Timor Chronology

CANBERRA, Jan 12 AAP - Key events leading to the government's policy shift towards an act of self-determination for East Timor.

April 1974: Left-wing officers stage coup in Lisbon and vow to end Portugal's empire, which includes East Timor.

Aug 1975: Pro-independence nationalist group Fretilin takes control of East Timor after brief civil war.

Oct 1975: Indonesian troops cross border from West Timor. Five reporters working for Australian television killed at Balibo.

Dec 7, 1975: Indonesia invades with sea and air landings at Dili. A sixth Australian journalist killed.

April 1976: UN Security Council calls on Indonesia to withdraw.

July 1976: Indonesia unilaterally declares East Timor its 27th province.

Jan 1978: Australia gives de facto recognition of Indonesian takeover.

1985: Amnesty International reports widespread human rights abuses by Indonesian forces over the past 10 years, citing estimates that up to 200,000 East Timorese have been killed.

Aug 1985: Then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke recognises Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor.

Jan 1989: Indonesia declares East Timor an "open" province, lifting most travel restrictions for outsiders.

Feb 1989: Head of Catholic Church in East Timor, Bishop Carlos Belo, writes to UN secretary general, appealing for a referendum on the future of the territory.

Dec 1989: Australia and Indonesia sign Timor Gap Treaty.

Nov 12 1991: Indonesian troops fire on a memorial procession in Dili, marking the death of one of the men killed on Oct 28. Foreign observers witness and film the massacre. Toll unknown, official figures range from 19 to 50, but other estimates range up to 271.

Feb 1992: Preliminary report by Indonesian inquiry into Dili shootings leads to the removal of two generals.

April 1992: Final report of official inquiry puts Dili toll at about 50, with 90 missing. Indonesian courts subsequently sentence 13 East Timorese charged with involvement with the demonstration to jail terms of between six months and life. Courts martial sentence 10 soldiers to between eight and 18 months for disobedience and misconduct during the handling of the demonstration.

Sept 1992: The East Timor resistance movement releases new study putting Dili toll at 273, with a further 255 people said to have disappeared and 376 people injured.

Sept 1992: Indonesia appoints a new East Timor governor, who takes a tough line on pro-independence activity.

Nov 1992: Xanana Gusmao, guerrilla leader, captured in Dili.

March 1993: United Nations Human Rights Commission passes resolution strongly critical of Indonesia's human rights record in East Timor.

July 1993: Xanana Gusmao sentenced to life in jail. Sentence later reduced to 20 years.

July 1994: Alleged sacrilege by Indonesian troops prompts hundreds to take part in the biggest demonstration in the East Timor capital since Dili massacre.

Oct 1994: Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and exiled East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta hold their first ever meeting. Both say meeting useful but no concrete results emerged.

Dec 1994: UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions reports a climate of fear and mistrust in East Timor. He concludes Dili massacre was "a planned military operation in clear breach of international standards".

Feb 1995: Portugal takes Australia to the International Court of Justice, arguing that the Timor Gap Treaty violates East Timor's right of self-determination.

Feb 1995: Australia concedes that UN talks on the future of East Timor could lead to a vote on independence for the disputed territory, but denies Australia is shifting ground on the issue.

Feb-March 1995: Masked gangs, dubbed "ninjas", re-appear in Dili, accused of being military-backed terror squads. Australia concedes its concerns about events in East Timor may not be penetrating the Indonesian government.

May 1995: 18 East Timorese asylum seekers reach Darwin, the first East Timorese boat people to do so.

June 1995: Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas describes East Timor as a "chicken and egg" problem, with actions by independence supporters and Indonesian troops making a vicious circle.

June 1996: Former National Crime Authority chairman Tom Sherman finds the five Australia-based newsmen were not murdered in 1975 but probably died in crossfire.

Oct 1996: Indonesia embarrassed when Bishop Belo and Mr Ramos Horta win Nobel Peace Prize.

May 1998: BJ Habibie replaces Suharto as Indonesian president and promises to reduce troop numbers in East Timor.

Nov 1998: Indonesia refuses Mr Sherman access to East Timor to investigate fresh allegations that the newsmen were executed.

Nov 1998: Indonesia denies allegations of a massacre in the East Timor town of Alas.

Nov/Dec 1998: Senate approves an inquiry into past and present foreign policy on East Timor but rejects a proposal for a new inquiry into the five newsmen's deaths.

Jan 1999: Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says the government's move to press Indonesia for an act of self-determination for East Timor had received a mixed response from the Indonesian government.

AAP rmg/kr

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