The island of Timor lies to the north of Australia and is located at the tip of the chain of islands forming the Republic of Indonesia. The western part of the island belonged to the Netherlands Indies and became part of Indonesia when the country attained independence. The Territory of East Timor comprises the eastern part of the island, the enclave of Oecusse Ambeno, the island of Atauro off the northern coast, and the island of Jaco off the extreme eastern tip.
 

Portuguese traders first visited the island of Timor about 1520 and several settlements were established. the dutch arrived about 1613 and established their colonies in the south-western portion, as the Portuguese moved to the north and east.
In 1859, a treaty between Portugal and the Netherlands divided the island. East Timor, including the enclave of Oecusse Ambeno and the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, kept the status of a Portuguese colony until 1951, when it was proclaimed an "overseas province" and, as such, and integral part of Portugal. In 1960, the General Assembly determined that, as was the case for other Territories under Portuguese administration, East Timor was a Non-Self-Governing Territory within the meaning of Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations.
In April 1977, the government of Portugal informed the United Nations that conditions prevailing in East Timor prevented it from assuming its responsibilities towards the Territory as set down in the United Nations Charter. The United Nations continues to hold Portugal responsible for administering East Timor.
                                                                                                                                        
Every year, in a letter addressed to the Secretary-general, the Portuguese Government reiterates its inability, given the reality of the situation in East Timor, to submit to him information called for by the Charter. Indonesia maintains that the process of decolonization in East Timor has been completed as its people have chosen independence through integration with Indonesia.

After the overthrow of the Marcello Caetano regime in Portugal in April 1974, the new Portuguese Government acknowledged the right to self-determination, including independence, of the colonial Territories under its administration. following that, organized political movements began to emerge in East Timor.

In late 1974, Portuguese authorities undertook negotiations on decolonization with the three main political parties: the Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independente (FRETILIN), which demanded complete independence after a brief transitional period; the União Democrática Timorense (UDT), which supported continuation of the Portuguese presence; and the Associação Popular Democrática de Timor (APODETI), which favoured integration with Indonesia.
In May 1975, after a short-lived coalition with FRETILIN, UDT leaders announced that their party would accept integration with Indonesia if that was the wish of the people of East Timor. In July, the Portuguese Government passed a law providing for a transitional government which would prepare for the election of a Popular Assembly, to be responsible for determining the future constitutional status of the Territory. Portuguese sovereignty was to be terminated in October 1978 unless some other agreement was reached between Portugal and the Popular Assembly. After civil war broke out in the Territory in the second half of 1975, Portugal, unable to control the situation, withdrew its military and civilian personnel.

In November 1975, FRETILIN unilaterally declared independence of the Territory and the establishment of the "Democratic Republic of East Timor". On 1 December, APODETI, UDT and two smaller parties also proclaimed the Territory's independence and its integration with Indonesia. On 7 December, Indonesian troops landed in the East Timorese capital of Dili. Ten days later, the pro-Indonesian parties declared the establishment of a "Provisional Government of East Timor". Subsequently, in May 1976, the "Provisional Government" held elections in areas under its control for a "Regional Popular Assembly" which, at its first meeting, called for East Timor's integration with Indonesia.
 

Under an Indonesian law promulgated on 17 July 1976, East Timor was designated as an Indonesian province or a "first level region".

East Timorese participate in the work of the National House of Representatives and in the People's Consultative Assembly of Indonesia.

In April 1987, general elections for the National Assembly were held in Indonesia. According to an official Indonesia report, 360,144 voters registered with the East Timor Elections Committee. Of the total, 338,078 (93.7 per cent) voted for the ruling Functional Group (GOLKAR).

In September 1987, Mr. Mario Carrascalao was sworn in for a second five-year term as "Governor" of East Timor by the Indonesian Minister for Home Affairs.

According to a July 1990 press release issued by the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations, two new battalions of the Indonesian armed forces had replaced the six battalions deployed previously in the Territory. The two new battalions reportedly were to be "specifically assigned with civic missions to work with the local people in development projects such as agriculture, building of infrastructure in villages and building of houses of worship".
A 1989 United States Department of State report affirmed that frequent military operations were conducted in the Territory where FRETILIN rebels continued sporadic activities in low-level insurgencies.

Pope John Paul II visited East Timor in October 1989. During his four-hour stay in Dili, the Pope celebrated an outdoor mass at the end of which a melee broke out between anti-government demonstrators and police officers.

In December 1989, a bipartisan group of 114 members of the United States House of Representatives wrote to the United States Secretary of State stating that they were "deeply disturbed" at reports of arrests following a 12 October 1989 demonstration in Dili during the Pope's visit. They said that the use of torture to extract confessions "would fall into a well-established pattern in East Timor ... of mistreatment and abuse of detainees in the period immediately following arrest."

The Foreign Affairs Directorate for Information of Indonesia reported that a parliamentary delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany visited East Timor in September 1989.
The United Nations Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. John Monjo, visited East Timor in January 1990.
 

The United States Department of State publication, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, Indonesia, reported that despite progress in some areas, including greater freedom of movement for Indonesians and foreigners to and within East Timor, as well as continued tolerance for ethnic, racial and religious differences, serious human rights problems remained. These included periodic detentions of East Timorese suspected of being FRETILIN sympathisers, temporary disappearance of persons held for interrogation by security forces, harsh sentences meted out in several subversion trials, continued significant restrictions on freedom of the press and movement, and pervasive military controls which ensure continued military domination of the Government.

