Although Indonesia was a major site of U. Indeed, as important as the bilateral relationship was, Jakarta's brutal suppression of the independence movement in East Timor was a development that neither Ford nor Kissinger wanted people to remember about their time in power. That the two decided on a course of action of dubious legality and that resulted in the slaughter of thousands of Timorese may well have also discouraged further reflection, at least in public.
No doubt the omissions from Ford's and Kissinger's memoirs also reflect the low priority that East Timor had during the Ford administration. For senior officials, the fate of a post-colonial East Timor paled in comparison to the strategic relationship with the anti-communist Suharto regime, especially in the wake of the communist victory in Vietnam, when Ford and Kissinger wanted to strengthen relations with anti-communists and check left-wing movements in the region.
As Kissinger advised Suharto on the eve of the invasion: "it is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly" but that "it would be better if it were done after we returned" to the United States. Although these new documents shed important light on U. Unfortunately, most of the relevant sources are classified.
The State Department's recent acquisition of Henry Kissinger's telephone conversation transcripts might include important material, although they will probably reflect the relatively low priority that the policymakers gave to the East Timor question. One of these groups, the Timorese Democratic Union UTD , had greater support among Timorese elites and senior Portuguese colonial administrators, while the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor Fretilin , with its left-leaning, social democratic program, had the support of younger Timorese and lower-level colonial officials.
In January the two groups formed an uneasy coalition. Increasingly, Fretilin enjoyed the greatest public support and led the push for rapid independence. Fears that an independent East Timor could be used as a base by unfriendly governments or spur other secessionist movements in Indonesia had convinced hardliners in the military to press for annexation of the territory.
The new regime in Lisbon was preoccupied with its own internal political controversies and could do little to ensure a steady transition toward independence.
During and Indonesian authorities hoped that the Portuguese would acquiesce in Jakarta's plans to acquire East Timor. At first the Portuguese seemed responsive, but by mid it had become evident that Lisbon supported self-determination for the people of East Timor.
Suharto was still concerned about the reaction from the West and needed more time to get the UDT and other anti-Fretilin groups to support integration. Meanwhile, in October Indonesian special forces began to infiltrate secretly into East Timor in an effort to provoke clashes that would provide the pretext for a full-scale invasion.
Operation Komodo, a general invasion of East Timor, commenced the next day. While casualty estimates vary, anywhere from 60,, Timorese were probably killed in the first year after the violence began in By the occupation had left more than , dead from military action, starvation or disease, with some estimates running as high as , You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. Source: Gerald R.
Speaking only a few months after the collapse of the Thieu regime in South Vietnam, the two presidents shared a tour d'horizon of East Asian political issues, U. Fearing greater political and ideological ferment in the region following the Communist victory in Vietnam, Suharto saw his ideological concoction "Pancasila" possibly misspelled "Pantechistita" in the document as useful, no doubt because its emphasis on consensus excluded any oppositional political activity.
Although Washington had worked closely with the Salazar dictatorship that ruled Portugal for decades, it was now deeply suspicious of the new social democratic regime in Lisbon; with its exaggerated concerns about a Communist coup, the Ford administration considered the possibility of expelling Portugal from NATO and supporting an independence movement in the Azores where the U.
Thus, from Ford's and Kissinger's perspective in , Portugual's role in the region was of little interest and did not pose an important obstacle to Indonesian action. In West Timor became part of the post-colonial Indonesian Republic. Economically, the Portuguese pinned their hopes on oil — discovered in , and on an expansion of tourism. An embryonic nationalist opposition emerged in the s based on young people educated in Catholic schools and the Dili seminary or trained in a radicalized Portuguese army.
In East Timor political groups were organized and given a free rein. Both parties agreed with the Portuguese to move towards independence over a three-year period. But by September Fretilin was in control of virtually all of East Timor. Its leaders continued to recognize Portuguese sovereignty and called repeatedly on the Governor to return and oversee the transition to independence.
On 28 November, with the Indonesian invasion imminent, Fretilin leaders declared independence, establishing the Democratic Republic of East Timor. The invasion was followed by brutal treatment of the civilian population — indiscriminate killings and rape in the streets of Dili, with buildings sacked and burned. Troop numbers were increased and draconian controls were imposed on the population, isolating the territory from the outside world.
