Portugal broke with East Timor 20 years go

By Dino Patti Djalal

LONDON (JP): Twenty years ago, on Aug. 27, 1975, the most significant historical event in East Timor occurred completely unnoticed. On that fateful night, the Portuguese governor in East Timor shipped his entourage, the whole governing and military elite of Portugal in East Timor, to Atauro island in the middle of the night. Centuries of Portuguese role ended without the East Timorese knowing it. There was no public announcement, no contingency plan, no prior warning, no statement of apologies, no promise of a return.

Today, Portugal's 1975 departure is a historical fact that Portuguese politicians prefer to skip in their speeches on East Timor, while other media tend to mention the event as a mere footnote.

Far from it, Governor Pirez' disappearing act helped trigger a full-blown civil war in a scale and ferocity never before seen in the half-island's history. The situation was very much like a captain abandoning a sinking ship and telling the frantic passengers that they are on their own and to do as they please with the ship. Had the Portuguese stayed put and managed to impose order, the civil war among the Timorese factions would have been averted, and the Portuguese could have ensured that its decolonization plan -- whatever the result -- would be executed to completion.

There was actually a brief flicker of hope in September 1975 when Portuguese Minister Almeida Santos visited Indonesia. As Foreign Minister Ali Alatas recalled, Indonesia "practically begged the Portuguese to return to East Timor to restore order and complete an orderly decolonization".

It turned out that Santos was only interested in evacuating Portuguese nationals from East Timor and in seeking the release of Portuguese soldiers then held by the UDT (Timor Democratic Union, established 1974) forces. The Portuguese envoy was not interested in the plight of 50,000 Timorese refugees who had fled the civil war to the Indonesian border, nor did he show any intention to end the fighting in East Timor and help them find a democratic political solution.

There was also an idea of forming a joint authority to manage regional peace-keeping forces consisting of troops from Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Portugal -- an idea keenly supported by Indonesia -- but it fell on deaf ears in Lisbon, then too busy with domestic political turmoil to pay serious attention to East Timor on the other side of the globe. If only the Portuguese had given just half the attention it now showers on the East Timor issue.

The political status of East Timor today remains the main bone of contention between Indonesia and Portugal; and the area, now Indonesia's 27th province, is still on the UN's list of "non-self governing territories". It will likely remain on that list until the current negotiations between Indonesia and Portugal under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General succeed in finding a "just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable political solution" to the East Timor question.

The crucial legal-diplomatic question is this: Can Portugal retain its authority over East Timor after it abandoned the area?

The answer is: No.

To begin with, Portugal's departure was a purely voluntary act. It was forced neither by an outside power nor by internal forces. When Portuguese Governor Lemos Pirez left the shores of Dili, he not only shipped away for good the colonial government but also Portugal's and nor did he ever promise to return. There is nothing in international law which stipulates that a foreign power departing from a colony on its own retains continued rights over the area it left behind.

Portugal's claim would probably make sense had the power vacuum it created remained. However, the fact is that various authorities have instituted themselves in East Timor since Governor Pirez left: the pro-independence Fretilins, the pro- integration coalition of the Provisional Government of East Timor, and, since integration, the Provincial Government of East Timor under Indonesia's sovereignty. Portugal recognizes none of the succeeding authorities and vice versa. Formal recognition from a preceding power is not a prerequisite to determine the legality of succeeding political entities. Most countries in the region where East Timor belongs have recognized Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor and many more outside the region.

It is also significant that Portugal's claim as the administering power of East Timor has not been matched by indigenous blessing. The notion that Portugal can desert East Timor at will and reclaim its authority at its own convenience is a concept which does not sit well with the East Timorese.

Earlier this year, the regional parliament of East Timor issued a declaration rejecting "Portugal's pretense to claim itself as the administering authority of East Timor" and "reject Portugal to represent the people of East Timor" in the International Court of Justice hearings on the Timor Gap case.

The regional parliamentarians are elected in free and fair elections by over 400,000 East Timorese voters based on universal suffrage. The East Timorese who voted in the elections did so as Indonesian, not Portuguese, citizens. Surely a declaration issued in East Timor by parliamentarians chosen by the East Timorese has much more political currency than a clause on East Timor in Portugal's constitution written by Portuguese parliamentarians which the East Timorese did not elect.

Twenty years after having left East Timor, it is time for Portugal to do a reality check. Many Portuguese politicians believe that changing Indonesia's stance on East Timor is simply a matter of pressure.

This notion is part illusion, part wishful thinking and part poor judgment. It does not require an expert in Indonesian politics to grasp that no imaginable circumstances exist under which Jakarta would have second thoughts about the political status of East Timor. One senior Indonesian diplomat summed it up for me: "We don't even think of thinking about it".

Portugal's biggest task is to realize that apart from the political theatrics and sensationalism of the telegenic separatists, the large numbers of East Timorese who support integration do have an incredible human story to tell, if Portugal would only listen. Portugal must realize that so long as it remains exclusively linked to the agenda of the East Timorese separatists (such as the Ramos Horta group), its policies on East Timor will, as they have always been, forever be divisive to the East Timorese.

Being pro-Horta and pro-East Timor are definitely not the same. If Portugal really wishes to absolve itself of its ignominious past and guilty conscience, they could start by no longer encouraging conflict and division and become a force encouraging reconciliation and accommodation in East Timor.

There is a saying that one should have the serenity to accept things one cannot change, the courage to change things one can, and the wisdom to know the difference. The next historical milestone for East Timor is whether Portugal will one day be able to discover such wisdom.

The writer is a regular contributor to The Jakarta Post.