THIS MONTH'S Free East Timor tour, which Liberation! and Socialist Outlook supported, has brought that country's plight to the attention of many for the first time. In this extract from a feature in the current International Viewpoint Will McMahon tells the history of the conflict. SUBSCRIBE to International Viewpoint and get Socialist Outlook price! O SEND me a direct debit form for the £25 joint subscription offer. O TELL ME about Socialist Outlook readers meetings.
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Indonesia's 18 year occupation of East Timor has -claimed 200,000 lives. Indonesia invaded on 8 December 1975, supported by the United States and Australia. After defeats in south-east Asia and Africa, the US saw East Timorese independence as a strategic threat, while Australia hoped East Timor's integration into Indonesia would open up oil and gas deposits. The historic colonial power in East Timor, Portugal, was ambivalent - while its representative in East Timor favoured self-determination, some in Lisbon saw integration with Indonesia as inevitable. International Viewpoint, the Fourth International's impressive monthly review, now costs just £18 a year on subscription. Less than the cover As a introductory offer to direct debit payers only, we'll send you • HERE'S a cheque for £18 payable to 'Outlook International' for a year's sub to IV.
2Z SACRE LIMOR Of three main political parties in East Timor, one, Apodeti, was clearly the creation of the Indonesian military, while the UDT and Fretilin had genuine roots in East Timor. In January 1975 a pro-independence UDT/Fretilin coaliidly won a majority within the independence movement, taking an increasingly Marxist hue.
Indonesia developed a plan to split the UDT/Fretilin coalition, resulting in the August 1975 attempted UDT coup. The coup was defeated, but in September and October, Indonesia launched border incursions into East Timor. On 28 November Fretilin declared East Timor an anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist republic.
The subsequent Indonesian attack was swift and brutal. The first months of the invasion cost around 60,000 lives. By late 1976 there were 40,000 Indonesian troops in East Timor and by mid-1977 a military stalemate had developed.
A new offensive against rural strongholds of Fretilin's military wing, Falintil, weakened but did not destroy the latter.
Indonesia turned to terror tactics against the urban population. Armed resistance was now restricted to the south and east; military defeats in the late 1970s led to political splits and defections in Fretilin, which reorganized its military strategy to emphasise mobility based on civilian support.
Indonesia responded by herding people into resettlement camps where malnutrition and human rights abuses were common, and by attempting to culturally assimilate the East Timorese.
A programme of biological population control was adopted. The Pope's October 1989 visit sparked a pro-independence demonstration. Further demonstrations followed in 1990. tion of Portuguese MPs was scheduled to visit: although the Indonesians cancelled the visit, a mass pro-independence demonstration took place in November - the military responded by gunning down 200 demonstrators before foreign television cameras.
In November 1992 Fretilin's central leader, Xanana Gusmao, was captured and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
These events had three effects. First, the UN has become more involved in negotiations around East Timor. Second, possibilities for international solidarity have improved.
Third, and most importantly, the US has clearly begun to adopt a different strategy, as shown through the blocking of transfers of F5 fighters in August 1993 and that Congress has linked arms sales to human rights in East Timor.
Lever
The end of the Cold War reduced Indonesia's strategic importance to the US navy. Also, human rights activists have been lobbying the Democratic party for over a decade. Importantlv, Clinton now wishes to use East Timor as a lever in the debate over who will succeed Indonesia's long-time.dictator, Suharto.
Even sections of the Indonesian establishment wonder if East Timor is worth it. Their doubts will be strengthened by the re-emergence of popular protests led not only by 1970s activists but by youth and students - a sure sian of Jakarta's failure to persuade them they are Indonesian.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 53, November 27 1993, Page 13
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