The first is described by anthropologists as people of the Veddo-Australoid type. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the moun… The Asian financial crisis and massive pro-democracy protests led to the resignation of the country’s strongman, President Suharto, who had been in power for more than 30 years and had authorised the invasion of Timor. Instead, the United States and France have endorsed a Moroccan “autonomy” plan for Western Sahara that is quite limited in scope and would fail to meet the international standard for autonomy. As many as 200,000 people are thought to have perished in fighting, massacres and forced starvation. East Timor on Friday marked the 20th anniversary of a referendum that secured its independence from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975. In 2000, the East Timorese voted for self-determination and the country is now free. The Independence of East Timor provides the most exhaustive and detailed account to date of the many, varied and creative ways in which the country’s internal resistance combined with an international solidarity movement to expose the brutalities of Indonesia’s occupation, achieve Indonesia’s withdrawal, and create the conditions for East Timor’s independence. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden himself has indicated that he is neutral regarding Western Sahara. Indonesian forces had already secretly begun attacks across the border from Indonesian West Timor (on the other side of the island) in October 1975, where five Australian journalists were killed in the town of Balibo. Still, recognition only goes so far when the occupying power refuses to budge: The U.N.’s peacekeeping and human-rights operations in Western Sahara have been severely curtailed by Rabat—and key allies with veto power on the U.N. Security Council. Portugal’s colonial influence meant the population was culturally very different from the rest of Indonesia. With an underdeveloped economy and high poverty rates it faces many challenges. But bolstering Rabat would be counterproductive—and misguided. In 1998 a political earthquake brought change to Indonesia. The East Timor Model Offers a Way out for Western Sahara and Morocco. China Is Building Entire Villages in Another Country’s Territory, Claims of Microwave Attacks Are Scientifically Implausible, Biden Looks for Defense Hotline With China. There may be an opening now, too, with the incoming Biden administration. East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 when it gained independence from Indonesia When is Restoration of Independence Day in East-Timor? Celebrations across the country were short-lived. In the medium term, the United States should halt military aid, arms sales, and other military cooperation with Morocco, prohibit the import of any natural resources illegally extracted from Western Sahara, and work with Europeans and Africans to limit economic cooperation that supports the occupation. Guests included Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who … A Report by Dieter Hermann East Timor gained independence 12 years ago. But extensive damage had been done. Renewed United Nations-brokered mediation efforts between Indonesia … It was an almighty blow. Australia–East Timor relations refer to the bilateral relations between Australia and East Timor.Both countries are near neighbors with close political and trade ties. To the Polisario—which has repeatedly threatened to abrogate the cease-fire over the years following various Moroccan violations—this assault was the final straw. Independence for East Timor, or even limited regional autonomy, was not allowable under Suharto's New Order. And most had a golden opportunity to obtain a proper education in the Portuguese structure of colonialism. Jakarta feared a communist state on its doorstep and that a newly independent country in its sphere could destabilise the rest of the archipelago. Towns and villages were decimated and vital infrastructure was ruined. Opportunities for dissent—much less sustained guerilla activity—are thus limited in Western Sahara, which Freedom House considers one of the dozen least free nations in the world, featuring (a lack of) rights on par with the dearth thereof in Tibet, Uzbekistan, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. As a result, Algeria would likely cooperate in efforts to end the fighting between Morocco and the Polisario, provided there was at least some hope of diplomatically moving Morocco toward accepting Sahrawis’ right to self-determination. Cultural remains at Jerimalai on the eastern tip of East Timor have been dated to 42,000 years ago, making that location one of the oldest known sites of modern human activity in Maritime Southeast Asia. were forcibly shipped over the border to Indonesian West Timor. East Timor, a portion of the Indonesian archipelago, was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century. Despite this track record, a Biden government could be malleable to pressure. Biden has promised to work across the aisle, and Western Sahara may be the one area where it is actually feasible to do so. It was not until 1975 that Portugal decolonized the area, at which point East Timor declared independence. Stephen Zunes is a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and co-author, with Jacob Mundy, of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University, 2010), the revised and expanded edition of which is scheduled for publication early next year. Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of the former Portuguese colony took place only six weeks after Morocco’s seizure of Western Sahara. The year before, leaked footage of the massacre of 100 mourners at a funeral at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili had emerged, reminding the world of the brutality of the occupation. Twitter: @SZunes. The vast majority of East Timorese are devout Catholics and speak their own language (Tetun). The East Timor Model Offers a Way out for ... It’s not often that Western Sahara makes international headlines, but in mid-November it did: Nov. 14 marked the tragic—if unsurprising—breakup of a tenuous, 29-year cease-fire in Western Sahara between the occupying Moroccan government and pro-independence fighters. In order to ensure international law isn’t breached, Washington must first work for at the U.N. Security Council and provide a human-rights mandate like those of other peacekeeping operations to investigate and report on human-rights abuses in both the Moroccan-occupied zones and Polisario-run refugee camps. On the 30th August 1999, a whopping 78.5% of people voted in favour of independence from Indonesia. For one, Morocco’s sand berm consolidating its hold on the majority of the territory is fortified and—while vulnerable to shelling and to hit and run attacks—would be hard to penetrate for a sustained period. The