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

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

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