acfoa EVELOMENT DOSSIER 1 AST TIMOR TODAY . lished four times a year and provides •>:, "·. · Development Domer is pub . or theme per issue to make up an in-depth treatment of one topic ACFOA a document of ready reference value. a·d agencies Parliamentarians, The dossier is directed at v?lun~~Y ~hoots and members of . DEVELOPMENT people in government, un1vers1t1~, ~ development action and community groups. Opinions expressed in DD are not necessarily those ~f the Aust· DOSSIER 1 ral ian Council for Overseas Aid or its member agencies. , Editor this issue: Pat Walsh Layout and design: Gay Woods and Pat Walsh P.O. Box 1562 Original drawings: Chris Murphy Canberra City, ACT 2601 Typesetting: Alpha Typesetting & Art Service, Canberra Phone : (062) 47 4822 Printing and circulation: ACFOA Registered for posting as a Periodical - Category B Development Dossier incorporates Development News Digest which has now ceased publication. ISSN 0155-0489 Contents Editorial . .. .. .. 3 East Timor at a glance 5 A brief chronological history of East Timor 6 ACFOA policy on East Timor 1975-1979 7 The NGO's and East Timor ..... 8 The United Nations and East Timor 15 The Politics of Aid to East Timor .. 16 East Timor: How many have died? ... 22 . , Timorese Family Reunions : Politics before people . 26 Children without parents .............. .. 31 -, .. .· ...... · ·-:." Timorese Refugees in Portugal: A Community in Mourning. 32 .,. Australian Military Aid to Indonesia .... 37 An Indonesian Perspective on East Timor. 41 Interview with Jim Dunn: The East Timor issue today . 43 East Timor: a multi-media survey 1975-1980 . 47 Notes on Contributors Jim Dunn 1s Chairman of the Human Rights Council of Australia Helen Hill is doing research at the Centre for Continuil')~ :'~ .' .... Education in Canberra . .. Jill Jolliffe 1s the Lisbon correspondent for the London Guardian . .. Brendan O'Dwyer is E xtensic'li ~·,·~ --;f Officer for the Centre of Continuing Education in Canberra . II/lark Raper is the Director of the Asian Bureau Australia ;•;\ .. · · Melbourne .. Richard Tanter is lecturing in Politics at the Swinburne College of Advanced Education in Melbourne .. , Bitl Tully is a librarian at the Australian National Library in Canberra .. Pat Walsh works with Action for World Development in. Melbourne. Glossary of Terms ACFOA - Australian Council for Overseas Aid APODETI - Popular Democratic Association of Timorese CRS - Catholic Relief Services DRET - Democratic Republic of East Timor FRETILIN - Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross IDEC - International Disaster Emergencies Committee I RC - Indonesian Red Cross NGO - Non-Government Organisation RAFT - Campaign to Reunite in Australia the Families of Timorese UDT - Timorese Democratic Union Editorial LIBRARY by Pat Walsh Because East Timo• is only rarely placement o t tht peoµ1 e. the destruc· T1morese d1gn1tY and 11 app1ness is a mentioned ,n t he Australian merna . t1on of the ~co11omy . abuses of properly supervised act of self­ many wrongly assume 1t 1s no longer human rights. se paration of families . determ inat1o n the pre-req u1 s1 te for an issue that requires attention a severely traumatised and demoral· which 1s Indonesia's withdrawal from Nothing could be turther from the 1sed people, and aid hand-outs. East Timar. But they will re ject the truth. It is 1nd1sputable that the cause of proposition as sheer idealism argu­ This first edition of Devetoprnenr this profound destabilisation of East ing that the Indonesian occupation Dossier aims to correct this talse 1rn · Timar has been the violence of lndo· makes 1t un realisable. Overlooking its pression by identifying and back· nes1a 's forced 1ntegrat1on. As the strenuous efforts to secure the release of the American hostages grounding some of •he problems International Red Cross put 1t after fr om Iran , the wi thdrawal of the affecting the East Timorese people their July 1979 survey : " military Soviets from Afghanistan and Viet· inside and outside East Timar. It is operations" are responsible tor the nam from Kampuchea . the Austral· particularly directed to all who sub· displacement of people and tne1r ian Government. for example , scribe to the sacredness of human Biafra like condition. Plainly the East considers - tor its own pragmatic rights. Even a cursory reading of this Timorese have not benefited from reasons - that.efforts to achi eve self· Dossier will show that the situation ·integration. It has meant oppres· determination tor East Timar are of the Timor-ese demands that action sion not liberation, misery not hope. "pointless (and) incapable tor for justice must be escalated not As a letter sent from Timar in April practical 1mplementat1on " wound down . this year put .1t : " A discontent which Such a stance subverts the widely is difficult to explain now re igns in This Dossier will be scrutinised, applied principle of diplomatic and Timar .. we are oppressed to the and rightly so, for unhealthy bias. other non-violent activity as a means very tips of the hair on our heads" . er.ror and omission. The conspicuous o! realising change. It also flies in Indonesia 1s not only 1n breach of omission is the lack of an in-depth the face of history which clearly coverage of the key issue, namely. international law and morality and demonstrates. 