East Timor: The Price of Freedom

The people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly in August 1999 for independence and an end to Indonesian occupation. In this updated and much expanded edition of Indonesia's Forgotten War: The Hidden History of East Timor (Zed Books, rev ed 1994), John Taylor tells the story of what happened following President Suharto's overthrow. The new government conceded the right of the United Nations to organise the long delayed referendum giving the East Timorese a choice between continued association with Indonesia or independence. At the very moment the historic vote was being counted, armed gangs organised by the Indonesian military plunged the island into an orgy of killing, burning and forced flight. John Taylor analyses the world's reaction to this new genocide of the East Timorese people, the despatch of a peacekeeping force, and the prospects of independence.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: East Timor; troubled path to freedom; the Santa Cruz massacre and its aftermath; Indonesia in crisis; from autonomy to referendum; the paramilitary campaign; the United Nations; voting for independence; betrayal; dispersal and deportation - the humanitarian crisis; "two weeks too late". Part 1 Colonial failure: settlement and exchange; colonial interplay; the structure of Timorese society; reproduction and resistance; pacification - the two political systems. Part 2 East Timor and Indonesia - political developments from the Pacific War to the Portuguese Revolution: Indonesia; rebellion. Part 3 Changing strategies - the emergence of political parties and the Indonesian response: party formation; diplomacy; BAKIN and its allies; Fretilin's programme; realism; Portuguese style; coalition; the right to independence. Part 4 From coalition to coup and independence - the Indonesia campaign against East Timor: Fretilin and its groupings -the road to Macau; a coup and its allies; Fretilin's administration; Indonesia's border strategy; independence and invasion. Part 5 Invasion, resistance and the international response : military myths. Part 6 The Indonesian occupation - "encirclement and annihilation": Fretilin's administration of its areas; ideological and military campaigns; "a population uprooted". Part 7 "As bad as Biafra" -population resettlement and starvation: resettlement; resistance quelled. Part 8 Military control - imprisonment, killings and human rights abuses: disappearances; imprisonment; "established procedures"; a terrorized population. Part 9 Military campaigns and the Indonesian transformation of East Timor: Fretilin - defeat an dre-emergence; Operasi Keamanan - the "final cleansing"; aid - use and abuse; structural transformation - the military project; transmigration; military monopolies; re-education and control. Part 10 "Ascertaining the facts" - the Indonesian-Fretilin ceasefire and the visit of the Australian delegation: ceasefire; the delegation's visit; interception; massacre; further visits. Part 11 The development of opposition and Indonesian plans for the resocialization of east Timor: the role of the church and the growing opposition to Indonesian rule; the ultimate transformation - Indonesian strategies for birth control; military stalemate. Part 12 In their best interests - strategies for East Timor in the international community: strategy, economics and politics; monitoring and commitment. Part 13 What of the future? scenarios for East Timor: changes in Indonesia.

About the Author :
Irena Cristalis, who also writes and broadcasts under the byline, Irene Slegt, is a Dutch journalist and photographer, who since 1990 has been based in Asia, including at various times Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, New Delhi and East Timor. She understands three Asian languages -- Chinese, Indonesian and Tetum, the indigenous language of the East Timorese. She has reported on the wars, conflicts and independence struggles from Kashmir in the north west of Asia to East Timor in the south-eastern corner. Her photos and reports on China, Mongolia, Kashmir, Nepal, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Tibet, Indonesia and many other Asian countries have been used by newspapers, magazines and radio stations around the world, including the Guardian, the Independent, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Der Spiegel, the New York Times, The Economist, the BBC, Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle. Her second book on East Timor: Independent Women, The story of women's activism in East Timor, co-written with Catherine Scott, was published in 2004. Her connection with East Timor goes back to 1994. She lived there from 1998 till 2000 and spent time with Falintil in the mountains; she was also one of the three Western journalists to stay on in the besieged UN compound and keep on reporting during the ransacking of Dili by paramilitary and the Indonesian security forces at the time of their impending departure from the island in September 1999. She has kept going back to East Timor at every important juncture in its recent history as an independent state, including the crisis in 2006 and the first parliamentary elections in 2007. Since 2007 she has been living in London with her husband and small son.