What is the background of East Timor?
East Timor is the one of the world’s newest nations. It was voted into existence in 1999 after 24 years of brutal rule by Indonesia. A recent report of the Timor Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation documents the deaths of as many as 180,000 civilians – roughly one third of the pre-invasion population – mostly at the hands of the Indonesian military during its occupation. Forced marches, chemical weapons, massacres, rapes, sexual slavery, assaults, torture, disappearances and food depravation were tactics used against the Timorese people. Karen Campbell-Nelson worked for the Commission and was instrumental in its efforts to document nearly 30 years of the military’s crimes against women. After the people of Timor Leste voted for independence in 1999 in a U.N.-sponsored referendum, the Indonesian military and militia whom they had armed and trained punished the nation. They killed independence advocates, human rights advocates and religious leaders; burned or otherwi
