A slaughter the world has overlooked Final Edition

East Timor is half of an island in the Indonesian archipelago 640 kilometres north of Australia. In the last 17 years, as many as 200,000 people -- a third of East Timor's population -- have been killed by the occupying forces of the Indonesian government. East Timor's terror began in late...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSpectator (Hamilton. 1994)
Main Author Bergman, Sven
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hamilton, Ont Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited 19.03.1993
Subjects
DILI, East Timor
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:East Timor is half of an island in the Indonesian archipelago 640 kilometres north of Australia. In the last 17 years, as many as 200,000 people -- a third of East Timor's population -- have been killed by the occupying forces of the Indonesian government. East Timor's terror began in late 1975 after Portugal withdrew from its colonial empire. The people of East Timor, ruled since the 16th century, were not inclined to join Indonesia, as West Timor, a former Dutch colony, had done in the 1940s. Four hundred years of Portuguese rule had created a distinct language, Tetum, and a distinct cultural identity. They needn't have worried. In December 1975, President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger paid a state visit to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. It is widely thought that Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Ford told the Indonesian generals that the United States would not object to the annexation of East Timor. The next day, Dec. 7, 1975, the Indonesian forces, armed mainly with American weapons, invaded East Timor.
ISSN:1189-9417