East Timor
From bullet to ballot - November 2000

This report details conditions in East Timor around the time of the UN supervised referendum in August 1999, when a massive majority of the population voted to end 24 years of Indonesian occupation. CIIR, which has supported the East Timorese struggle for self-determination since the Indonesian invasion in 1975, sent two teams to monitor the voter registration process, the campaign and voting day.

The observers concluded that the vote itself was free and fair, but they recorded widespread intimidation of the electorate by pro-Indonesian militias in collusion with the Indonesian armed forces. Their report highlights the flaws in the UN mission's mandate which made it powerless to prevent the violence. Appendices contain photographs and new articles.

2000 ISBN1 85287 230 6
64pp A4