"As the danger intensified, Ramos-Horta flew to the United Nations in New York to plead for international recognition and protection for East Timor's fragile independence. Despite unanimous support at the UN for Timorese self-determination, Indonesian troops launched their invasion on December 7, 1975. Ramos-Horta's colleagues, including Prime Minister Nicolau Lobato and other Fretilin leaders, either went into hiding or were killed in the ensuing attack."
"Unable to return home, Ramos-Horta became East Timor's voice in exile for the next 24 years. During his exile, Ramos-Horta lobbied governments, human rights organisations, and the UN to condemn Indonesia's occupation, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 200,000 Timorese through conflict, famine, and repression. Silenced by a military-imposed media blackout for much of the 1980s, it was only in the 1990s that reports of Indonesian atrocities including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre began to filter out."
After Portugal's withdrawal, Fretilin formed a government in Dili that faced Indonesian pressure and the threat of invasion. Ramos-Horta flew to the United Nations in New York seeking international recognition and protection for East Timor's fragile independence. Indonesian troops invaded on December 7, 1975, and many Fretilin leaders were killed or forced into hiding. Unable to return, Ramos-Horta spent 24 years in exile, lobbying governments, human rights organizations, and the UN to condemn an occupation that caused an estimated 200,000 Timorese deaths from conflict, famine, and repression. A military media blackout obscured abuses through the 1980s until reports, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, emerged in the 1990s. Ramos-Horta received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. A UN-sponsored referendum delivered an overwhelming vote for independence in 1999.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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