Australia, a close neighbour of both Indonesia and East Timor, was the only country to recognise Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. [1] Some members of the Australian public supported self-determination for East Timor, [2] and also actively supported the independence movement within Australia. [2] The Australian Government saw the need for both stability and good relations with their neighbour, Indonesia. [3] However, it was criticised in some quarters, including by Xanana Gusmão (the FRETILIN leader) for putting those issues above human rights. [4] In 1998, the Howard government changed its stance and supported East Timor self-determination, prompting a referendum that saw East Timor gain its independence. [5]
With a change in government following the 1974 Portuguese revolution, the colonial ruler of East Timor, Portugal, moved to decolonise. As a result, Portugal effectively abandoned their colony of East Timor. Following this, in 1975, the two main East Timorese political parties Fretilin and the UDT, formed a government. At this time, Indonesia began a secret operation to build a relationship with the UDT, named Operation Komodo. The UDT attempted a coup, which Fretilin resisted with the help of the local Portuguese military. [6] With the UDT leaders fleeing into Indonesia, Fretilin made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975, of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (República Democrática de Timor-Leste in Portuguese). Shortly after, on 7 December 1975, Indonesian forces invaded East Timor. [7]
According to author Clinton Fernandes the governments of Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating co-operated with the Indonesian military and President Suharto to obscure details about conditions in East Timor and to preserve Indonesian control of the region. [8] Australian governments saw good relations and stability in Indonesia (Australia's largest neighbour) as providing an important security buffer to Australia's north. [3] Nevertheless, Australia provided important sanctuary to East Timorese independence advocates like José Ramos-Horta (who based himself in Australia during his exile). However, throughout the duration of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, the Australian public were generally uncomfortable, if not actively against the occupation, [2] initially highlighted by the deaths of five Australian journalists who came to be known as the "Balibo 5". Also the actions of the Timorese people in supporting Australian forces during the Battle of Timor in World War II were well-remembered, particularly by veterans. These two issues kept the East Timor occupation in a negative light, throughout the duration of the invasion and occupation. Protests took place in Australia against the occupation, prominent East Timorese lived in Australia and kept the issue alight, and some Australian nationals participated in the resistance movement. According to Professor James Cotton, writing in his book on the invasion, Suharto in fact avoided coming to Australia, with the knowledge that there would be public protests. [9]
There are a number of reasons why the Whitlam government supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. Whitlam, speaking to the ABC, said to an extent, his Government was carrying on the view that East Timor was not viable as an independent state. [10] Additionally, there were initial fears of a possible Communist government being installed in East Timor by the Timorese, after the withdrawal of the Portuguese. This saw the Whitlam government look favourably upon Indonesian annexation, and Whitlam expressed this desire to Suharto in a visit to him in 1974. [11]
Michael Salla, writing in the Australian Journal of International Affairs, said Whitlam perceived and interpreted the issue in an anti-colonial framework. Whitlam himself said "the division of the island of Timor is no more than an accident of Western colonial history". There were also fears that a long drawn out civil war could result in great loss of life over a long period, as had occurred in Angola, another ex-Portuguese colony. [12] To an extent, Whitlam established the logic and support of the annexation, and this was carried on by later Australian prime ministers and their governments. In addition, the Australian Government saw the desire for peace in the ASEAN region. Nicholas Klar, writing on Whitlam's response to the Indonesian invasion, said that Whitlam also was concerned that revolution by separation movements could spread across Indonesia, causing a domino effect that could see the balkanisation of Indonesia into several small states. [13] According to historian Luke Miller, Wikileaks documents have indicated that before the invasion, there is some possible evidence that Australia was feeding intelligence to Indonesia about Portugal, in order to minimise misunderstanding about the situation between the two countries. [14]
It has been argued that comments by the Whitlam government may have encouraged the Suharto regime to invade East Timor, [15] with former Army officer, and deputy commander of UNTAET, Michael Smith, writing that the invasion at least had "tacit approval from Australia and the United States". [16] Despite this, and the general favourable view of the annexation, the Australian Government voted for a UN resolution condemning the invasion, in 1975. [9]
During the lead up to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) paid a Dili-based Australian businessman Frank Favaro for information on local political developments. The leaking of his identity in late 1975 led to a confrontation between the then Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Bill Robertson, the head of ASIS, resulting in the sacking of the intelligence agency director on 21 October 1975, to take effect on 7 November. [17] [18] Bill Robertson disputes the reason for his dismissal in documents lodged with the National Archives in 2009. [19]
The government of Malcolm Fraser was the first to officially recognise Indonesia's de facto annexation of East Timor, doing so in January 1978. This was followed by de jure recognition, during negotiations with Indonesia regarding the seabed boundary between the two countries. [12] [20] The Prime Minister ordered the seizure of a two-way radio link between East Timor and Australia being operated illegally by Fretilin supporters near Darwin. Following his return from Jakarta, Mr Fraser gave instructions that the Telecom outpost radio service near Darwin cease picking up and passing on Fretilin messages from East Timor. He also denied Australian entry visas to Fretilin spokesmen claiming to represent the Democratic Republic of East Timor. [21]
