Interstate/intrastate conflict(s) (East Timor Conflict (1975 - 1999)
Following the Portugal’s decolonization of East Timor in 1975, the state briefly declared independence before it was occupied by Indonesia a month later. Insurgent movements including the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) fighting the Portuguese, continued their fight against the Indonesian Army. Human rights abuses and massacres were committed by both sides. By the early 1990s, as armed resistance decreased and the communist threat dissipated, the central Indonesian government issued a number of policies to open East Timor economically and politically. As a result, a resistance movements became more outspoken and demonstrations increased. Violence intensified after November 1991, when the Indonesian Army opened fire on protesters. International condemnation of the Suharto’s regime was widespread, but due to the fear of destabilizing Indonesia’s unity, it was not until the fall of Suharto in 1998 after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis that East Timor’s secession became a possibility.
In 1999, an independence referendum was held with 78% rejecting East Timor’s positions as an autonomous territory within Indonesia. Violence broke out following the results and after a delay a UN-backed Australian peacekeeping force was deployed. The Indonesian Government accepted the result in October of that year and as a result the laws legalizing East Timor’s annexation were repealed, leading to East Timor’s independence in 2002.
East Timor Conflict (1975 - 1999)
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