The Subjugation of a Distinct 'Nation': East Timor and Indonesia

Case 10
The Subjugation of a Distinct ‘Nation’:
East Timor and Indonesia
Anne Cullen and Lesley Brown
This case links to Chapter 12 of The Globalization of World Politics.
This case provides an overview of the situation in East Timor from the 1975 invasion
by Indonesian military forces, through to 1999 when the international community
intervened. It highlights how marginalisation and ethnic subjugation were
strategically deployed during the Indonesian occupation and how the brutality of that
time fuelled the desire for Timorese independence.
The invasion of East Timor by Indonesian forces in 1975 led to its ultimate
annexation. This colonial style move was largely unopposed by the international
community, and in 1976 East Timor became the twenty-seventh province of
Indonesia. Despite nearly twenty-five years of oppressive occupation, the East
Timorese showed a steely determination against assimilation into the Indonesian
cultural identity. Some analysts note that the failure of Indonesia to engender East
Timorese loyalty led to such violent and continued clashes that the push for
independence in 1999, and international support for self-rule, was the inevitable
backlash.
The failure of Indonesia to assimilate the East Timorese into the Indonesian
nation also confirms the fundamental differences between the two nations.
Historically, Indonesia and Timor Leste (known as East Timor under colonial rule and
Indonesian occupation) share little in common. While Indonesia was colonised by the
Dutch and known as the Dutch East Indies, East Timor was under Portuguese colonial
rule from 1749 until the Second World War. Shortly after the War, while Indonesia
began its own path to independence, East Timor faced the prospect of further
Portuguese occupation. Indonesia attained official nation status in 1949 and
developed rapidly, while East Timor languished as a distant and poorly administered
colony. In 1975, however, the political mood in Portugal markedly shifted to one
supporting an independent East Timor. Moreover, international support even saw
FRETILIN (the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor) as a legitimate
political actor. Emboldened by this support, East Timor declared independence on 28
November 1975. Those early pro-independence activists believed that political and
cultural separation was inevitable.
The dream of self-determination, however, would need to wait a little longer.
Just one week later, Indonesia instigated a massive military campaign, under the guise
of a fight against communism, across the whole of East Timor.
Reign of terror
The initial Indonesian invasion was a show of military might involving land, sea and
air operations. In response, thousands of civilians fled to the mountains where roughly
20,000 FRETILIN members and their supporters were based. Of those that remained

in their villages, it is estimated that roughly 80% were killed in the first few months of
the invasion (Solidamor 2005).
After annexation seven months later, the Indonesian military began a brutal
campaign to search out and punish suspected Falintil (the military arm of FRETLIN)
members and their supporters. Clinical village-to-village operations meant many
thousands East Timorese were terrorised or killed. Many of the remaining population
were subject to forced transmigration from traditional lands and communities. This
aggressive transmigration policy intentionally severed family connections in the hope
that local support for FRETLIN would dry up. Re-training camps used cruel physical
and psychological techniques on FRETLIN supporters. The most ardent supporters
died from torture, disease or starvation.
Indonesian socio-cultural domination was further enforced by introducing
Bahasa Indonesia as the official language. All news, information and entertainment
was now broadcast from Jakarta, which entrenched the new language policy. With
limited access to political, social and cultural resources, the East Timorese grew
increasingly despondent. They believed the rest of the world had forgotten about
them—and to a large extent they had.
Subjugation of a nation
In 1975, the population of East Timor stood at approximately 680,000. During
Indonesian occupation, some 200,000 are estimated to have died, with 18,600 deaths
directly attributed to Indonesian military attempts to suppress any local opposition.
Another 84,200 deaths are attributed to starvation and related diseases (CAVR
2007a). The majority of deaths were in the civilian, non-FRETLIN population. By the
late 1970s, atrocious military tactics, such as the use of napalm, indiscriminate
violence, large-scale rape and torture, in military offensives did little to win the hearts
and minds of the East Timorese.
Human rights violations
Retrospective investigations confirm large scale human rights abuses. Much of the
violence centred on those who assisted FRETLIN/Falintil in their attacks on the
Indonesian military.
United Nations investigations confirmed that intimidation could be
uncompromising, including mass murders in churches where refugees sought shelter
from the violence. In 1999, in Liquicia church, at least fifteen people were killed.
Shortly afterwards in Surai, twenty-six people were murdered and their bodies
dumped away from the local church: the tally included, three priests, twelve males,
eight females and the remains of three bodies that could not be recognised as either
male or female.
Such extrajudicial killings were not the limit of human rights abuses. Other
strategies to ensure the failure of the independence movement included the forced
migration of some 200,000 people into Indonesian-controlled West Timor. Indonesian
troops used land, air and sea to move the people immediately after the 1999 vote. The
aim was to destroy any lingering hope of nationhood.
Starvation and disease
Starvation was prevalent throughout the twenty-five year occupation. By removing
traditional farmers from their ancestral lands and forcing their resettlement, age-old
food production channels were destroyed. Where access to arable land was granted,