1n the case of lndo· the military and political situation in­ the will of the Timorese ; it has also, nesia itself and elsewhere . that inter­ side Timar today. Indonesia's syste­ in plain language, made a t.:!rnble national pressure tor change does matic exclusion of independent ob­ mess of things in Timar. It follows work . servers from East Timor, which in logically and inescapably that it There can be little doubt that itself. suggests that an abnormal situ­ should withdraw from the Territory Indonesia would be forced to re­ ation prevails there which lndonesi~ tor the sake of the Timorese. consider its Position if serious prefers the world did not know , From this perspective it is simply political and other forms of pres­ about, is responsible for this. The not enough to reduce the East sure were brought to bear. Are the evidence that is available, however. Timor, internationally, to an aid pro­ 62 countries who voted against Indo­ strongly suggests that the situation is blem. Nor is it enough for the ICRC nesia at the UN doing more than far from resolved, that the Timorese inside Timar to dispense material aid putting their hands up for. a vote continue to offer significant military without justice. once a year7 What are the possibilit­ and attitudinal resistance to the For its part the Catholic Relief Services program is highly ambig­ ies of more assertive action on the Indonesian occupation. As a recent part of other Governments, the Church report expressed it: "The uous. The fact that CRS aid is coming through I ndones.ian channels world aid agencies. the international people are not co-operative, not Christian community - in particular reconciliatory", Overseas Timorese and is being used tor the mainte­ nance of structures of oppression the Vatican - not to mention the concur and continue to press the case many concerned individuals and for the right of self-determination of places the Timorese in a terrible dilemma. The aid is accepted with organisations in the West and within Timor where, unlike Zimbabwe, 1t lnc.Jo nes1a 1TselP has never been exercised. mixed feelings , for whilst survival The bias in this Dossier is readily dictates they must have 1t , at the The right of the East Timorese detectable. Its perspective is that of same time it comes to them , on the to se 1f-determ1nat1on must remain the East Timorese people. Their ground, from the Indonesians whom the basic quest for 1t holds the key to needs and aspirations are the princip­ they see as the murderers of thei r the many problems affecting the al reference point even though this families and the destroyers of their Timorese addressed in this Dossier. means the exclusion of other refer­ ways and legitimate aspirations. As In the meantime the struggle to re­ ence points based on less worthy has been said in another context: unite families and redress the other considerations. "The sour fact is that much of what sub-i ssues must be writ-large on the The needs of the East Timorese goes for aid is like a handshake with agenda of the world's conscience. are clearly peace, justice and econ­ death. The death of freedom , or To these ends, 1t is to be hoped that omic development. The reality is dignity. of self-respect and. ultimat· the contents of this Dossier will be one-sixth to one-third of the popul­ ely , of the right to ilve· ·. given the widest possible circul­ ation dead or missing, massive dis- Many will agree that the key to ation and popularisation. 3 Ataur~~/) EAST TIMOR Isl._)Maumeta CJ ,Jaao Is . Lur. o • 0 • . • v LOS PALOS Dl~ro Laclo Laleia emasse 0 Quelicai •Baguia Remexio. Venilale" . Uatocarabau • Ba~artete Ossu • Laclubar ERMERA• AI LEU Lacluta Uatolari • Turiscai • Hatolia 0 Dilor • 0 Barique Maubi:se VIQUEQUE• Atsabe Fatoberlieu • Balibo MALI ANA Natarbora . 1'"'' • • ' \Bobonaro AI NARO• SAME• Alas I Ha to-Udo ~ Lo lo toe ' ,___ _ Zumalai Betano • ' •Fato lulic Atambua I , • Fatomean "F-ohorem Nitibe / • suAr ' 1·Ti·ldnrar " . OE- CVS§E' , - -.. I / I .. -_, ' \ I WEST TIMOR I , __ _, (Indonesia) -~C:> o" o~0 ==> s .. ~tJ c::>o •o L]~ ~ O~~ EAST TIMOR -----A-.:7~•0 <=:::> 0 ~ LJ, 0 25 so 75 100 Darwin Scale (Kilooetres) / ~ ----- TIS Map GEOGRAPHY Timar is a rugged, crocodile-shaped island of great beauty situated 350 miles NW of Darwin across the Timar East Timor Sea. It is the largest of the Lesser Sunda islands.