Timor Leste
- Selling Timber ©sugu (flickr.com)
Here you can find information about our research in Timor Leste.
Project description:
The birth of one of the world's newest nations, República Democrática Timor-Leste, was one that was characterized by changing colonial powers and traumatic experiences of violence. Initially a trading post turned Portuguese colony for four centuries, this territory includes the eastern part of the island of Timor as well as the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave covering a total area of 14,610 sq. km. Its decolonisation process which was initiated by the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon in 1974 was never completed. Instead, the history which followed included a brief but devastating civil war and later the unlawful annexation of East Timor as Indonesia's 27th province, a decision backed by powerful countries such as USA and Australia. The full scale invasion by the Indonesian army on December 7th 1975 marked the beginning of 24 years of violent occupation and unfolded one of the worst tragedies of twentieth century.
Killings, forced detainment, displacements, disappearances, programmed famines, rape and torture occurred on a daily basis throughout the occupation. The community was divided on the basis of allegiance and ideology. Some were part of the resistance movement fighting for independence, while some benefited from the integration with Indonesia. In 1998, after the forced resignation of General Suharto from the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia, East Timor was given the opportunity to determine its own destiny through a UN supervised Popular Consultation which was then organized on August 30, 1999.
Despite the campaign of terror which was launched by certain factions of the Indonesian and their trained and equipped local militia groups, 98% of eligible voters demonstrated their courage to vote with the result of 78.5% voting for independence. Independence was thus won, but not without a price. The Indonesian army and their militia wing responded with an outbreak of violence and the “scorch earth” operation until the International Forces for East Timor (INTERFRET) landed in September 1999. By then, the capital Dili was in flames, 70% of the country had been destroyed and the population had fled from the villages or had been forced to seek refuge in West Timor. Until independence, East Timor was governed by the transitional authority of the UN (UNTAET). It is estimated that around 200.000 lives, or a third of the population, died between 1975-1999.
- Timor Leste Views ©United Nations (flickr.com)
Now the country faces many tasks required to build a nation left in ruins. This includes bridging the social gaps left behind by its long history of conflicts. This however is extremely complicated, as victims and perpetrators are often from the same community, related to each other through family ties or bound by tradition to one another.
The goal of our research is to gain an understanding of the various discourses of emotion directed at the country’s violent past and a positioning in their power-political context. Finding a language for the experiences of the past, thus making them communicable, marks an important step in the quest for closure and the beginning of a gradual reconciliation.
1.) On the level of official memory policies, we want to research how the political leaders aim at constructing a national history out of the plural experiences of violence, terror and misery. To find an answer to this question one could begin with an analysis of the results of the national truth and reconciliation commission, which started its work in January 2002 and ended in July 2005. The commission organised public hearings, gathered statements of victims, perpetrators and testimonies and conducted reconciliation trials on a communal level. The vast data material contains complex articulations of past experiences of violence. However, the commission’s report has not yet been made accessible to the public. This “policy of silence” provokes numerous highly emotional conflicts which can be understood as power-political disputes on the right of recognition (with material consequences).
2.) On the level of informal practices of memory, these “counter-discourses” are to be analysed through various veteran organisations, which formed in opposition to the official memory policy during the last years. These groups differ greatly in terms of their social-political and religious connotation. They centre on individuals who earned their merits in the past’s violent conflicts and are sometimes honoured as heroes. These individual actors give experiences of violence, pain, fear and loss their respective, specific meanings, thus enabling the expression of feelings which are considered inappropriate in the official discourse. Also, the mourning of dead that are officially not bemoaned becomes expressible. These practices sometimes rely on either Christian, spiritual-magical or local-ethnical discourses.