Timor Leste
Timor-Leste is located in Southeast Asia, on the southernmost edge
of the Indonesian archipelago, northwest of Australia. The country
includes the eastern half of Timor island as well as the Oecussi
enclave in the northwest portion of Indonesian West Timor, and the
islands of Atauro and Jaco. The mixed Malay and Pacific Islander
culture of the Timorese people reflects the geography of the country
on the border of those two cultural areas.
Portuguese influence during the centuries of colonial rule resulted
in a substantial majority of the population identifying itself as
Roman Catholic. Some of those who consider themselves Catholic
practice a mixed form of religion that includes local animist
customs. As a result of the colonial education system and the
23-year Indonesian occupation, approximately 13 % of Timorese speaks
Portuguese, 43% speak Bahasa Indonesia, and 6% speak English,
according to the 2004 census. Tetum, the most common of the local
languages, is spoken by approximately 91% of the population,
although only 46.2% speak Tetum Prasa, the form of Tetum dominant in
the Dili district. Mambae, Kemak, and Fataluku are also widely
spoken. This linguistic diversity is enshrined in the country's
constitution, which designates Portuguese and Tetum as official
languages and English and Bahasa Indonesia as working languages. |
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Portuguese and Dutch traders made the first western
contact with Timor in the early 16th century. Sandalwood
and spice traders, as well as missionaries, maintained
sporadic contact with the island until 1642, when the
Portuguese moved into Timor in strength. The Portuguese
and the Dutch, based at the western end of the island in
Kupang, battled for influence until the present-day
borders were agreed to by the colonial powers in 1906.
Imperial Japan occupied East Timor from 1942-45.
Portugal resumed colonial authority over East Timor in
1945 after the Japanese defeat in World War II.
Following a military coup in Lisbon in April 1974,
Portugal began a rapid and disorganized decolonization
process in most of its overseas territories, including
East Timor. Political tensions--exacerbated by
Indonesian involvement--heated up, and on August 11,
1975, the Timorese Democratic Union Party (UDT) launched
a coup d'etat in Dili. The putsch was followed by a
brief but bloody civil war in which the Revolutionary
Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) pushed
UDT forces into Indonesian West Timor. Shortly after the
FRETILIN victory in late September, Indonesian forces
began incursions into East Timor. On October 16, five
journalists from Australia, Britain, and New Zealand
were murdered in the East Timorese town of Balibo
shortly after they had filmed regular Indonesian army
troops invading East Timorese territory. On November 28,
FRETILIN declared East Timor an independent state, and
Indonesia responded by launching a full-scale military
invasion on December 7. On December 22, 1975 the UN
Security Council called on Indonesia to withdraw its
troops from East Timor.
Declaring a provisional government made up of Timorese
allies on January 13, 1976, the Indonesian Government
said it was acting to forestall civil strife in East
Timor and to prevent the consolidation of power by the
FRETILIN party. The Indonesians claimed that FRETILIN
was communist in nature, while the party's leadership
described itself as social democratic. Coming on the
heels of the communist victories in Vietnam, Cambodia,
and Laos, the Indonesian claims were accepted by many in
the West. Major powers also had little incentive to
confront Indonesia over a territory seen as peripheral
to their security interests. Nonetheless, the widespread
popular support shown for the guerilla resistance
launched by the Timorese made clear that the Indonesian
occupation was not welcome. The Timorese were not
permitted to determine their own political fate via a
free vote, and the Indonesian occupation was never
recognized by the United Nations.
The Indonesian occupation of Timor was initially
characterized by a program of brutal military
repression. Beginning in the late 1980s, however, the
occupation was increasingly characterized by programs to
win the "hearts-and-minds" of the Timorese through the
use of economic development assistance and job creation
while maintaining a strict policy of political
repression, although serious human rights
violations--such as the 1991 Santa Cruz
massacre--continued. Estimates of the number of Timorese
who lost their lives to violence and hunger during the
Indonesian occupation range from 100,000 to 250,000. On
January 27, 1999, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie
announced his government's desire to hold a referendum
in which the people of East Timor would chose between
autonomy within Indonesia and independence. Under an
agreement among the United Nations, Portugal, and
Indonesia, the referendum was held on August 30, 1999.
When the results were announced on September 4--78%
voted for independence with a 98.6% turnout--Timorese
militias organized and supported by the Indonesian
military (TNI) commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth
campaign of retribution. While pro-independence FALINTIL
guerillas remained cantoned in UN-supervised camps, the
militia and the TNI killed approximately 1,300 Timorese
and forcibly relocated as many as 300,000 people into
West Timor as refugees. The majority of the country's
infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems,
water supply systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of
the country's electrical grid were destroyed. On
September 20, 1999 the Australian-led peacekeeping
troops of the International Force for East Timor
(INTERFET) deployed to the country, bringing the
violence to an end.
Timor-Leste became a fully independent republic with a
parliamentary form of government on May 20, 2002,
following approximately two and a half years under the
authority of the UN Transitional Administration in East
Timor (UNTAET). The country's first parliament was
formed from the 88-member Constituent Assembly chosen in
free and fair, UN-supervised elections in August 2001.
The FRETILIN Party won the majority of Assembly seats.
Mari Alkatiri, FRETILIN's Secretary General, became the
first Prime Minister, and the country's 29-member
cabinet was dominated by FRETILIN. Xanana Gusmao was
elected in free and fair elections on April 14, 2002 as
President. UNTAET's mandate ended with East Timor's
independence, but a successor organization, the UN
Mission for the Support of East Timor (UNMISET), was
established to provide additional support to the
government. UNMISET's mandate expired on May 20, 2005
after the UN Security Council unanimously approved the
creation of a small special political mission in
Timor-Leste, the UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), to
take its place. Under the constitution ratified in March
2002, "laws and regulations in force continue to be
applicable to all matters except to the extent that they
are inconsistent with the Constitution." Many Indonesian
and UNTAET laws and regulations remain in effect, but
are set to be replaced by new civil, criminal, and penal
codes, which are under currently under review by the
government. |
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