Bella Galhos (born 1972) is a former East Timorese independence activist during the period of Indonesian occupation of East Timor and has been a translator, presidential advisor, human rights activist and environmentalist since independence in 2002.
Bella Galhos (born 1972) is a former East Timorese independence activist during the period of Indonesian occupation of East Timor and has been a translator, presidential advisor, human rights activist and environmentalist since independence in 2002.
Galhos' father reportedly had 45 children from 18 different women. After Indonesian armed forces invaded East Timor in 1975, they captured her father and brothers, and her father sold her to a soldier at the age of three for five dollars, on the grounds that she a had a "very male, dominant personality". After a long campaign by her mother, Galhos was returned to the family. She reported a history of sexual violence at the hands of family members and Indonesian authorities thereafter. [1] [2]
At age 16, Galhos joined the Timorese independence movement, through its "clandestine front" of young activists. In 1991, several friends of Galhos were killed in the Santa Cruz massacre, organized by her uncle Constâncio Pinto. [3] [4] As a result, she lived for three years under a different identity as a double agent ostensibly working with the Indonesian authorities. In 1994 she was selected as a participant of a youth exchange programme to Canada with Canada World Youth. There she applied for asylum immediately. After East Timor's independence, Galhos studied psychology at the University of Hawaii.
After Galhos applied for and received refugee status in Canada, she campaigned for human rights in East Timor with the East Timor Alert Network as one of two Canadian representatives of the National Council of Maubere Resistance. She took part in numerous international lobbying events inside and outside Canada during these years. [5] [6]
In January 1996, Benjamin Parwoto, the Indonesian ambassador to Canada, sought out Galhos' mother and told her to silence her daughter. The event caused a public outcry and the Canadian Department of External Affairs rebuked the ambassador. [2] [7]
With the end of the Indonesian occupation in 1999, she returned to East Timor to work for the United Nations Mission in East Timor. In 2012, Galhos became a civil society adviser to President Taur Matan Ruak. In 2017, she resigned from the advisory role. [ citation needed ]
Galhos founded the Leublora Green Village (LGV) in Maubisse, along with a not-for-profit environmental school (Leublora Green School). This includes a women's organic farming cooperative and an organic restaurant. The project aims to promote equal rights for women and environmental awareness in East Timorese society. [1] [8] [9] She has delivered TED Dili talks on issues including violence against women as part of feminist campaigning in East Timor. [10] [11] [12]
Galhos is a prominent activist for LGBT+ rights in East Timor. At the CODIVA (Coalition on Diversity and Action) Pride Event 2016 (the first of its kind in East Timor), Galhos became the first woman in East Timor to publicly come out as bisexual. In 2017, Galhos was co-organizer of the first Pride March in Dili, attended by 500 people. Together with her activist colleague and development expert Iram Saeed, Galhos founded the LGBTQ organization Arcoiris (Portuguese for rainbow). [8]
Dili is the capital and largest city of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountains. The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The city has served as the economic hub and chief port of what is now East Timor since its designation as the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. It also serves as the capital of the Dili Municipality, which includes some rural subdivisions in addition to the urban ones which make up the city itself. Dili's growing population is relatively youthful, being mostly of working age. The local language is Tetum, however residents include many internal migrants from other areas of the country.
José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão is an East Timorese politician who has served as the prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as East Timor's first president since its re-establishment of independence, from 20 May 2002 to 20 May 2007.
East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor and the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco. The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of Australoid and Melanesian peoples. The Portuguese began to trade with Timor by the early 16th century and colonised it throughout the mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty for which Portugal ceded the western half of the island. Imperial Japan occupied East Timor during World War II, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese surrender.
St Joseph's High School is a private Catholic secondary school, located in Dili, Timor Leste. The school was founded by the Catholic Diocese of Díli in 1983–84, when East Timor was still part of Indonesia. In 1993 the school was entrusted to the Society of Jesus, with a ten-year commitment.
