By Janet Gunter
Ten years after the referendum, global voices are again spreading the word for East Timor, but this time celebrating the strong international solidarity that back then culminated in the country’s recognized self-determination:
On 30 August, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Timorese voters braved an Indonesian-directed terror campaign to cast ballots for independence in a U.N.-organized referendum. This event, which ended Indonesia’s 24-year illegal, brutal military occupation, led to the creation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste as the first new nation of the millennium. The vote was the culmination of decades of struggle by Timorese people, supported by solidarity activists around the world.
The release of journalist Max Stahl’s video recording of the outrageous Massacre de Santa Cruz in 1991 increased global awareness about the crimes occurring in East Timor under the Indonesian occupation.
In 1996 Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Ximenes Belo were awarded the Peace Nobel Prize and only three years later Indonesian President Habibie allowed the people of East Timor to choose between autonomy within Indonesia and independence. And the world united along with East Timor.
Read here for the full article: Global Voices: East Timor
Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 10:58 amand is filed under News, Timor Leste. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.