Genocide
Promoting Change and Understanding Through Non-Violent Means
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, a Roman Catholic bishop, played an instrumental role in bringing peace to East Timor during the Indonesian occupation, from 1975-99. He was born in 1948 in Wailakama, a small rural village in East Timor, where he attended Catholic schools. In 1973, Belo traveled to Portugal to study theology and philosophy in preparation for the priesthood. During his absence, East Timor was granted independence from Portugal, but was subsequently invaded by Indonesia. The Indonesian occupation lasted 24 years and resulted in more than 200,000 deaths. In 1980, Belo was ordained as a priest in Portugal and returned to East Timor to serve as director of Fatumaca College. Eight years later, Belo was appointed apostolic administrator of the Dili Diocese by Indonesian President Suharto. In his new position, Belo assumed leadership of the Catholic Church of East Timor and became an outspoken representative
of the people. Within five months after his appointment, Belo delivered a sermon protesting the brutalities of the Kraras Massacre in 1975, in which Indonesia invaded and forcibly annexed East Timor. Despite multiple attempts on his life, Belo continued to publicly object to the ruthless and oppressive policies of the Indonesian government. He organized multiple nationwide peaceful protests which culminated in the eventual discharge of two Indonesian military generals. Throughout the movement for East Timor’s independence, Belo remained an avid believer in nonviolent resistance. In an open statement in 1994 he demanded that the government withdraw its military force, grant basic civil rights to its citizens and allow East Timor to conduct a democratic referendum, which was a chief contributing factor to East Timor’s independence in 2002. Belo was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1996 for his selfless efforts to bring peace and democracy to East Timor.
Speaking Truth to Genocide
Elie Wiesel was brought up in a closely knit Jewish community in Sighet, Transylvania (Romania). When he was fifteen years old, his family was herded aboard a train and deported by Nazis to the Auschwitz death camp. Wiesel’s mother and younger sister died at Auschwitz—two older sisters survived. Wiesel and his father were then taken to Buchenwald, where his father also perished. In his autobiography, Wiesel writes: “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a
silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself. Never.” Wiesel has devoted his life to ensuring that the world does not forget the atrocities of the Nazis, and that they are not repeated. After the war, Wiesel became a journalist in Paris, ending his silence about his experiences during the Holocaust with the publication of Night in 1958. Translated into twenty-five languages, with millions of copies in print around the world, Night is a searing account of the Nazi death camps. Wiesel has since written more than forty books, and won numerous awards for his writing and advocacy. He served as the chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, and was the founding chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. For his literary and human rights activities, he has received numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Liberty Award, and the rank of Grand-Croix in the French Legion of Honor. In 1986 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Wiesel teaches at Boston University and travels the globe advocating for human rights and the discussion of ethical issues.
Reconciliation
José Ramos-Horta received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his uncompromising and indefatigable work on behalf of the people of East Timor, brutally invaded by Indonesia in 1975. Muslim West Timor became part of Indonesia in 1946, while East Timor, settled in 1520 by the Portuguese with different language, religion, and customs, remained a colony until Portugal’s withdrawal in 1975. Twenty-five-year-old José Ramos-Horta was named foreign minister of the newly formed government in November 1975, but only a month later, Indonesian troops massed around the capital city, Dili, and, as Ramos-Horta’s plane touched down in Portugal, he was told that Indonesia had taken control of his country. In the years following the invasion, one-third of the population was to lose their lives to massacres, starvation, epidemics, and terror. Throughout the next two decades, Ramos-Horta traveled the globe speaking out against abuses, and, in 1992, he put forth a peace plan which called for a phased withdrawal of Indonesian troops culminating in a referendum in which the people of East Timor would vote for independence, integration into Indonesia, or free association with Portugal. When the September 1999 vote showed that 80 percent of Timorese had voted for independence, Indonesian armed forces and their militia allies went on a rampage. They massacred hundreds, burned to the ground 70 percent of the standing structures in the country, set fire to crops, killed thousands of farm animals, and destroyed major sewer systems and electric lines. Hundreds of thousands were forced into exile at gun-point. Ramos-Horta led the international charge against the slaughter, and, because of his appeals, the United Nations sent in troops to stop the violence. In December 1999, after twenty-four years in exile, José Ramos-Horta finally went home again to a free and independent East Timor. In May 2007, Ramos-Horta began serving as president of East Timor having previously served in other important government positions. In September 2008, Ramos-Horta survived an assassination attempt that left him critically injured. He fully recovered and served out his term as President of East TImor, leaving office on May 19, 2012.
