Historical Organization
East Timor
East Timor
Details
Organization Timeline
President Habibie offers East Timor a choice on autonomy
📅 27 January 1999Indonesian President B. J. Habibie announced that East Timor could choose between special autonomy within Indonesia and separation. The proposal followed 24 years of Indonesian occupation and East...
Indonesia and Portugal sign agreements for an East Timor consultation
📅 5 May 1999The agreements assigned the UN a role in organizing a direct popular consultation on a proposed autonomy arrangement. They followed prolonged East Timorese resistance and international pressure, but...
UN Mission in East Timor begins preparations for the popular consultation
📅 11 June 1999Security Council Resolution 1246 established UNAMET to organize and conduct the ballot. The mission made self-determination operational through registration and voting, while violence and intimidation...
East Timorese voters reject the proposed autonomy arrangement
📅 30 August 1999Nearly 98 percent of registered voters participated; 78.5 percent rejected special autonomy within Indonesia. The result expressed a clear popular demand for a transition toward independence after...
The UN announces East Timor’s vote for independence
📅 3 September 1999The Secretary-General announced that 78.5 percent had voted against autonomy and said the UN would support the East Timorese choice. Pro-integration militias then escalated violence and forced...
Security Council authorizes an international force for East Timor
📅 15 September 1999Resolution 1264 authorized a multinational force to restore peace and security after post-ballot violence. The intervention helped protect the transition, while also raising questions about the...
United Nations establishes a transitional administration in East Timor
📅 25 October 1999Security Council Resolution 1272 gave UNTAET broad administrative authority and tasked it with supporting self-government and reconstruction. The arrangement enabled the transition to independence but...
East Timorese voters elect a Constituent Assembly
📅 30 August 2001More than 91 percent of eligible voters participated in elections for an assembly tasked with drafting a constitution and preparing the transition to independence. The vote advanced self-government...