: A quarter of a century ago the world stood by as Indonesian armed forces 'annexed' the Portugese colony of East Timor.SDF: But did anyone know? Frankly this is the first time I've seen any news footage from East Timor on my television set, ever, and I'm watching the tube only a few dozen miles away from Hollywood.
About the current situation:
: Where is the UN peace keeping force you ask? Nowhere. Security was entrusted to the Indonesians alone. A very foolish move given the history of the Indonesians in the province (genocide anbd human rights abuse).
SDF: I have to wonder if the UN isn't close to collapse after the foreign policy machinations surrounding the Yugoslavian bombing, the US bombing of the Chinese embassy etc. Is it?
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McSpotlight: There were some media reports from East Timor in 1973, but the Indonesian infiltrators (prior to the invasion proper) made a point of killing journalists; famously, five Australian journalists "went missing" on October the 16th 1975 (two months before the invasion); they were shot by Indonesian special forces (Kopassus) dressed as Portuguese soldiers.
Witness statements gathered after the affair suggest that Greg Shackleton (one of the five) actually died from smothering; the Indonesian special forces cut off his genitals and forced them down his throat.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concluded that "there was a deliberate intention on the part of the military forces which set out from nearby Batugade to kill the journalists in Balibo"
On the day of the invasion itself, the Indonesians killed dozens on the seafront at Dili, of whom the most famous was Roger East; they tied him, made him kneel and spent half an hour abusing him before shooting him in the head.
Most of the foreign journalists had been warned to flee the country in advance; to quote John Pilger on the subject (from "Blood on our hands");
"Even in the age of mass communication, few images or reports reached the outside world when the forces of General Suharto invaded the Portuguese colony [of East Timor] on December 7, 1975. The only foreign journalist to remain behind, a remarkably brave Australian called Roger East, was handcuffed and dragged to the seafront where he was shot in the face, his body thrown into what people now call the Sea of Blood."
