Altogether 16 countries are now providing forces for the intervention, which was mandated by the UN Security Council. It began September 20. While the majority– 3,600 out of 6,000 personnel–are provided by Australia, New Zealand soldiers and British Army Gurkha troops from Nepal are also playing a prominent role, along with forces from France. Troops from Thailand and South Korea have also arrived, joining soldiers from the Philippines.

The USS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship with 1,800 U.S. sailors and marines and four CH 53 Sea Stallion heavy lift helicopters, is stationed five miles off the coast of East Timor.

East Timor, formerly a Portuguese colony, had been under Indonesian military occupation since 1975 when Jakarta invaded with imperialist backing to prevent the East Timorese from consolidating their newly won independence. East Timorese resistance to this brutal occupation remained undefeated, and deepened as struggles against the Indonesian regime began to open up in Indonesia itself.

A UN-organized referendum on August 30 saw a landslide vote in favor of independence despite a reign of terror by the Indonesian military and the "militia" death squads organized by the military. Following the announcement of the poll result September 4, a wave of killing, burning, looting and forced deportation was unleashed against the population. This provided the pretext for Washington, the Australian government in Canberra, and other imperialist powers to mount their intervention, which is dubbed "Operation Stabilize."

Xanana Gusmao, the leader of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), the pro-independence umbrella group formed last year, declared in Melbourne October 11, "We will start very quickly a provisional administration, a local, regional administration, waiting for the time to form an East Timorese authority under the supervision of the United Nations." The CNRT and the pro-independence guerrilla army Falantil have de facto authority over large areas, especially in the east of East Timor.

The population of Dili, the capital–which is described in the Australian press as a "virtual armed camp" — has risen to 50,000, about half the former total. Out of a population of 890,000 people up to 300,000 East Timorese remain camped out in the mountains and bush, while about 150,000 people of Indonesian origin are estimated to have returned to Indonesia.

Some 260,000 East Timorese are still in camps in West Timor where they were forced to go by the Indonesian army and the rightist paramilitary gangs it organizes. Around 2,100 had returned to East Timor as of October 19 in specially organized charter flights following Indonesian government agreement. More were expected to return rapidly, but 10 days later that had not happened.

The UN Security Council voted October 25 to put together an 11,000-strong "peacekeeping" force to replace the current Australian-led "Operation Stabilize." The Malaysian government had stated in mid-October it was ready to take command of this UN peacekeeping force, which is projected to last two or three years.

Responding to this CNRT leader Jose Ramos Horta denounced Malaysia and other southeast Asian governments as "accomplices of Indonesia." He declared, "We can accept Australian command. We can accept New Zealand command. We can accept Fiji command."

UN secretary general Kofi Annan told reporters October 25 it was undecided what government would head up the UN force.

Meanwhile, UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson is pressing ahead with an inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor, aiming to report to the UN Security Council by December 31. The imperialist powers pushed through an emergency session of the Commission which voted 32–12 for the inquiry September 27.

An estimate of the number of people killed by the Indonesian military and the death squads they organized in the period immediately before and after the August 30 referendum is yet to be released, but dozens of bodies are being discovered in shallow graves or washed up on beaches.

The inquiry will investigate these atrocities as part of efforts by the imperialist powers to place their stamp on political life in East Timor, and to win backing for their intervention, while papering over imperialism's complicity in the 24 year Indonesian occupation of East Timor.  
 
 
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