Past events Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace prize winner and Former President of the Democratic Republic of East-Timor

Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace prize winner and Former President of the Democratic Republic of East-Timor

timor-2On the 24 January, Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace prize winner and Former President of the Democratic Republic of East-Timor held a Press Conference.
Dr José Ramos-orta is in Brussels to participate in the Political Dialogue with the European Union under Article 8 of the ACP-EU partnership (Cotonou) Agreement.

Before he was renown as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. José Ramos-Horta was known internationally as a fiery advocate for the people of East Timor and at the same time, a highly skilled diplomat, negotiator, and peace maker. In exile from his country for the better part of three decades, he had been the international voice of the Timorese population while they struggled to survive as a nation against one of the most brutal regimes of our time.

From 1975 to 1999 East-Timor, a former Portuguese colony at the bottom of the Indonesian archipelago, was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. Over the course of the 24 year invasion, one third of the Timorese population perished.

In exile for the entire occupation, José Ramos-Horta worked to build a human rights network to defend the rights of the Timorese — walking the halls of the UN, addressing the security council, and working tirelessly to ensure his people were not forgotten while they suffered.

Nobel Peace Prize, East-Timor Independence

In 1996, José Ramos-Horta and Timorese Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work toward a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.”

In 1999 the United Nations sponsored a referendum, allowing the Timorese people to vote between independence, and remaining a part of Indonesia. The country voted overwhelmingly for independence.

But the story was not over. When the referendum results came in, pro-Indonesia militia who had been put in place across the countryside were unleashed, virtually burning the country to the ground. 85% of the buildings in Timor were set aflame. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced – at gunpoint – to West Timor and other parts of Indonesia. An unknown number, including foreign journalists, and men, women and children taking refuge in Churches, were massacred.

The rampage was halted by the arrival of a UN peacekeeping force on September 20, 1999. The UN then established an interim government to administer the country and prepare the country for the transition to democracy.

José Ramos-Horta returned from exile on December 1, 1999. Throngs of Timorese crowded the airport and streets to greet him and celebrate his arrival home. Assuming the post of Senior Minister in the new government, he quickly began work to help build a new democratic government in his country, becoming one of the chief architects of the new country’s government.

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