In and tens of thousands of East Timorese came down from the mountains, to be rounded up and resettled in strategic villages set up by the military. Many died of hunger. Those who were not transported to camps were either imprisoned or disappeared. Regular famines resulted. Meanwhile, land outside the villages was devoted to the cultivation of cash crops for export in agricultural projects set up by the military, who appropriated most of the land previously under plantation crops.
Mosques were built at an increasing rate. Informers, directed by appointed elders katuas became responsible for the surveillance of groups of 10 to 15 families. All its original leaders had been captured or killed, leaving behind a small group which managed during to reorganize the movement from the eastern tip of the island, attacking Indonesian targets in different parts of the country. Between March and August the Indonesian military and Fretilin agreed a ceasefire, which enabled Fretilin to gain support for its position internationally and to persuade the UN Secretary-General to act as a mediator in the conflict.
In August the Indonesian Government unilaterally broke the ceasefire. Fretilin organized ambushes and attacks on Indonesian troops, using support networks set up in the resettlement villages. This was followed by the capture of his successor, Mau Honu, in April Currently Fretilin retains a resistance network in the centre, south and east of the territory, but is less capable of mounting major attacks than in earlier years; yet it continues to receive wide support from the population through an underground resistance network.
When this visit was cancelled, a demonstration in Dili went ahead on 11 November. Its suppression by the military ended in the infamous Santa Cruz massacre. Despite a deeply conservative colonial role and antipathy to Fretilin during the pre-invasion period, the Catholic Church has been increasingly critical of the military. Both the present and former Bishops of Dili — Carlos Ximenes Belo and Martinho Costa Lopes — have denounced torture, imprisonment and human-rights abuses.
Church organizations have provided basic health and education facilities, and Tetum-speaking safe havens, despite increasing opposition from the military. Mr Siong : In December the Indonesians came during the early morning when it was still dark. There were a lot of green parachutes dropping from the sky and our soldiers shot up at them. Some parachutists were killed and dropped in front of the Toko Lay flats.
Mrs Siong : There were a lot of soldiers. They had long automatic guns with strings of bullets. They kept shooting over our heads. Then they told all of us to go out and kneel down outside, everyone, children too. Everyone kneels down and the Indonesians count our heads and count their bullets to see if they match! They ask if anyone is still in the house. They tell whoever has friends or relatives inside to get them out.
People do this, get the others out and then all kneel down. We beg the Indonesians not to kill us. They make us walk. Near the harbour there is an open space, a garden by the sea, like a park. There they ask us to kneel down again. This time they make us face the sea. Whoever is short must be behind, the tallest in front next to the sea so the soldiers can see every person. The soldiers are behind us. I was holding the baby. They let me keep touching the baby if they can see it.
Again they count us and count the bullets. Everyone is crying. We try to guess what the Indonesians say. All the languages are mixed together. Mr Siong : At the harbour we have to pick up dead bodies. There were about 10 of them, two women and the rest men. Some of the men wore Portuguese army uniform, the women wore dresses.
The bodies were just lying where they fell on the wharf; they had been shot. There were a lot of iron pipes on the wharf and we must tie the dead bodies on to them with parachute rope and throw them into the sea. We tie the rope through the hole in the pipe and tie the body on to that. East Timor and Indonesia sign two agreements aimed at easing relations. Only one conviction - that of militia leader Eurico Guterres - is left standing.
The body, which has no power to prosecute, will examine the violence that accompanied East Timor's independence in Under the agreement, talks on a disputed maritime boundary are postponed. Report on alleged atrocities during Indonesia's year rule is presented to the UN. It finds that the occupation was directly responsible for the deaths of more than , East Timorese.
At least 25 people are killed and about , take refuge in makeshift camps. Jose Ramos-Horta is named as premier. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
President Yudhoyono expresses "deep regret" but stops short of an apology. He acknowledges failure to address poverty. President Ramos-Horta later pardons them or commutes their sentences. Coalition government continues.
The Asian Football Confederation bans East Timor from participating in the Asian Cup in for using fake documents to include players born in Brazil in its national team.
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