Review essay: Recent books on Indonesia's occupation of East Timor and the East Timorese struggle for self-determination

Abstract

East Timor is the site of one of the great genocides since World War II. Out of a population of about 700,000 at the time of East Timor's brief independence, about 200,000 people have died as a result of the Indonesian invasion and the ensuing war, politically created famine, and the ongoing occupation. From the time of the Indonesian invasion on 7 December 1975 until January 1989 Jakarta kept East Timor closed. Apart from official foreign delegations, some international aid workers, and a limited number of journalists, few were able to enter the territory. On 27 December 1988 the Indonesian authorities accorded East Timor open-territory status following a one-day visit in November to the territory by Indonesian president Suharto. Jakarta was keen on encouraging foreign and “domestic” (Indonesian) investment in its “twenty-seventh province” as well as presenting an image to the outside world of normalcy in East Timor. On both accounts, Jakarta has largely failed in its objectives. The ongoing resistance by the East Timorese people to Indonesian hegemony and the concomitant political instability in East Timor as well as the relative poverty and isolation of the territory have prevented the influx of private capital. In terms of international opinion, the “opening up” of East Timor has not helped to suppress the image of the brutal nature of Indonesia's illegal occupation of the territory.