The opposition party at the time, the Labor Party, in 1979, called on the Fraser government to withdraw the recognition. [22] Fraser himself saw that he had no choice but to continue the recognition, as it would have caused serious repercussions with Indonesia, and the US at the time would not support Australia, as they saw the East Timorese resistance group, FRETILIN, as communists, [23] and it was seen in Australia's interest to support Indonesia. [24]
The Hawke government continued and confirmed Australia's de jure recognition of the Indonesian annexation of East Timor. Portugal expressed its displeasure by recalling its Ambassador, Inacio Rebello de Andrade, back to Lisbon. [25] Indonesian and Australian representatives signed the Timor Gap Treaty in a plane above the Timor Sea. The treaty came into force on 9 February 1991. It established a zone of cooperation in an oil-rich undersea area, with future plans to manage oil resources in the area. [26]
Initially, after Paul Keating took over the role of Prime Minister, he simply continued the recognition of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. However, the Keating government escalated its military and other relations with Indonesia, beyond the level of engagement of previous governments. Both Australia and the US were involved in assisting the Indonesian military, [4] [27] and upgraded relations during this time included the signing of a security treaty. [1] According to John Pilger and several other journalists, Keating was perceived as not having done enough, while Prime Minister, to prevent human rights abuses in East Timor, [28] [29] [30] though others, such as Whitlam, have defended Keating's policies. [31]
Birmingham, Cotton and Thakur, writing in their respective books on the occupation of East Timor, stated that following the 1991 Dili massacre, which occurred on 12 November 1991, the Keating government claimed the massacre was an aberration, and not indicative of the occupation as a whole. [32] [33] [34] However, a Government Joint Committee criticised the Government, saying its response to the massacre should have been more condemning. [35] While the US chose to limit their relation and military support for Indonesia after the massacre, Keating moved to increase Australia's military support, effectively stepping into the gap the US left. [36]
Documentary maker John Pilger also accused Keating of covering up a second round of massacres, which occurred while he was Prime Minister. In response, Keating threatened to sue Pilger. [37] Keating's foreign minister, Gareth Evans, defended Keating by saying that in fact, there had been a second round of massacres, though they had not been covered up. [37] [38] During the period of the East Timor occupation, Keating refused to give political asylum to East Timorese fleeing Timor. [39] [40] Keating at the time received criticism for his financial dealings with Indonesian business, specifically over the sale of a piggery to a financial businessman for $4 million dollars. [41] [42]
After winning power in 1996, the Howard government initially continued on the path of the previous Australian governments, and continued to support Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. However, following the fall of Indonesian President Suharto the Howard government policy on East Timor shifted, and in 1998 Howard helped precipitate a proposal for a referendum on the question of independence for East Timor. [43] In late 1998, the Howard government drafted a letter to Indonesia setting out a change in Australian policy, suggesting that the East Timorese be given a chance to vote on independence within a decade. The letter upset Indonesian President B. J. Habibie, who saw it as implying Indonesia was a "colonial power" and he decided to announce a snap referendum. [44] There was also a view within Indonesia, that unless the issues of independence were dealt with in East Timor, Indonesia might spend 10 years investing money and time in the province, only to have the province break off. A UN-sponsored referendum held in 1999 showed overwhelming approval for independence, but was followed by violent clashes and a security crisis, instigated by anti-independence militia. Australia then led the United Nations backed International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) to end the violence and order was restored. [45]
After the withdrawal of the Indonesian military from East Timor, violence flared in Indonesia, mainly involving pro-Indonesian militia. [46] Australia under the then Prime Minister, John Howard (who had replaced Keating in 1996), deployed peacekeepers as part of INTERFET to stop violence against the East Timorese by militia. In response, Keating was reported as saying that the violence was in fact Howard's fault. [47] [48] While some media commentators defended Keating's comments, and said he had been misinterpreted, [49] [50] [51] other commentary from journalists and politicians argued at the time that in fact Keating's attack on Australia's intervention only highlighted Keating's own past errors in judgement over East Timor. [52] [53] The INTERFET coalition deployed to East Timor on 20 September 1999, as a non-UN force operating in accordance with UN Resolutions. Led by Australia, who contributed 5,500 personnel and the force commander, Major General Peter Cosgrove, it was tasked with restoring peace and security, protecting and supporting UNAMET, and facilitating humanitarian assistance. [54] While the intervention was ultimately successful, Australian-Indonesian relations would take several years to recover. [55] [56]
While the Government continued to recognise the annexation of East Timor during this period, there was a large amount of support for East Timorese self-determination by the Australian public. In particular, the Catholic Church, Unions, the Communist Party of Australia and East Timorese living in Australia worked together to protest against the issue. [57]
Smith writes that throughout the occupation reports emerged from the province regarding human rights abuses. He states that mostly these were unsubstantiated until the November 1991 Santa Cruz incident, which was caught on camera. Smith goes on to write that "such human rights abuses prevented the Indonesians from gaining the trust and confidence of the [East Timorese] people and strengthened...international resentment against Indonesia's occupation". [58] The feelings amongst the Australian public gradually peaked, and when the Militia violence occurred after the UN-sponsored referendum ballot in 1999, the feelings were that strong the Australian Government moved to be involved to protect the East Timorese. [2] Large scale protests in Melbourne and Sydney and other Australian cities occurred in support of intervention that attracted tens of thousands of people. [59] [60] [61]
Australia subsequently played a leading role in the establishment of the international peace keeping force that deployed to East Timor in September 1999, following Indonesian consent. [62]
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.
