9 Remembering the Dead in Post-Independence Timor-Leste

Abstract

How have the estimated 102,800 Timorese who were killed or otherwise died as a result of the Indonesian occupation been remembered in Timor-Leste’s post-independence period? While Timor-Leste’s state has remembered the deceased through a lens of heroism and martyrdom, international human rights institutions in Timor-Leste, such as the CAVR, have remembered the deceased through a lens of victimhood. The chapter compares and contrasts the state’s framing of the dead as heroes and martyrs with the CAVR’s framing of the dead as victims and asks why the state’s framing has come to dominate in the present day. This chapter is based on data from over three years of work and research in Timor-Leste, spanning the years 2002-2013.