Kirsty Sword Gusmão, is an Australian-East Timorese activist who served as the First Lady of East Timor from 2002 until 2007. She is married to Xanana Gusmão, former prime minister and president of East Timor, though they separated in 2015. She is the founding director of the Alola Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of women in Timor-Leste, a nation with one of the world's lowest per capita GDPs.
The 1999 East Timorese crisis began with attacks by pro-Indonesia militia groups on civilians, and expanded to general violence throughout the country, centred in the capital Dili. The violence intensified after a majority of eligible East Timorese voters chose independence from Indonesia. Some 1,400 civilians are believed to have died. A UN-authorized force (INTERFET) consisting mainly of Australian Defence Force personnel was deployed to East Timor to establish and maintain peace.
East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, of which the western half is administered by Indonesia, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is 14,874 square kilometres (5,743 sq mi). Dili is its capital and largest city.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in East Timor face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in East Timor, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
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 Australian city of Darwin and Australia has played a prominent role in the young republic's history.
East Timor and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 2002. Both share the island of Timor. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed East Timor in 1976, maintaining East Timor as its 27th province until a United Nations-sponsored referendum in 1999, in which the people of East Timor chose independence. Following a United Nations interim administration, East Timor gained independence in 2002. Indonesia already had a consulate in Dili during the Portuguese colonial period, though Indonesia formalized their relations by establishing an embassy in Dili. Since October 2002, East Timor has an embassy in Jakarta and consulates in Denpasar and Kupang. Relations between the two countries are generally considered highly positive, despite various problems. Numerous agreements regulate cooperation in different areas. East Timorese are visa-free in Indonesia.
Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno is an East Timorese politician and diplomat, and a member of the Fretilin political party.
The Santa Cruz 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 East Timor and is part of the East Timor genocide.
The Church of Santo António de Motael is the oldest Roman Catholic church in East Timor and is located in Dili, the country's capital city. It is dedicated to Anthony of Padua. While the first church at this location was built around 1800, the current building dates back to 1955.
Rosa Muki Bonaparte was a Timorese politician and independence and women's rights activist. She was a member of FRETILIN National Committee in the mid 1970s. On 28 November 1975 she gave birth to the East Timor Popular Women's Organization when she "unfurled the new red, black and yellow flag with a white star." Her presidency was short-lived as just days later on 7 December 1975, Bonaparte was captured and executed by an Indonesian firing squad.
The East Timor genocide refers to the "pacification campaigns" of state terrorism which were waged by the Indonesian New Order government during the Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor. The majority of sources consider the Indonesian killings in East Timor to constitute genocide, while other scholars disagree on certain aspects of the definition.
Milena Pires is an East Timorese politician and women's rights activist who served as director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in East Timor. Since 2016, she has been the Permanent Representative of East Timor to the United Nations.
Rosária Maria Corte-Real was the Minister of Education and Culture in East Timor from 2006 to 2007. She was also responsible for youth and sports. She is a member of FRETILIN.
Maria Domingas Fernandes Alves, nickname Mana (sister) Micato or Mikato, resistance name Beta Mau, is a women's rights activist, former resistance fighter, civil servant and non-party politician from East Timor. From 2007 to 2012 she was Minister of Social Solidarity.
Anarchism in East Timor has its roots in the country's history as a penal colony, when many anarchists were deported there. The movement eventually evolved into an anti-colonial struggle against succeeding occupying powers: first the Portuguese Empire, then the Japanese Empire and the Indonesian New Order, before the country finally achieved independence in 2002.
Hernâni Filomena Maria Coelho da Silva, also known by his nom de guerreNatan, is an East Timorese politician and diplomat, and a member of the Fretilin political party. He has been the East Timorese Ambassador to both Australia and South Korea. Between February 2015 and September 2017, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and from October 2017 to June 2018 he was Minister of Petroleum.