Luciano Valentin da Conceicao was born in Lospalos, East Timor, in 1974. When Indonesian troops invaded in December 1975, Luciano’s family (along with 90% of the East Timorese population) fled to the mountains. Three years later, his family was arrested; both parents were subsequently executed by the Indonesian military.

In 1990 Luciano left East Timor to continue his studies in Indonesia, where he joined RENETIL - the National Resistance of Students for East Timor.

In November 1994, Luciano and 28 other students occupied the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to draw international attention to the occupation of East Timor. Two weeks later, he and the other students were evacuated to Portugal.

Luciano represented RENETIL first in Portugal, then in Dublin. Luciano moved to London in October 1998, where he continues to work full-time for East Timor.

Savio and Jakito are also from Lospalos. Shortly after the Indonesian invasion, when he was five, Savio’s entire family escaped to the mountains where they lived on the run for five years. His family then surrendered and were forced to live in a resettlement village.

As a student in Jakarta, Savio worked with both Reuters and the cladestine resistance. Under pressure from the authorities, he was forced to flee and made his way to England in 1996.

Jekito’s and his family also spent time on the run following the invasion of their homeland. After they were forced (largely because of bombing campaigns by U.S. and British war planes) to surrender, his mother was regularly interogated and tortured by the Indonesian military. Jekito began working for the resistance at an early age, and helped organize the protest march on November 12, 1991 at which the military killed over 270 unarmed East Timorese demonstrators. Jekito made his way to England in 1998. Savio and Jekito will be speaking in the U.S. from March 1-March 31.