Timor-Leste (East Timor): ASEAN’s newest member looks forward from a painful past

Last October, Timor-Leste (East Timor) became the newest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, taking its place among regional peers 26 years after the end of a brutal occupation by Indonesia.

Following its invasion in 1975, Indonesia largely sealed off the territory. During the occupation, approximately 20-30 percent of the population were killed or died from hunger and illness. Only a handful of passionate and committed foreign journalists made it into East Timor under those conditions. One who did was John Martinkus, who later authored a penetrating account about the conflict titled ‘A Dirty Little War’. Martinkus died in his native Australia last year but is still seen by many in Timor-Leste as a hero.

Martinkus alerted the world to the emerging threat from Indonesian military-supported militias that in 1999 tried to brutalize the Timorese into rejecting independence. Those violent tactics failed but cost many lives and destroyed much of the new nation’s infrastructure.  Almost 30 years later, Timor-Leste enjoys good ties with Indonesia, and is looking to its ASEAN partners and southern neighbour Australia to help grow its economy.

Join us for a reflection on the country’s remarkable journey while honoring the late John Martinkus and other journalists who documented the war in Timor-Leste at a rare screening of Carmela Baranowska’s powerful documentary, ‘Scenes from an Occupation,’ which won the 2000 Rory Peck Award and is the only film to document the last six months of Indonesia’s occupation. There will also be an exhibition of photos by Ian Timberlake, an Agence France-Presse correspondent who was in Timor-Leste and knew Martinkus well.

Francisco Tilman Cepeda, Ambassador of Timor-Leste to Thailand, will make opening remarks before the film.

After the film, there will be a panel of speakers:

Dr Carmela Baranowska, director of ‘Scenes from an Occupation: East Timor 1999’.

Ian Timberlake, AFP correspondent in East Timor in 1999. His photos from the period are being exhibited in conjunction with this panel.

Moderator: Jonathan Head, who covered the 1999 events and is an FCCT board member.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.