In battle for development ‘you can count on us’, Guterres tells Timor-Leste, marking 25 years of self-determination

In a surprise move, legislators made the UN chief an honorary citizen of their southeast Asian island nation during the celebrations in the capital Dili, prompting the UN chief to declare he was proud to now be part of such a “heroic people”.

What was then East Timor’s struggle to free itself from colonial rule by Portugal and then from violent occupation by Indonesia in 1976, came to a head in 1999 with a UN-organised referendum on 30 August.

The Indonesian Government formally recognized the overwhelming vote for independence in October of that year, following weeks of deadly clashes and destruction, after which UN peacekeepers oversaw the transition to full self-government – the birth of an independent Timor Leste.

Portuguese and Timorese

“It is with pride that I assume this nationality of a heroic people and I will do everything so that when I complete my duties, the Timorese can be proud of what their citizen could have done”, Mr. Guterres told lawmakers.

The announcement was made by the president of the National Parliament, Maria Fernanda Lay, the first woman to preside over the legislative house in Timor-Leste during the celebration of the 1999 vote, known locally as the “popular consultation”.

Parliamentarians honoured the role Mr. Guterres played as a former Prime Minister of Portugal, in supporting the cause of the Timorese people. He said that at the time he called several world leaders “asking them to use their influence to prevent a massacre in Timor-Leste”.

The UN electoral mission, UNAMET, was honored several times during the celebration and received special mention from Mr. Guterres.

“The women and men of UNAMET showed great dedication and professionalism by organizing a large-scale referendum, in a short period of time and despite intimidation and threats. After the Popular Consultation, and when violence was spreading, they once again demonstrated enormous courage and a sense of mission”.

Seeds of sovereignty sown

The situation only stabilized in September 1999 with the sending of a multinational peacekeeping force approved by the Security Council, INTERFET. Guterres also recalled the other UN missions that contributed to peace in Timor-Leste.

The UN leader praised the “enormous courage and tireless determination of the Timorese people” and said that “the world has a lot to learn from Timor-Leste”.

Parliament leader Maria Fernanda Lay said the vote in the referendum represented the weight of 24 years of resistance to the Indonesian occupation and served to “plant the seeds of a free and sovereign nation”.

Referendum: A lesson in courage

The 1999 referendum organised by the UN gave the Timorese an historic opportunity to demonstrate their determination to become self-governing – despite an environment of violence and intimidation.

Before dawn on August 30, thousands of East Timorese left their homes in the dark and walked long distances. They were determined to put into practice an ideal enshrined in Articles 1 and 55 of the UN Charter: the right to self-determination.

The UN’s presence was critical to the transition which ended 24 years of Indonesian occupation, which began just days after the small island nation ceased to be a Portuguese colony.

UN flag ‘inspired us’

In an exclusive interview with UN News’s Felipe de Carvalho in the Timorese capital this week, resistance leader and current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão said that the independence movement had military, political and diplomatic fronts.

“The United Nations flag inspired us in terms of international law, the right of all peoples to self-determination and independence. This was a kind of presence of the United Nations in our fighting spirit.”

He described the referendum as “decisive for the country’s destiny”.

Speaking to UN News, President José Ramos Horta said the war against Indonesian occupation was asymmetrical and “militarily impossible.” The occupation resulted in more than 200,000 deaths – a staggering 25 percent of the Timorese population at the time and included the use of weapons supplied by the United States, such as Napalm bombs, previously used to devastating effect in the Viet Nam War, President Horta said.

A diplomatic victory

For the president, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, East Timor’s victory was an exercise in good diplomacy and politics, involving on the one hand the preservation of cultural identity and on the other, international pressure.

“Therefore, Timor was a success story, especially because the Security Council found consensus. There was consensus in the Security Council. Total consensus. But there was consensus because Indonesia had already accepted, because if Indonesia had not accepted – and Indonesia was very important for some member countries of the Security Council – there would have been no consensus.”

The referendum – referred to locally as the popular consultation – played a key role in intensifying multilateral action for East Timor, as it then was, pressuring Indonesia into relinquishing control.

According to the head of the UN electoral mission established in June 1999, UNAMET, that moment was special, as rarely had the organization had such a clear opportunity to “give people what they were looking for”.

Ian Martin said that despite the international presence of journalists and 2,300 election observers, acts of intimidation against the public and attacks on UN offices “never stopped”. The violence was mainly caused by pro-Indonesian militias, supported by the armed forces of the occupying power.

