A row about medals reveals disputes about East Timor’s history

THE PRISON in the six interconnected bungalows of Comarca became notorious during the 24 years that Indonesia occupied East Timor. Many of those locked up there for resisting the occupation did not survive its torture cells. Comarca is now occupied by Centro Nacional Chega! (CNC), an institution set up in 2016 to continue the work of the truth commission established after the Timorese voted for independence in a UN-supervised referendum in 1999.

Comarca has in recent weeks been receiving more foreign visitors than usual. Many were in Dili for a party to mark the 20th anniversary of the referendum on August 30th. The Timorese paid a big price for freedom. The Indonesian army and its local militias went on the rampage, killing at least 1,400 Timorese and reducing the country to ashes. Recently declassified American documents show that the American and Australian governments knew about the Indonesian army’s intentions for months, but did nothing. They acted only when the country was already burning.