Conflict episode

Indonesian invasion of East Timor, 1975

Indonesian forces invaded East Timor, beginning an occupation that lasted until 1999.

What happened

Indonesia invaded East Timor on 7 December 1975.[1] It presented the intervention as a response to a power vacuum and a rescue it had been asked to carry out; Soares notes that FRETILIN was then the de facto administration.[2] The General Assembly and the Security Council called on Indonesia to withdraw.[3][4]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: Indonesia invaded East Timor on 7 December 1975.

    • Lloyd, Grayson J., The diplomacy on East Timor: Indonesia, the United Nations and the international community, Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor (ANU E Press, 2003) link, p. 75. Source record
    • Soares, Dionisio Babo, Political developments leading to the referendum, Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor (ANU E Press, 2003) link, p. 55. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: Indonesia presented its intervention as a response to a power vacuum left by Portugal and as a rescue it had been asked to undertake; Soares notes that FRETILIN was then the de facto administration. Attributed to Soares (2003) and Lloyd (2003)

    • Soares, Dionisio Babo, Political developments leading to the referendum, Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor (ANU E Press, 2003) link, p. 55, note 4. Source record
    • Lloyd, Grayson J., The diplomacy on East Timor: Indonesia, the United Nations and the international community, Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor (ANU E Press, 2003) link, p. 77. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: On 12 December 1975, in resolution 3485 (XXX), the General Assembly called on Indonesia to desist from further violation of the territorial integrity of Portuguese Timor and to withdraw its armed forces without delay.

    • Lloyd, Grayson J., The diplomacy on East Timor: Indonesia, the United Nations and the international community, Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor (ANU E Press, 2003) link, p. 77. Source record Quotes the resolution.
  4. 4.

    Claim: On 22 December 1975 the Security Council, unanimously, recognised the inalienable right of the people of East Timor to self-determination and independence, deplored the intervention of Indonesia’s armed forces and called on Indonesia to withdraw all its forces without delay.

    • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 384 (1975) of 22 December 1975 (United Nations, 22 December 1975) link, preamble and paras. 1–2. Source record
  5. 5.

    Claim: A statistical study prepared for Timor-Leste’s truth commission estimated a minimum of 102,800 (±12,000) conflict-related deaths between 1974 and 1999, made up of about 18,600 killings and 84,200 deaths from hunger and illness above peacetime rates. Attributed to Romesh Silva and Patrick Ball (HRDAG), report to the CAVR (2006)

    • Silva, Romesh and Ball, Patrick, The Profile of Human Rights Violations in Timor-Leste, 1974–1999 (Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis Group, 9 February 2006) link, pp. 1–2. Source record

Source note

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