For Mr. Martin, the “courage and determination of the Timorese people” was felt right during the registration process. At that time, many Timorese were already displaced and living in hiding in the mountains, but there was still a high turnout and it was clear that the number of voters would exceed all expectations.

According to him, this was what made the UN – in consultation with Timorese leaders such as Xanana Gusmão, imprisoned in Indonesia at the time – decide to go ahead, despite the security risks.

One of UNAMET’s greatest achievements was registering 433,576 people for the referendum in Timor-Leste in just 22 days. The strategies involved flexibility to register undocumented people and displaced people who were outside their area of ​​origin, but above all creative communication approaches.

Fear of attack

There were great fears of an armed attack on the day of the referendum. Yet Nick Birnback, who worked on UNAMET’s communications team at the time, said that at the largest polling station there were “huge queues of people waiting before sunrise, not wanting to miss the opportunity to vote.”

In all, 98.6 per cent of registered East Timorese turned out to vote, most in the early hours of the morning.

That same day, however, the first death of a UN staff member on the ground was reported, in a stabbing attack in the Ermera district. A UN helicopter carrying ballot boxes from one of the villages to the capital was targeted by gunfire. A few days later, a UN convoy was chased into Liquiça and hit by 15 bullets. By the end of the mission, 14 staff members were dead or missing.

Wave of violence

Amidst increasing episodes of violence after the vote, on September 4, Ian Martin announced the result, which was simultaneously read by the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in New York: 78.5 per cent of the votes were in favor of rejecting the autonomy proposal – calling for separation from Indonesia – and 21.5 per cent in favour. The path to independence was set.

The former head of UNAMET remembers experiencing a mix of emotions. On the one hand, the privilege of being in an “atmosphere of jubilation” while watching the celebration of the result, but on the other, the fear of an attack at any minute.

According to him, immediately after the announcement, “the militias surrounded the place and started to set fire to buildings” and, therefore, he was taken by security to the UNAMET headquarters with only “the clothes on his back”.

Days later, the hotel where the referendum result was announced was looted and burned.

Martin recalled that the incessant gunfire around UNAMET had prompted many East Timorese to seek refuge under the UN flag, scaling the walls topped with barbed wire. The head of the electoral mission described a harrowing scene of “families throwing babies over the wall and UN teams holding them back on the other side”.

The nun who saved 800 people

Nearby, at the convent of the Canossian Mothers, the director of the convent, Sister Esmeralda, was sheltering about 800 refugees who began arriving in fear of violence in mid-August. She had encouraged everyone to vote, despite the risks.

After the results were announced, Esmeralda performed a great act of courage. Alone, she faced a huge group of militiamen who invaded the convent. The nun ordered everyone to lower their weapons, organized the 800 refugees into lines and took them to UNAMET premises, walking past the militia ranks.

The nun helped mobilize healthcare and food for the now nearly 2,000 displaced people who were staying at the UN compound, which had been converted into a humanitarian camp. The site was protected by an Indonesian military cordon, but there was no guarantee that the militias would actually be prevented from entering.

UNAMET besieged

At that point, according to Nick Birnback, keeping East Timor in the headlines was crucial to preventing a massacre, including of national and international UN staff. Using a spare satellite phone, those under siege gave interviews to media outlets around the world, and journalists still on the ground frantically filed copy to news desks.

With the risks increasing, Ian Martin had to initiate a process of evacuating UN staff. However, one of the most widespread messages in the referendum campaign was that UNAMET would stay, regardless of the result.

With no means of providing security, the presence of international teams was the only hope of preventing a massacre. At that moment, Sister Esmeralda once again raised her voice and said that she would not accept that the Timorese people could be abandoned once again.

Ambassadors on the ground

A group of around 80 mission members volunteered to stay until a solution was found that would guarantee the evacuation of the entire population that was taking refuge there.

This solution began to come closer after a decisive visit by Security Council members, who had been holding meetings in Jakarta. They headed to Dili on September 11, accompanied by the commander of the Indonesian army, General Wiranto.

The mission saw for themselves the plight of the refugees inside the UNAMET complex and witnessed the devastation across the country – where over 80 per cent of buildings had been destroyed.

The following day, Indonesia announced that it would accept the deployment of a multinational force. With this decision, all those at the UNAMET headquarters were evacuated and the violence was contained.

The International Force for East Timor, INTERFET, was approved by the Security Council on 15 September 1999 and began operations on 20 September.