Indonesian forces were brutal. Restoration of Independence Day is a public holiday in East Timor and is always celebrated on 20th May. August 30 marks the 20 years since the landmark referendum, which saw East Timor begin to gain independence from Indonesia, which had invaded the … In 1992 the head of the resistance, Xanana Gusmão, was captured and imprisoned in Jakarta. EAST-TIMOR BEFORE AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE PORTUGESE COLONIAL PERIOD (1769 - 1975) * Colonisation begins in East Timor in 1769 with the founding of Dili and continues into the 19th & 20th century. The East Timor Model Offers a Way out for Western Sahara and Morocco The EU got its act together not by banning exports but through classic cooperation with industry. This time, the Polisario insists that renewed clashes won’t simply function as retaliation for yet another Moroccan provocation; instead, they say, Morocco’s latest breach provoked a return to war that will continue until their country is liberated. It was similar Western support for Indonesia that for many years prevented independence in East Timor. Cruel ironies and strange mirror effects mark Australia’s performance in the lead-up to Indonesia’s invasion, in 1974–75, and East Timor’s independence vote in 1999. The U.N.’s peacekeeping and human-rights operations in Western Sahara have been severely curtailed by Rabat—and key allies with veto power on the U.N. Security Council. This caused widespread anger among many Indonesian nationalists, particularly in the military. A three-week campaign of violence killed 2,600 people, nearly 30,000 were displaced and as many as 250,000 were forcibly shipped over the border to Indonesian West Timor after the ballot, in what amounted to a scorched earth policy. After 29 years of stagnation on self-determination, patience in Western Sahara has been wearing thin. Notwithstanding Indonesian public opinion in the 1990s occasionally showing begrudging appreciation of the Timorese position, it was widely feared that an independent East Timor would destabilise Indonesian unity. It appears that the Moroccan armed forces were unprepared for the Polisario’s coordinated attacks, which have reportedly resulted in a number of Moroccan casualties. East Timor would officially achieve recognised independence on 20 May 2002. What is commemorated as Timor Leste's (East Timor) "liberation" is the United Nations-facilitated referendum on August 30, 1999. For France—Morocco’s former colonial power alongside Spain—maintaining close political, strategic, and economic ties with the Moroccan monarchy has overridden any concerns regarding international law. Fretilin and its armed wing, Falintil, retreated to the interior of the island with tens of thousands of civilians. It withdrew its administrative and military personnel – including from Mozambique, Angola and what was then called Portuguese Timor. PHILOSOPHY AND TACTICS The leftist coup that took over Portugal in 1974 was responsible for … Fighting broke out, there was an attempted coup by UDT, and then Fretilin unilaterally declared independence on 28 November 1975. This flagrant double-standard led human-rights organizations, church groups, and a wide array of activists in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia to successfully pressure their governments to end their support for the occupation. Just because East Timor had finally achieved independence this did not mean that its ties to Mozambique fell to the wayside, as relations between the two countries remain close. 2008 July- Final report by joint Indonesian-East Timorese Truth Commission blames Indonesia for the human rights violations in the run-up to East Timor's independence … East Timor's road to independence - achieved on 20 May 2002 - was long and traumatic. The Polisario believes that Morocco’s failure to live up to its end of the agreement—particularly its failure to allow for a just referendum—leaves them no obligation to uphold their end of the deal. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Biden should support any U.N. efforts to ensure that the Sahrawi people are allowed to participate in an internationally supervised referendum on the fate of the territory—one which actually includes the option of independence and, importantly, allows Sahrawi refugees in Algeria to participate. East Timor’s post-independence debt of gratitude to Mozambique. As is the case with the Israeli occupation of Palestine—and as was the case with the 24-year Indonesian occupation of East Timor—having friends on the U.N. Security Council has allowed Morocco to run roughshod under international legal norms. Local elections were held in East Timor and the two biggest parties – the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) and the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) – formed a coalition, but it did not last long. In 1978 Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, was the first to recognise Jakarta’s de facto annexation. The semi-autocratic and increasingly unpopular regime in Algiers has been focused primarily on consolidating control in the face of mass domestic protests and shoring up the domestic economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen oil prices tank. The landmark vote in 1999, in which 78.5% of East Timorese chose independence from Indonesia, was the culmination of 24 years of occupation by Jakarta and, before that, hundreds of years of colonial rule by Portugal. The Polisario Front has created an international diplomatic presence on a shoestring budget and sees the Trump administration as its best hope in decades to gain independence from Morocco. Commemorative banners and posters filled the streets of Dili, where thousands gathered for festivities including speeches, musical performances and fireworks. In 1991, the now newly defunct cease-fire quelled the armed struggle of the Polisario, which agreed to halt its militant operations in return for a U.N.-supervised independence referendum. The call for a return to war has been growing among both among Sahrawis under Moroccan occupation as well as refugees in Algeria, who have been waiting upwards of 45 years to return to their homeland. Before the invasion, Australia’s diplomats and intelligence services delivered a professional triumph: Canberra knew more about Jakarta’s debates and thinking than some of President Suharto’s own cabinet ministers. Morocco has exploited this assumption, launching contradictory claims about the Polisario’s alleged ties to rivals like the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and Hezbollah—never mind that the secular and moderately leftist Polisario has nothing to do with extremist Islamist organizations. Could actually increase foreign support for Indonesia that for many years prevented independence in East ’! 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