Republic of Indonesia

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East Timor

Meanwhile, much of the country was embroiled in ethnic, religious, and political upheaval. The first major challenge during Wahid’s truncated tenure was a popular movement for secession in East Timor, located in the southeastern part of the Indonesian archipelago. In 1975, when Portugal withdrew from its colony of East Timor, the Frente Revolucionária do Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), a leftist group that had sought independence, promptly declared independence. Indonesia responded by invading East Timor shortly thereafter. Portugal and the UN condemned Indonesia’s invasion, but Indonesia later annexed the area as a province.

Many Timorese died during the annexation and during a famine that resulted from a forced resettlement program in the late 1970s. However, many Timorese continued to seek self-determination for the region, and armed guerrilla groups operated from bases in the highlands of Timor. Xanana Gusmão led the armed resistance movement in East Timor until his arrest by Indonesian forces in 1992. In 1996 two Timorese dissidents, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their nonviolent efforts to resolve the conflict.

In early 1999 President Habibie agreed to allow the East Timorese to vote on whether East Timor should become independent or an autonomous region within Indonesia. In August the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence.

Timorese militia groups, reportedly backed by the Indonesian military, reacted violently to the outcome of the vote and went on a rampage, murdering pro-independence supporters and forcing large numbers of East Timorese to flee. After weeks of bloodshed, a UN peacekeeping mission intervened. The UN administered East Timor until the territory gained full independence in May 2002, with Gusmão as president. The Indonesian military came under government and UN scrutiny for its involvement in atrocities committed in East Timor. The example of East Timor encouraged independence groups in other parts of Indonesia to increase their demands.

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Aceh

Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, was an independent sultanate until late in the 19th century, when it was conquered by the Dutch after decades of fierce fighting. After Indonesia declared independence, Aceh became an Indonesian province. A staunchly Muslim region, Aceh had a strong sense of identity and quickly became disillusioned with Indonesia’s leadership during the 1950s. During the 1970s an armed separatist group began fighting for Aceh’s independence. From 1976 to 2005, when a peace agreement was reached, an estimated 15,000 people were killed in the fighting.

The resolution of the conflict in Aceh became one of the key concerns of the Wahid government. But after peace talks and a cease-fire failed, the government imposed martial law in Aceh in 2003 and launched a major offensive in an effort to end the secessionist movement. The December 2004 tsunami brought such widespread suffering to Aceh that the two sides agreed to resume peace negotiations. Under an accord reached in 2005, the separatists agreed to surrender their weapons and drop their demand for independence. The government agreed to withdraw half its garrison from Aceh and to give the region limited self-government and control over much of Aceh’s oil and natural gas.

The peace process culminated in Aceh’s first direct elections for provincial leaders in December 2006. Voters went to the polls to choose a new governor and deputy governor, who previously had been appointed by the central government. Irwandi Yusuf, a former spokesperson for the separatists and a key player in the 2005 peace talks, was elected governor.

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Other Conflicts and Terrorist Attacks

In Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), the easternmost province, separatists began fighting for independence in the 1960s. A special autonomy package, which took effect in January 2002, gave the province greater control of its own affairs, as well as the right to retain most revenues generated from its natural resources. The province was also allowed to change its name from Irian Jaya to the locally preferred Papua. Some Papuans, however, continued to demand nothing less than an independence referendum.

Sporadic violence between Muslims and Christians occurred throughout West Java, Ambon, and other parts of the Moluccas in the mid- and late 1990s, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. By some estimates, three years of sectarian fighting had resulted in as many as 5,000 deaths and 750,000 refugees in the Moluccas. In 2002 representatives of Muslim and Christian factions signed a peace agreement intended to end the fighting.

Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo, became the scene of recurrent ethnic violence as the result of the government’s transmigration policy, which provided incentives for Indonesians to relocate from populous areas to less-developed lands. The indigenous Dayak people resented the influx of Madurese transmigrants, and thousands of Madurese died or were forced out as the result of brutal attacks in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A bomb attack in 2002 in a nightclub district in Bali killed nearly 200 people, mostly tourists. It was followed by a bomb explosion near the U.S. consulate in Sanur, Bali, that caused no injuries. The bombings were attributed to Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamic movement (see Islamic Fundamentalism) that sought to establish a far-reaching Islamic caliphate. This Indonesia-based group was known to have links to the al-Qaeda international terrorist network founded by Osama bin Laden. The Indonesian government responded to the Bali bombings by granting the police wide powers to pursue alleged terrorists. But terrorist attacks continued.

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