EAST TIMOR -- East Timor's 800,000 citizens are finding that the truth does not set them free and that justice and reconciliation is elusive. A recent report published by East Timor's Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) estimates that there were a minimum of 102,800 conflict-related deaths during Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor between 1975-99.
Responsibility for this carnage rests largely with the Indonesian military. Finally, in 1999, when a referendum on independence was held under U.N. auspices, the world paid attention. Despite heavy intimidation and violence, almost all East Timorese showed the courage to vote and chose independence from Indonesia.
As they threatened in the event of such an outcome, Indonesian-controlled militia razed towns, villages and churches, while brutalizing the population and forcibly relocating some 250,000 Timorese to Indonesian-controlled West Timor. The 2,500 page CAVR report, titled "Chega!" (Enough!), concludes that there is extensive evidence that planning for and knowledge of this scorched-earth campaign extended to the highest echelons of the military.