According to Amnesty International's report entitled East Timor: Short Term Detention and Ill Treatment, some 25 East Timorese, most of them students, were detained for their alleged participation in a series of pro-independence demonstrations during the period from October 1989 to January 1990. Many of the detainees were reportedly released after questioning, but a number were reported to have been ill-treated or tortured at the time of arrest and while in detention. It was believed that at least 10 remained in various military detention centres in December 1989, although military and government authorities denied that information.

Most of detained were accused, either formally or informally, of association with FRETILIN. According to the report, almost all reported political prisoners in East Timor over the past 14 years were similarly accused.
An Asia Watch report entitled Human Rights in Indonesia and East Timor: An Update reported that the Indonesian presence, with tens of thousands of civil servants and security forces, tight restrictions on basic freedoms and widespread corruption, caused deep resentment of the population of East Timor in April, May and June 1989, and some 75 persons were believed to have been arrested in Dili, Lospalos, Manatuto, Baucau and Lachbar, the report added.

According to a press release from the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations, the prevailing economic and social conditions in East Timor could be described as follows:

"Education was compulsory for children from seven to 12 years of age;

"East Timor has managed to construct 565 school buildings for no less that 105,058 students;

"More than 50 per cent of the junior high school graduates in East Timor were accommodated in the senior high school in 1989;

"Senior high school as at the end of 1989 had the capacity to accommodate 3,910 new students;

"At the beginning of 1990 fiscal year, the management of the East Timor budget will be transferred fully to the local government level II (regencies);

"Local government of East Timor in fiscal year 1988/89 procured 205,000 fish breed for fishermen. This breeding procurement consists of 200,000 fish breeds from central government funds and the rest from sectoral funds;

"The production of fish in East Timor at the end of 1989 reached 702.95 tons, consisting of 39.95 tons of inland fish and 663 tons of sea fish;

"As of 31 March 1989, East Timor had 2,325 kilometres of roads, and 19 bridges with a total length of 959 metres;

"In 1984, the plantation acreage was recorded at about 148,000 hectares, producing about 20,811 tons of commodities."

In 1989, the total plantation acreage in the Territory was estimated by Indonesian authorities to have increased to 164,867 hectares.

According to Indonesian foreign Affairs Directorate for Information, East Timor is available for tourist travel. The same source indicated that the necessary travel, communications and housing facilities and supporting activities had been found adequate to accommodate vacationers in Dili, Ainaro, Covalima, Aileu, Ermera, Liquica, Bobonaro and Ambeno.
On 11 December 1989, Indonesia and Australia signed a comprehensive agreement for a zone of co-operation for exploration and exploitation of offshore oil resources in the maritime area between East Timor and northern Australia, known as the Timor gap.

The Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations informed the Secretary General soon afterwards that the two Governments had agreed to take appropriate steps in order to sign and ratify a treaty, together with
its annexes, on establishment of the zone of co-operation. Through the treaty, the two countries aimed at jointly exploring and exploiting petroleum resources in the maritime area.

The Permanent Representative's letter protested that the signature and ratification of such a treaty would constitute a blatant breach of international law, namely of the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, since Indonesia lacked the legitimacy to undertake any commitments regarding East Timor.

The 1989 United States Department of State report on East Timor indicated that the Territory had remained a traditional food-deficit area, relying primarily on shifting "slash and burn" farming techniques. Dislocation and damage caused by the insurgency had undermined agricultural production, according to the report. Restrictions on movement in areas of military operations had reduced or delayed planting, with a further negative pact on food production.

The report noted that although East Timor had avoided serious food shortage and there was no immediate risk of famine, the food situation in parts of the Territory was precarious and required careful monitoring.

The Government recently eased access by some foreign observers to the Territory. In October 1988, an Australian State Chief Minister accompanied by journalists and some former East Timor residents visited the Territory. In December 1988, the Indonesian government announced that as of January 1989, special travel requirements would no longer be in effect for East Timorese travelling to "other provinces" or for Indonesians from "other provinces" travelling to East Timor.
 

East Timor was reportedly able to increase revenue up to 24.67 billion rupias (Rp1,840 = $US1.00) for the 1988/89 budget. That amount reportedly included genuine domestic earning of Rp 1.56 billion, contributions of Rp 8.44 billion and the Indonesian Government's aid of Rp12 billion.
 

In November 1982, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to initiate consultations on East Timor with all parties concerned with a view to promoting a comprehensive settlement of the problem.
Since 1983, the Secretary-General has kept the General Assembly apprised of related developments in exercise of his good offices. In his latest progress report, submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth (1990) session, the Secretary-General stated that he had obtained the reaffirmation, from both Indonesia and Portugal, of their continued commitment to achieving a comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution to the question of East Timor.
Meanwhile the question has been the subject of annual review by the Special committee on decolonization. The latest review was in August 1990.

Portugal's Representative told the Special Committee then that his Government was taking part in talks which, under the auspices of the United Nations secretary-General, had been held with Indonesian representatives. The talks aimed at reaching agreement on the terms of reference, modalities and timing that would eventually allow a visit by a Portuguese parliamentary delegation to East Timor to take part in the near future.