• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told parliamentarians in Timor-Leste that the world has much to learn from their inspirational struggle for self-rule, 25 years to the day since the historic referendum which paved the way for independence in 2002. 

• The legislators made the UN chief an honorary citizen of the island nation during the celebrations in the capital Dili.

• Guterres said Timor-Leste’s independence was a gift to the world because it showed conflict could be resolved through negotiation.

• The Southeast Asian country is celebrating 25 years since a referendum which freed its people from occupation by Indonesia.

• The United Nations provided support to ensure that the ballot took place and was free, fair and open to all registered voters.

• Timor-Leste is also known as East Timor.

A wave of violence and diplomatic victory

• Neighbouring Indonesia had invaded Timor-Leste in 1975, occupying the country for more than two decades. Prior to the Indonesian occupation, the nation was ruled by colonial power Portugal.

• Xanana, who served as East Timor’s first president after independence, led resistance against the brutal occupation and was imprisoned by Indonesia after he was captured in 1992.

• Jose Ramos-Horta, the country’s de-facto foreign minister in exile, was jointly awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to secure his country’s independence. He was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.

• The tiny island nation of East Timor, or Timor-Leste, officially gained independence in 2002 after a landmark ballot overseen by the UN in 1999. 

• In a UN-organised referendum on August 30, 1999, more than 78 per cent of Timorese chose independence at the time.

• The referendum gave the Timorese an historic opportunity to demonstrate their determination to become self-governing, despite an environment of violence and intimidation.

• Pro-Jakarta militiamen went on a violent rampage following the 1999 vote, destroying infrastructure and killing about 1,000 people, according to the UN.

• The situation only stabilised in September 1999 with the sending of a multinational peacekeeping force approved by the Security Council — International Force East Timor (INTERFET). 

• The Indonesian government formally recognised the overwhelming vote for independence in October of that year, following weeks of deadly clashes and destruction, after which UN peacekeepers oversaw the transition to full self-government – the birth of an independent Timor Leste.

• The UN’s presence was critical to the transition which ended 24 years of Indonesian occupation.

• The country was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002, making it Asia’s youngest democracy.

• President Jose Ramos-Horta said the war against Indonesian occupation was asymmetrical and militarily impossible. The occupation resulted in more than two lakh deaths — a staggering 25 percent of the Timorese population at the time and included the use of weapons supplied by the United States, such as Napalm bombs, previously used to devastating effect in the Vietnam War, he said.

• Two decades after it gained freedom, the nation of 1.3 million faces significant development hurdles as it works to diversify an oil-and-gas-dependent economy, and foster a new generation of leaders.

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