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Accomplice to Mass Atrocities: the International Community and Indonesia's Invasion of East Timor
[journal article]
Abstract This paper examines early warning of, and political responses to, mass atrocities in East Timor in the late 1970s. Using newly-declassified intelligence and diplomatic records, it describes Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975 and its
three year military campaign to crush the East Timorese re... view more
This paper examines early warning of, and political responses to, mass atrocities in East Timor in the late 1970s. Using newly-declassified intelligence and diplomatic records, it describes Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975 and its
three year military campaign to crush the East Timorese resistance. It shows that the campaign resulted in mass deaths due to famine and disease, and considers the United Nations’ response to the unfolding crisis. It evaluates the level of
international awareness of the humanitarian crisis in East Timor by inspecting contemporaneous eyewitness reports by foreign diplomats from states with a keen interest in Indonesia: Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Canada. In contrast to a popular, highly lauded view, the paper shows that these states did not “look away”; rather, they had early warning and ongoing knowledge of the catastrophe but provided military and diplomatic assistance to Indonesia.
The paper contrasts a counter-productive effort by civil society activists with a very effective one, and thus demonstrates the role that robust scholarship can play in terminating atrocities. (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
East-Timor; massacre; civil war; military conflict; etiology; humanitarian intervention; political intervention; military intervention; UNO; protecting power; international politics; diplomacy; security policy
Classification
Peace and Conflict Research, International Conflicts, Security Policy
International Relations, International Politics, Foreign Affairs, Development Policy
Document language
English
Publication Year
2015
Page/Pages
p. 1-11
Journal
Politics and Governance, 3 (2015) 4
Issue topic
Mass Atrocity Prevention (Part II)
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution