Indonesia – East Timor: Times of Agony

A reportage documenting the period of intimidation and killings experienced by the beleaguered inhabitants of East Timor and their exodus from the island prior to the referendum of 30 August 1999.

While the outcome of that plebiscite brought independence from Indonesia, which had invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, the transition was accompanied by a bloodbath, looting, and what appears to have been a planned campaign of destruction by military-backed militias, who killed hundreds and drove some 300,000 to West Timor before an Australia-led UN force managed to halt the chaos.