A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor - Hardcover

Nevins, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801443067 ISBN 13: 9780801443060

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2000

Synopsis

On August 30, 1999, in a United Nations-sponsored ballot, East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia and for an end to a brutal military occupation. Upon the announcement of the result, Indonesian troops and their paramilitary proxies launched a wave of terror that, over three weeks, resulted in the murder of more than 1,000 people, the rape of untold numbers of women and girls, the razing of 70 percent of the country's buildings and infrastructure, and the forcible deportation of 250,000 people. In recounting these horrible acts and the preceding events, Joseph Nevins shows that what took place was only the final scene in more than two decades of atrocities. More than 200,000 people, about a third of the population, lost their lives due to Indonesia's 1975 invasion and subsequent occupation, making the East Timorese case proportionately one of the worst episodes of genocide since World War II.

In A Not-So-Distant Horror, Nevins reveals the international complicity at the center of the East Timor tragedy. In his view, much if not all of the horror that plagued East Timor in 1999 and in the 24 preceding years could have been avoided had countries like Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and especially the United States, not provided Indonesia with valuable political, economic, and military assistance, as well as diplomatic cover. The author explores issues of accountability for East Timor's plight and probes the meaning of what took place in terms of international institutions and law. Examining issues such as violence, the geography of memory, and social power, Nevins makes clear that the case of East Timor has much to tell us about the contemporary world order.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Joseph Nevins’s book is a magnificent memorial to the people of East Timor and a damning indictment of international powers, like the United States, that armed, trained, and financed the Indonesian army’s quarter-century reign of terror. Nevins eloquently moves from the horrifying reality of the slaughter on the ground to the international political elite who allowed it to happen, and go unpunished. A Not-So-Distant Horror goes beyond Timor because the bravery and endurance of the people of East Timor are a lesson to us all."—Amy Goodman, Host and Executive Producer, Democracy Now!

From the Inside Flap:

"In a book that is both sophisticated and widely accessible, Joseph Nevins documents the suffering endured by the people of East Timor from the invasion of 1975 through the failed process of accountability following the 1999 referendum and independence. Along the way, Nevins wrestles with why some lives seem to matter a lot and others almost not at all. A Not-So-Distant Horror is one of the best books about East Timor's long and painful path to freedom."—Jeffrey Winters, Northwestern University

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0801443067
• ISBN 13: 9780801443060
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296