Tracing mass riots in east timor after the referendum: Why did they happen?

East Timor was once a part of Indonesia’s history. History revealed that the dynamic problems of East Timor, from its integration until its independence from Indonesia, has caused many controversies to rise. Issues related to East Timor have been important public discourses in both national and international level. In terms of politics, issuesin East Timor are created as " tools” for certain interests. Many groups or individuals who engage in politicstake advantage of the issue of East Timor for defeating their opponent, especially in momentum of politicssuch as an election. This chapter discusses the mass riots which happened in East Timor after the referendum was held. As these mass riots significantly influenced the people, the topic is worthy of further research. Around 60% assets of East Timor in total were damaged. There were huge evacuations which involved around 15 thousand refugees. The mass riots also prompted the fall of Indonesia’s high political elites such as Habibie and Wiranto. Within the discussionsin this chapter, the authors explore why the mass riots could happen. This discussion is necessary for attaining the truth about the issue of East Timor. In analyzing the issue, the authors use historical method, which consists of 4 stages: heuristic, verification, interpretation, and historiography. The authors exhaustively examine biases surrounding the issue so that clearer insight on what really happened may be obtained. Thus, it is expected that this discussion about the mass riots can provide information to resolve East Timor’s main problem, which was being used as a political propaganda.In addition, the findings of this research also sets out the past truth for the present.