILIN in 1983 but opened a new offensive the following year. Demonstrations following visits by Pope John Paul II in 1989 and by the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia in 1990 were put down with massive force. A funeral for a FRETILIN supporter in the capital city of Dili in 1991 triggered a massacre in which more than one hundred East Timorese were killed. Before Indonesia reluctantly agreed to a referendum on the territory’s future in 1999, it was estimated that one-third of its population had died and one-third had been confined to concentration camps.
The most important figure to emerge during these years was guerrilla leader José Alexandre Gusmão, a former FRETILIN member who helped establish a coalition of resistance groups and who continued to direct the resistance movement even after his arrest in 1992. The awarding of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize to activist Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta, the exiled representative of the East Timorese independence movement to the United Nations, further focused world attention on Indonesian atrocities and eventually forced the country’s hand.
Bowing to increasing international pressure, Indonesian officials met with their counterparts from Portugal (which had never recognized the annexation) and U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan in mid-1998. As a result, the country offered to allow East Timor to choose its own legislature and set up its own educational system. Indonesian president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie went further on January 27, 1999, agreeing to a referendum in which the East Timorese could choose between the limited autonomy previously offered or complete independence. The referendum would be held under the auspices of the United Nations and would be supervised by the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), which was established in June 11. The vote was originally set for August 8, but in the face of widespread violence, Annan postponed the vote twice. Annan also pressured Indonesia to allow Gusmão to serve the remainder of his twenty-year sentence under house arrest in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
The East Timorese referendum eventually took place on August 30, 1999, an event observed by more than one hundred journalists from around the world. Almost 99 percent of the territory’s eligible population of 450,000 took part, many of them walking for miles and waiting in long lines for hours to vote. When their votes were counted, it was revealed that more than 78 percent had chosen complete independence.
The referendum itself had been peaceful, but it merely marked a lull in the violence. Indonesian-sponsored militias, whose members may have numbered nearly twenty thousand, had vowed to turn the territory into a “sea of fire,” and after the results were announced they went on a rampage. Storming and burning the compound of Bishop Belo, they drove out thousands of refugees who had taken shelter. At least four members of the UNAMET contingent were murdered. Along with Bishop Belo and a number of East Timorese, the remaining members of UNAMET were airlifted to Australia. In all, between 30,000 and 100,000 residents were forced to flee Dili, and martial law was declared on September 7.
Released by Indonesian authorities after the referendum, Gusmão assumed the role of East Timor’s head of state, traveling abroad to urge international intervention to stop the bloodshed. On September 15, the United Nations voted to establish a multinational peacekeeping force, the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET), and on October 25 set up the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to administer the territory. The last contingent of Indonesian troops left the territory five days later. In a goodwill gesture, Gusmão visited Jakarta to meet with new Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid.
INTERFET itself ended its mission on February 24, 2000, making way for a formal U.N. peacekeeping force. Meanwhile, the territory labored to establish a new political structure. A coalition of political parties, the National Council for East Timorese Resistance (Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense, or CNRT), opened its first congress in Dili on August 21. Two months later, a thirty-six-member transitional council was installed, with Gusmão holding one of the seats. At this point, more than 167,000 East Timorese refugees had returned from Indonesian soil, although as many as 120,000 more remained in resettlement camps.
Significance
East Timor’s struggles to attain stability continued into the twenty-first century, even as Indonesian militias continued sporadic attacks. In early 2001, the territory’s transitional council voted to hold an election on August 30 for a Constituent Assembly. For a time, Gusmão had served as speaker of the transitional council, but he resigned at the end of March in the face of internal disputes and was replaced by Ramos-Horta. FRETILIN subsequently won the majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly, and in turn that body asked the United Nations to grant East Timor full independence.
Having reluctantly agreed to run for one five-year term, Gusmão won an April 14, 2002, presidential election with 83 percent of the votes. East Timor became independent on May 20, 2002, as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and Gusmão began his administration.
Portugal had not invested heavily in Timor, and at the time of its independence Asia’s newest nation had one of the lowest per-capita gross domestic products in the world. East Timor was in ruins and continued to struggle with political dissension, but the nation counted on its offshore petroleum fields and its celebrated coffee beans to help revive its economy.
Bibliography
Dunn, James. East Timor: A Rough Passage to Independence. 3d ed. Double Bay, N.S.W.: Longueville Books, 2003. Analysis by an Australian politician and diplomat who served in East Timor. Features a foreword by José Alexandre Gusmão. Includes illustrations, maps, and bibliography.
Hainsworth, Paul, and Stephen McCloskey, eds. The East Timor Question: The Struggle for Independence from Indonesia. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2000. Wide-ranging collection of essays assesses the struggle in East Timor within the context of Indonesian and world affairs. Features a preface by José Ramos-Horta.
Kohen, Arnold S. From the Place of the Dead: The Epic Struggles of Bishop Belo of East Timor. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Biography of the outspoken bishop by a journalist who traveled with him in East Timor from 1993 to 1997. Includes map and bibliography.
Marker, Jamsheed. East Timor: A Memoir of the Negotiations for Independence. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003. Firsthand account by U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan’s personal representative for East Timor. Includes index.