JOSE RAMOS-HORTA

October 25, 1996
		Jose Ramos-Horta, exiled East Timorese resistance leader and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, responds to viewer questions and comments. [Editor's Note: This forum was originally posted on October 25, 1996.]

Forum introduction Can Western human rights concerns overcome commercial interests? What is the motivation behind Indonesia's interest in East Timor? How can you capitalize on the attention the Nobel Prize has brought? How can you convince Indonesia to pull out? How would an independent East Timor support itself? Are the East Timorese committed to democracy? Was East Timor a part of pre-colonial Indonesia?   Online NewsHour Special Report: The Crisis in East Timor Online Backgrounder: Behind East Timor's conflict with Indonesia. Nov. 13, 1996: A discussion with Jose Ramos-Horta. Oct. 11, 1996: Two East Timorese dissidents win the Nobel Peace Prize. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     The United Nations Mission in East Timor The Indonesian Embassy in Washington The East Timor Action Network The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta The Carter Center

The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize went to two little-known men, Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Belo, from East Timor, a little-known island with a tragic history. East Timor is a tiny island of 600,000 people in the South Pacific, sitting in between the Indonesian island of Java and northwestern Australia. Largely ignored by the world, the citizens of this former Portuguese colony have been fighting a 23-year war of independence against Indonesia, who annexed the then newly independent nation in 1975. Since the annexation, "it has been estimated that one-third of the population of East Timor lost their lives due to starvation, epidemics, war and terror," said the Nobel Committee in their award announcement. Not surprisingly then, the Indonesian government describes the award as "regrettable." Perhaps more poignantly, the military governor of the island dismissed the Peace Prizes as "like the Oscars, and as with Hollywood... partly removed from reality." Of the two winners, only Bishop Belo remains in East Timor. The 51 year-old clergyman is the highest representative of the Roman Catholic Church on this predominantly Catholic island. He has been a strong advocate of non-violent resistance. His work to end the military oppression by Indonesia, with over 200 million people, the worlds largest Islamic nation, has had results. In 1991, over 200 unarmed East Timorese protesters were shot down, killed by Indonesian troops. Bishop Belo used his position to push for a government investigation that led to the dismissal of two generals and the imprisonment of several army officers. Day to day, he works to lessen the abuses all around him. Jose Ramos-Horta, 49, was travelling abroad from East Timor when it was invaded. In his independence efforts he has served as an ambassador to the U.N. for the East Timorese cause. Early on in his spokesman role, Ramos-Horta was a fiery and partisan voice for the independence movement. Of the award, he has said that he would rather that it had been given to resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, who is serving a 20 year jail term in Indonesia. No country has recognized Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor, except, ironically, Ramos-Horta's temporary base of Australia. The U.N. has gone so far as to condemn the invasion and demand independence for East Timor. Despite this, little concrete action has been taken against the Indonesian government. The quandary for Western nations appears to be that Indonesia is one of the strongest emerging markets in the world and site of a huge source of cheap labor. Is independence possible for East Timor? What can be done to get greater western involvement in this human rights issue? What has kept East Timorese hopes alive through the years? Jose Ramos-Horta responds to viewer questions and comments.