Hostages to History: The Use of Portuguese Prisoners of War in the Annexation of East Timor

On 26 August 1975 the colonial administration in Portuguese Timor abruptly removed itself from Dili to the island of Atauru, amidst escalating armed conflict among Timorese political parties. A puzzle that has remained is why did the Portuguese administration leave so precipitately, and why did it not return a few days later when the conflict was over? We have been left with the impression that Portugal simply deserted its responsibilities, abandoning the territory to Indonesian annexation. This paper pieces together a rivetting but little-known story, from contemporary Portuguese, Indonesian, US, Australian, Timorese and eyewitness accounts, about the humiliating capture and detention by Timorese and Indonesians of Portuguese military as prisoners of war, which helps to explain a previously unrecognized constraint on Portuguese policy in East Timor in 1975-1976. This paper also shows that Indonesia had taken some important lessons from history on how to manage Portugal, from India's annexation of Portuguese Goa in 1961.     

Mediation and Restorative Justice in Belgium

In this article we present, discuss and try to evaluate initiatives which were recently introduced into the Belgian criminal justice system, aimed at the development of creative answers to crime that avoid the use of traditional prison sentences. We decided to focus this analysis on the practice of mediation as it is actually considered the most innovative approach to the crime problem. Mediation as a problem-solving intervention has to be considered in direct relation to the discussion of the purpose of the criminal justice system. By putting the emphasis on the dialogue between the victim and the offender, a common solution is worked out with the help of a mediator. In this way reparation, redress and sometimes even reconciliation become core values of the penal action.