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Meera Atkinson On 9 April East Timor held its first election since its independence from Indonesia in 2002. Since no candidate achieved 50% of votes a run-off is slated for 9 May.
For such a small country, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, known as East Timor, has grabbed its share of headlines over past few years. Only 640km northwest of Darwin, East Timor was a Portuguese colony from the 16th Century. With the blessing of President Ford and support from Australia and the UK, who were motivated by an interest in its wealth of resources and a fear of communism, it was annexed by Indonesia when Portugal withdrew in 1975. It is estimated that over 200,000 Timorese, one-third of the population, died from famine, disease, and conflict in the 25 years of annexation, and many more suffered human rights abuses. The process of East Timor’s renewal began in 1999 when the Indonesian President, B J Habibie, abruptly announced a referendum on East Timorese independence. Leading up to and following the UN-supervised election, a terror campaign was waged by Indonesian military-backed militia and paramilitaries against the Timorese people. Nevertheless, the result was an overwhelming vote for independence, a testament to the courage of the people and their will to claim their right to independence. In the process, thousands of residents were kidnapped, murdered, and forced to evacuate. Aid workers, UN workers, and foreign diplomats were also targeted. Australian-led peacekeeping troops, the International Force for East Timor, were deployed to bring the violence to an end, and Australia’s recent commitment to East Timor has been viewed by some as an amends for having abandoned the Timorese people to their fate in 1975. Since then East Timor has been in the painstaking process of rebuilding and recovering from the violence and trauma it suffered first during the years of repression and then in its difficult birth as an independent nation. East Timor is primarily Roman Catholic (at around 98%) due to the Portuguese influence, with roughly 1% Protestant and 1% Muslim. Rev Francisco de Vasconcelos is the Moderator of Igreja Prostestante iha Timor Lorosa’e — the Protestant Church in Timor Leste. Francisco’s father was the first Moderator of the Protestant Church there and Francisco played an important role in the struggle for independence in which he nearly lost his life. John Barr, executive secretary (Asia) of Uniting International Mission (UIM) tells the story of how UIM staff thought Francisco had been killed on one occasion when they heard gunshots in the background just before the phone lines went down and they lost contact with him. “At the time we had no formal relationship with the Uniting Church as a partner church,” explains Francisco, “but we worked closely together because the church in Australia had big concerns regarding our situation. We were trying to build a relationship as churches with concerns for human rights and freedom.” The partnership was sealed in the wake of independence. The Protestant Church in East Timor is now focussing on the four critical areas that need most attention according to Francisco: employment, health, education, and the economy. “We are starting a school and we give scholarships for students from primary and secondary schools up to university,” says Francisco. “We have support from the Uniting Church to send students to Brazil. In terms of health, we have clinics and in the coming months we will have a nurse from South Australia Synod to assist us in health.” Francisco says that five years on from the declaration of independence there are critical challenges facing the East Timorese people. “We need to be thinking about how to formulate and make concrete what is national unity when we talk about that. We are different but we are one. We need to help our young people, give them skills, so they will participate and be involved in all areas of redevelopment. There has been progress but we need more.” An Amnesty International document, titled “East Timor: building a new country based on human rights,” discusses the specific ways East Timorese women and children suffered during the Indonesian occupation. As with the adult male population, Amnesty International recorded cases of extrajudicial execution, ''disappearance'', and imprisonment and torture of women, as well as rape and sexual slavery. Many were widowed and forced to provide for their families alone in a climate of economic hardship. An entire generation of children grew up after 1975 in an atmosphere of repression and fear, and many were orphaned by unlawful killings. Children also participated in both peaceful and violent pro-independence activities and the UN high commissioner for human rights found evidence of children being recruited by pro-integration militias in the lead up to the popular consultation vote by means of violence and bribery. Maria de Fatima, who has worked for the Organisação Populár da Mulher Timor (OPMT) and Organisação da Mulher Timor (OMT) says, despite the critical role East Timorese women have played in the creation of sustainable development, they are often marginalised from decision making and funding initiatives because these kind of “highly effective” grassroots organisations don’t always meet the expectations and requirements of donor agencies. Nevertheless the OMT continues as an organisation of national women’s unity with an emphasis toward family and local community development that focuses on national reconstruction priorities. The OMT continues its programs unaided, says Marie, “looking after the many widows and orphans left behind after the destruction, initiating education, health, economic and food programs, and providing shelter for the homeless.” The challenge of recovery is not simply a matter of big picture nation building. It’s also a journey taken by individuals, families and communities, and it is a journey that is supported by a wide range of organisations and initiatives as well as international governments and agencies. The rebuilding of East Timor presents, in the words of Amnesty International, “a unique opportunity for ensuring that the rights of women are promoted, protected and respected and that they are equal participants in the process of building and shaping their country.” And, as Francisco says, there is also a responsibility to young East Timorese to facilitate the empowerment of young people by guiding them to “participate and be involved in all areas of redevelopment.” One marked improvement in East Timor, says Francisco, is that people can exercise their right to express their opinion. “There is not the feeling that we are occupied so we are not free.” He hopes — like most East Timorese — after the election is decided there will be a fresh focus on the development of his country. “There is tension, there is conflict, but let us reflect and take the positive lesson from that, then we will see what we have done wrong in the past,” says Francisco. “I see signs of big changes in the coming years.”
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