For Peace and Justice, one in a series of videos about winners of Nobel Peace Prizes, relates the activities and struggles of 1996 co-winners Bishop Carlos Belo and Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta to secure peace and independence for the people of East Timor which was occupied by Indonesia in 1975. East Timor was a Portuguese colony, but after a military coup and change of government in Portugal in 1974, the Portuguese withdrew rapidly from East Timor. Leaders of parties in East Timor declared independence, but Indonesia, with approval of United States and Australian governments, invaded East Timor in 1975 and occupied it, all governments fearing it could become a communist Cuba in the region. A decade earlier a fiercely anti-Communist government under General Suharto came to power in Indonesia. He became President, and initiated a New Order government devoted to economic development but also allowing little political or press freedom in Indonesia. It is estimated that almost one-third of East Timorese died in the fighting and from starvation during the early years of the occupation.
Jose Ramos-Horta was a member of the Fretilin party which became dominant in East Timor (and which the Indonesia claimed was communist). It fought the Indonesian military for the next two decades. He went into exile and led efforts to petition support for East Timor among governments and in the United Nations which voted ten times for Indonesian withdrawal from East Timor. Indonesia remained adamant and claims the area as its 27th province. Ramos-Horta was recognized by the Nobel Committee for his own peace plan which is outlined in the film.
Jose Belo was appointed Bishop by Pope John Paul. He was young and had little pastoral experience, and the film outlines his maturation and his efforts over two decades to help and protect his people and be a buffer between them and Indonesian officials. The film uses on-camera discussions by Belo and Ramos-Horta; commentaries by foreign academics, and church and human rights activists knowledgeable about East Timor; and some film smuggled from East Timor. One such film is of the 1991 killing and wounding of scores of mourners by Indonesian soldiers at a cemetery following a funeral conducted by Bishop Belo for an East Timor youth and an Indonesian soldier who had died in a demonstration for independence.
Only one Indonesian is interviewed, a well-known Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid, who speaks about the difficulty of Belo's role and his strength. The only East Timorese interviewed are young men describing beatings and torture by Indonesian soldiers. The film focuses upon the co-winners of the Nobel Prizes: it is not an overall portrayal of events in East Timor though it packs considerable information into 27 minutes and it is moving. It is intended primarily for school use, Grade 9 to Adult. The film comes with master lists of questions, a "Listening Guide" and "Discussion Questions", and with a "Leader's Guide" which tells how best to use the film, gives answers to the questions, and has a guide to follow-up activities.