The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor is a centre-left political party in East Timor. It presently holds 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliament. Fretilin formed the government in East Timor until its independence in 2002. It obtained the presidency in 2017 under Francisco Guterres but lost in the 2022 East Timorese presidential election.
The national flag of East Timor is one of the official symbols of East Timor. It consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.
The Timorese Democratic Union is a conservative political party in East Timor. It was the first party to be established in the country on May 11, 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal.
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus, began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to overthrow the Fretilin regime that had emerged in 1974. The overthrow of the popular and short-lived Fretilin-led government sparked a violent quarter-century occupation in which approximately 100,000–180,000 soldiers and civilians are estimated to have been killed or starved to death. The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor documented a minimum estimate of 102,000 conflict-related deaths in East Timor throughout the entire period from 1974 to 1999, including 18,600 violent killings and 84,200 deaths from disease and starvation; Indonesian forces and their auxiliaries combined were responsible for 70% of the killings.
An independence referendum was held in East Timor on 30 August 1999, organised by United Nations Mission in East Timor. The referendum's origins lay with the request made by the President of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie, to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 27 January 1999, for the United Nations to hold a referendum, whereby East Timor would be given choice of either greater autonomy within Indonesia or independence.
The Indonesian occupation of East Timor began in December 1975 and lasted until October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the decolonisation of its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain. After a small-scale civil war, the pro-independence Fretilin declared victory in the capital city of Dili and declared an independent East Timor on 28 November 1975.
The National Council of Maubere Resistance was an umbrella organisation of East Timorese individuals and organisations dedicated to resisting the Indonesian occupation of 1975–1999.
The Timorese Popular Democratic Association was a political party in East Timor established in 1974, which advocated for integration into Indonesia. Along with another East Timor party, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), it signed the Balibo Declaration in 1975 calling for Indonesia to annex the region. The party led the Provisional Government of East Timor that was formed following the Indonesian invasion of East Timor later that year. Since 2000, the party used the suffix Pro-Referendo (Pro-referendum). A renaming to Partido Democrata Liberal was considered. The party is said to have been dissolved.
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.
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 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.
Mário Viegas Carrascalão was an East Timorese politician and diplomat. Carrascalão, a founder of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) in 1974 and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2000, served as the governor of East Timor from 1981 to 1992 during the Indonesian occupation of the country. However, he re-joined the East Timorese government following the 1999 independence referendum and the transition to independence. He later served as a deputy prime minister within the IV Constitutional Government of then-Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão from 2009 to 2010.
Australia–Indonesia Security Agreements are any official treaties signed by both the Australian and Indonesian Governments that concern such issues as security cooperation, defense and military involving both nations. Since 1995, five official agreements have been signed: the 1995 Agreements, the 2006 Lombok Treaty, two Defence Cooperation Agreements relating to the Lombok Treaty, and the 2014 Joint Understanding on Security.
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.
East Timor independence formally occurred on 20 May 2002.
João da Costa Tavares was the Commander-in-Chief of the pro-Indonesian Militia in East Timor. He was also a pro-integration militiamen.
The Democratic Republic of East Timor, was a Fretilin ruled state that was unilaterally proclaimed on the territory of present-day East Timor on 28 November 1975 prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor nine days later on 7 December 1975.
The Provisional Government of East Timor (PGET),, was an Indonesian supported puppet provisional government in present day East Timor that was formed on 17 December 1975 following the Indonesian invasion of East Timor and disbanded on 17 July 1976 when the region was annexed by Indonesia as the province of Timor Timur.
In August 1975, a civil war broke out between two opposing political parties in Portuguese Timor: the conservative Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the left-leaning Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin). The war took place within the context of decolonisation, as the post-Carnation Revolution Portuguese government sought to give independence to much of the Portuguese Empire. UDT and Fretilin were formed in May 1974, following the legalisation of political parties in Portugal. UDT initially advocated for continuing ties to Portugal, before shifting to promoting a gradual independence process that maintained existing institutions. Fretilin sought independence with a new political system that would address a widespread lack of development in the territory. Also formed during this time was the Timorese Popular Democratic Association (Apodeti), which advocated for an Indonesian annexation of the territory, although Apodeti gained far less popular support than the other two major parties.