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	CIAO Focus, March 2002: East Timor
	East Timor is well on the way to becoming the world's newest country. Experts predict that independence hero Xanana Gusmao is likely to win the 14 April vote, though he has repeatedly declared he does not want the job. East Timor has been under United Nation's management since its 1999 vote for independence. The Indonesian military's post-independence departure was devastating, leaving an estimated 1,000 deaths and the destruction of East Timor's infrastructure in its wake. Indonesian supported militia groups are held to be responsible. In January of 2002, East Timor created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to deal with human rights violations committed during the 25 years of occupation by Indonesian forces. Many obstacles remain for East Timor, not the least of which is healing societal rifts and coming to terms with Indonesia. Come May 19 and 20, the gala celebrations for East Timor's statehood will be in full swing. Dozens of world leaders are expected to attend, though it appears unlikely that Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri will be among them. This month CIAO examines East Timor. From CIAO's database: Shaping East Timor: A Dimension of United Nations Peacekeeping Peacemaking in Civil Wars: Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities Outside Links*: Official Text of February 2002 Draft Constitution http://www.etan.org/etanpdf/pdf2/cnen0202.pdf The United Nations http://www.un.org/peace/etimor/etimor.htm Oxfam http://www.caa.org.au/world/asia/east_timor/ Global Issues http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/EastTimor.asp East Timor Elections http://www.easttimorelections.org/ PBS http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec99/timor_index.html * Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].