the successful farming techniques were often unknown. New terrain meant that
inherited cultivation techniques were no longer useful.
People in the inhospitable forests and mountains faced daily challenges to find
enough food. In the late 1970s, starvation was so crippling that the FRETLIN
leadership offered its members the option to surrender to the Indonesian military in
the hope of finding sufficient food in the ‘resettlement camps’. The camps were no
better. Here too food was scarce, which led to significant health and welfare
problems. As the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor
explains:
The reason why mortality was far higher between 1975 and 1999 than would have been
expected in normal peacetime conditions was the large number of deaths from hunger and
illness that were directly related to displacement. The Commission has concluded that a
minimum of 84,200 people died from displacement-related hunger and illness during the
whole period (CAVR 2007b p5).
Forced religion
Under the Indonesian constitution, the nomination of a religion is required on all birth
registration documents. The choice, however, is limited to one of the monotheistic
religions—Judaism, Islam or Christianity. The previous colonisation by the
Portuguese had popularised Catholicism among the East Timorese. The form of
Catholicism they practiced contained more ancient animist traditions respected by the
East Timorese. With little theological sympathy, many took on the Christian religion,
resulting in the loss of ancient animist beliefs and ceremonies.
How to be the ‘New Indonesian’
It could be argued that Indonesian occupation brought with it some advantages. The
development of basic infrastructure did attract heavy investment in the early years of
the occupation. Roads, hospitals and other vital elements of infrastructure were
largely non-existent prior to the occupation. Indonesia also ensured that the number of
schools increased, which substantially raised literacy rates. However, with the new
schools came a new national language to learn and a curriculum built around
Indonesian values. As children became indoctrinated they became distanced from
indigenous Timorese culture, again threatening Timorese identity.
Ultimately, however, the attempt to assimilate the East Timorese into the
Indonesian nation failed on several levels. The attempts to surmount East Timorese
cultural and ethnical differences fuelled the campaign for independence. The violent
and brutal subjugation of the East Timorese also gave moral strength to proindependence
activists. Starvation claimed many lives, but it also bred a rebellious
sentiment. The Indonesian military was unable to repress the East Timorese for the
same reason most invasions fail: the imposition of alien cultural, social and economic
values can and does act as a catalyst for peoples willing to fight and die for their
nation.
Questions
• Which theory would explain how Indonesia was able to carry out such violence in
East Timor without fear of international retribution?
• Using the Feminist approach, explain the reasons for Indonesia’s failure to
effectively assimilate East Timor into the Indonesian Identity.

• Using the Post-Colonialism perspective, describe the significance of ethnicity and
culture in East Timor’s quest for independence.
Web resources
http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/A.54.726,+S.2000.59.
En
The United Nations report on violence in East Timor.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/Indonesi.htm
An overview of Human Rights Violations in East Timor.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/i/indonesa/indonesi911.pdf
An article on the events surrounding the Dili Massacre and international responses.
References
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) (2007a),
‘Forced Displacement and Famine’, Available: from http://www.cavr-
timorleste.org/chegaFiles/finalReportEng/07.3-Forced-Displacement-and-
Famine.pdf.
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) (2007b),
‘Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances’, Available:
http://www.cavr-timorleste.org/chegaFiles/finalReportEng/07.2-Unlawful-
Killings-and-Enforced-Disappearances.pdf.
Solidamor (2005), ‘History of East Timor: Indonesiaziation’, Available:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050412104024/www.solidamor.org/english/cont
ent/history/indonezia.htm.