“HISTORY MUST NOT IMPRISON NATIONS”
Drawing on his country’s own experience, Ramos-Horta said that Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia in 2002 was built through “years of patient and practical diplomacy” involving multiple actors, including the UN and Indonesia, which “gradually turned all wounds into new bonds”.
Timor-Leste – previously known as East Timor – was a Portuguese colony for over 400 years before briefly declaring independence in November 1975.
Nine days later, Indonesia, whose East Nusa Tenggara province makes up the western half of Timor island, invaded and occupied the territory.
That sparked a decades-long resistance movement in East Timor, and an inquiry later estimated that 102,800 people died between 1974 and 1999 during the conflict.
It was only when BJ Habibie became Indonesia’s president that a referendum for Timor-Leste’s self-determination was held in August 1999, in which the majority of Timorese voted for independence.
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