Charlotte Clayton – Jose Ramos-Horta is the Fretilin activist and self styled Foreign Minister of a nonexisting Republic.

On December 11, 1996 Jose was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. A prize that puts him in the same league as Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Schweitzer, Willy Brandt, Albert Lutuli and Martin Luther King.

The Million Dollar Peace Prize question is, does Jose Ramos-Horta really deserve the honor bestowed upon him by the Nobel Peace Prize Trustees?

As one of the leaders of the Fretilin movement tagged by Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Alatas as the "Achilles Heel for Indonesia," perhaps it is best and more effective if Jose's brother Arsenio Ramos-Horta gives the answer, as it is he who has suffered at the hands of the Fretilin.

After all, are not Jose's Fretilin based activities the main reason for the Nobel Peace Prize Trustees giving him the honor?Arsenio Ramos-Horta wrote of his experiences as a Fretilin prisoner in his book 'The Eyewitness': " I wanted to write this "memoir' about my own experience of three years in the jungles of East Timor, most of the time as a prisoner and some times just as a free man, in order to let the thousands of relatives of the prisoners who were massacred by Fretilin between the years of 1975 to 1978, know about the sufferings and hard-ships."

"Their beloved ones had endured, as far as they also suffered like myself. A few of us had survived but the majority were chopped down by Fretilin guns, and burried away in com-mon graves or in unknown spots of this beautiful island, that become bloody red sprayed during the short period of Fretilin domination."

"Violence and extortions were order of the day, until the East Timorese population re-acted against such a regime of terror and asked for the closest neighbor to assist them to get rid of Fretilin. Thus, it ended the era of terror, bloodshed and suffering. Once the critical condi-tions of East Timor had eased, the people of East Timor chose to live together with his nearest neighbor and be part of the Indonesian nation. Since then, East Timor is enjoying a steady process in the various sectors of modern life.

"In my point of view, I am sure that, in the years to come, East Timor will be out of its backwardness and stand proudly developed".

A Nobel Peace Prize for Jose Ramos-Horta and the Fretilin he stands for? Using the same criteria one may ask why not posthumous Nobel Peace Prizes for Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini? Going by what his brother Arsenio Ramos-Horta has to say about what Jose's Fretilin has done to him, one can only draw the conclusion that placing Jose Ramos-Horta and his Fretilin on the same footing as these two world war criminals would be more appropriate.

Jose Ramos-Horta has his Nobel Peace Prize. Unlike the many others before it, the ceremony was splashed all over the television screens around the world. There was no effort to conceal one bit of the presentation's political motivation. It seems peace is far from the minds of the Nobel Peace Prize Trustees when they decide to give Jose Ramos-Horta the same status as other recipients like Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.

Judging from Arsenio Ramos-Horta's last words in his book, it should be obvious that the Nobel Peace Prize Trustees are way off the mark with their decision to give his brother Jose a pat on the back: "Before closing these pages of my experience of Fretilin brutalities I want to leave a message to the Fretilin men who are still outside East Timor and trying to harass our Government with false accusations and propaganda.

"To all of you, who always claim to work for East Timor in order to bring its people to prosperity, stability, peace and well being, you should work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Indonesian Government, in order to gain complete recognition of the integration, as it is the wish of the whole people of East Timor.

"You claim that you are prepared to work for East Timor. You should come back to this beautiful island in order to give your participation on the great mission the Central Gov-ernment is undertaking to bring East Timor prosperity. There are many fields of work which you could participate in as a good citizen of Indonesia, and through which the development for a better Timor will be appreciated.

"You should be realistic about the facts. Your foolish adventure caused too many deaths and misery in East Timor, the people have suffered a lot and now want only peace which has been accomplished by the right decision to opt for integration.

"You are not loyal to your own people when you say you are working for them, when you keep accusing the legitimate Government of brutalities carried out by yourself. When the Government has done its best to bring peace and stability among the people; it was not an easy task for the Central Government to achieve success in bringing East Timor back to normal. You should open your eyes to the reality and receiving since the integration.

"My last word here goes to my dear brother Jose Ramos-Horta: Our mother was saved from a certain miserable death by the Security Forces and so you should think twice, before you speak against Indonesia". – Arsenio Ramos-Horta