[217] Kiernan believes that the deficit was most probably around 145,000 when accounting for the reduction in birth rates, or 20% of East Timor's population. [227] Although the US government said they would delay new arms sales from December 1975 to June 1976 pending a review by the State Department to determine whether Indonesia had violated a bilateral agreement stipulating that Indonesia could only use U.S.-supplied arms for defensive purposes, military aid continued to flow, and Kissinger chastised members of his State Department staff for suggesting arms sales be cut. [94] In early 1978, the entire civilian population of Arsaibai village, near the Indonesian border, was killed for supporting Fretilin after being bombarded and starved. [251], Many observers have called the Indonesian military action in East Timor an example of genocide. We understand the problem and the intentions you have." [189] The UN withdrew most of its personnel, but the Dili compound had been flooded with refugees. Portuguese clergy were replaced with Indonesian priests, and Latin and Portuguese mass were replaced by Indonesian mass. [215][216] The fall of Indonesian President Suharto and a shift in Australian policy by the Howard Government in 1998 helped precipitate a proposal for a referendum on the question of independence for East Timor. [143] The group's most profitable business, however, was its monopoly on the export of coffee, which was the territory's most valuable cash crop. A number of soldiers who kidnapped these children still hold senior positions within the Indonesian military. [192][193], The violence was met with widespread public anger in Australia, Portugal and elsewhere and activists in Portugal, Australia, the United States and other nations pressured their governments to take action. [77], Legal expert Roger S. Clark notes that Indonesia's invasion and occupation violated two vital elements of international law: the right to self-determination and the prohibition on aggression. These figures represent a minimum conservative estimate that CAVR says is its scientifically-based principal finding.

101–102; Nevins, p. 30; Budiardjo and Liong (1984), pp. [136], East Timor was a particular focus for the Indonesian government's transmigration program, which aimed to resettle Indonesians from densely to less populated regions. This time we are going to hit them without mercy. In an interview on 5 April 1977 with the Sydney Morning Herald, Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik said the number of dead was "50,000 people or perhaps 80,000". By the 1950s, the clubs became seedier, as burlesque was replaced by strip clubs and sex shops. [92], TNI strategists implemented a strategy of attrition against the Falintil beginning in September 1977. José Ramos-Horta arrived in Darwin on 5 December saying that aid agencies the Australian Red Cross and Australian Society for Intercountry Aid Timor (ASIAT) had been banned from East Timor. In the first half of the 20th century, it was famous for its burlesque houses.

The future of peace, justice and democracy in both East Timor and Indonesia depends on holding the highest-level perpetrators accountable.

Indonesia (1977), p. 35; Jolliffe, pp. The day after the invasion, Portugal cut diplomatic ties with Indonesia and went on to support UN resolutions condemning the invasion. The ensuing Indonesian campaigns up through 1976 were devastating for the East Timorese, an enormous drain on Indonesian resources, were severely damaging to Indonesia internationally, and ultimately a failure. In 1978 Indonesia purchased eight BAE Hawk jet trainers, which were used during the "encirclement and annihilation" campaign. Exercise caution if you're keen on visiting one of the famous donkey shows as the Mexican government is known for it's corrupt treatment of foreigners. [74] One year later the Security Council expressed the same sentiment in Resolution 389 (1976), and the General Assembly passed resolutions every year between 1976 and 1982 calling for self-determination in East Timor. Jardine; Taylor (1991), p. ix; Nevins cites a wide variety of sources discussing the question of genocide in East Timor, on p. 217–218. [72], On the day following the invasion, a committee of the United Nations General Assembly convened to debate the situation. [9][10] A 2001 editorial by the East Timor NGO La'o Hamutuk said: An uncountable number of Crimes Against Humanity were committed during the 1975–1999 period in East Timor. In August 1983, 200 people were burned alive in the village of Creras, with 500 others killed at a nearby river. [citation needed], (23 years, 10 months, 3 weeks and 3 days), Coup, civil war, and independence declaration, Indonesian campaigns against the resistance, Sexual slavery and systematic violence against women, Changing resistance and integration campaigns, Indonesian withdrawal and peacekeeping force. [174][175], Renewed United Nations-brokered mediation efforts between Indonesia and Portugal began in early 1997. [250], Kiernan responded, however, by asserting that the influx of migrant workers during the occupation and the increase in the population growth rate typical of a mortality crisis justifies accepting the 1980 census as valid despite the 1987 estimate and that the 1974 church census—though a "possible maximum"—cannot be discounted because the church's lack of access to society might well have resulted in an undercount. CIIR Report, International Law and the Question of East Timor, Catholic Institute of International Relations/IPJET, London, 1995. Ford replied, "We will understand and will not press you on the issue. 275–276; Taylor, pp. Most nights, Lisa Jaafar heads to the Singapore red-light district of Geylang, and stands in the streets waiting for men to buy her services – S$50 (US$37) for 30 minutes of her time. [6][7][8], After the 1999 vote for independence, paramilitary groups working with the Indonesian military undertook a final wave of violence during which most of the country's infrastructure was destroyed.