Name: Jose Alexandre Gusmao
Nom-de-guerre: Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao
Date of Birth: 20 June 1946
Place of Birth: Manatuto, East Timor

Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, was born on June 20, 1946 in Manatuto, on the north coast of East Timor. He was raised in the country, with a brother and five sisters. His father was a school teacher. He completed primary school at the Catholic mission of St Theresa's in Ossu, then went to the Jesuit seminary "Nossa Senhora de Fatima" in Dare and later to night school at the High School in Dili. He began work very early in various jobs: as a chartered surveyor, a teacher, a public servant, a wharf-side worker, a fisherman, a soldier and a labourer. He began writing for the local newspaper, "A Voz de Timor" (the Voice of Timor) in 1974.

The Portuguese colonial administration of Timor began a long over-due process of decolonisation May 1974. Xanana Gusmao joined the left-wing political organisation Fretilin – Revolutionary Front for an Independence East Timor on 20 May 1975. After a brief civil war in which Fretilin prevailed he became Deputy Head of its Department of Information.

On December 7, 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor and Xanana took to the hills with the recently formed national army, Falintil. After President Nicolau Lobato's death in December 1978, and the decimation of almost all Fretilin's resistance leadership Xanana found himself in charge of the reorganisation of the Resistance.

In March 1981, he set out to organise the first National Conference of the Reorganisation of the Country and created the National Council of Revolutionary Resistance, CRRN, during which he was elected leader of the Resistance and Commander-in-Chief of Falintil, a responsibility which he had taken on in practice ever since Lobato's death.

Under his command, in 1983, the resistance initiated the first preliminary talks with the occupying armed forces and negociated a six month ceasefire. He conceived and implemented the Policy of National Unity which translated into increasing contacts with the Catholic Church and the development of a clandestine network in urban areas and other occupied zones. In 1988, the success of the initiative for National Unity enabled Xanana to create the CNRM – National Council of Maubere Resistance.

In the lead up to the year's anniversay of the horrific 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, Xanana was captured on November 20, 1992 by the Indonesian armed forces and imprisoned in Jakarta until his trial in March 1993.

According to an Amnesty International Report (East Timor, Xanana Gusmao - A Briefing; ASA 21/58/97, August 1997), "after his capture [...] Xanana Gusmao was held in secret military custody for 17 days before representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were permitted to see him. During this period he was believed to have been subjected to psychological ill-treatment in the form of sleep deprivation in an apparent attempt to prevent him from concentrating fully on his defence plea. [...] A defence lawyer was appointed [...] just six days before the trial began". In court he denounced the genocidal character of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor in front of the international press. At the conclusion of a trial denounced as farcical by all international observers, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. This sentence was later commuted to 20 years.

In prison, Xanana devoted his time to the elaboration of the strategies of the Resistance, while studying English, Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian language) and Law. He also painted and wrote poetry, cultivating a talent already recognised in 1975, when he won the Timor Poetry Prize with his poem "Maubermadas". Some of his paintings have been sold and the money donated to the Resistance at Xanana's request. In 1994, some of his political essays were published in a book, Timor-Leste - um Povo, uma Patria, (East Timor - a People, a Nation) Ed. Colibri, Lisbon.

In April 1998, at the East Timorese National Convention in the Diaspora, established the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), an even more inclusive body than CNRM. Xanana Gusmao was acclaimed as President of CNRT.

President Habibie of Indonesia proposed that if East Timorese reject the automony plan in a UN-sponsored popular consultation they would be given their independence. Following increasing international pressure to release Xanana Gusmao and so he could take part in negociations concerning the consultation he was transferred from Cipinang Prison to house arrest in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on 10 February 1999. He received vistits from foreign government representatives, including US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer and, Japanese Foreign Minister, Masahiko Komura.

On 30 August 1999 the Timorese people voted overwhelmingly for their independence. A period of intense violence followed and was only stopped by the intervention of a UN auspiced Australian led peace keeping force. Xanana Gusmao was released from house arrest on 7 September 1999 and fled to Australia. It was the end of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and the beginning of the transitional process led by the UN in East Timor.

Due the rapid developments in the East Timorese political process and the general international recognition of Mr. Gusmao's statesmanship and leadership he is genrally recognised as leader of the East Timorese people. Mr. Gusmao is a member of the National Consultative Council, comprised of personnel of the UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor), representatives of the CNRT, pro-autonomy groups and the East Timorese Church.

In December 1999, he was awarded the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for his struggle for Human Rights. He married Australian Kirsty Sword in Dili in July 2000, and the couple's son, Alexandre Sword Gusmao, was born on 30 September, 2000.

Re-elected as President of CNRT by 400 delegates at the August 2000 Congress, shortly after Xanana led celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the ballot.

The CNRT was officially dissolved on 9 June, 2001, following an Extraordinary Conference of the CNRT held 5 to 7 June in Dili. Shortly after, Xanana Gusmao was elected President of the Association of the Veterans of the Resistance.

Publications

• Timor Leste: Um Povo, Uma Patria, Colibri, Lisbon, 1994 Portuguese collection of writings
• Mar Meu, Editora Granito, Faculdade de Letras, Porto University, Porto, 1998 Collection of poetry and paintings in Portuguese and English
• To Resist is to Win: the Autobiography of Xanana Gusmao with selected letters and speeches, Ed. Sarah Niner, Aurora Books, Melbourne, 2000

Awards and Prizes

• 1975 - National Poetry Prize for 'Mauberiadas'
• 1994 - UN Human Right Award, Australia 1995 Honorary Citizen of the City of Brasilia, Brasil
• 1998 - Order of Liberty, Portugal
• 1999 - Sakharov Prize, European Parliament
• 2000 - Order of Merit, New Zealand
• 2000 - Keys to the City of Lisbon, Portugal
• 2000 - Vice-President's Medal, Brasil
• 2000 - Jose Bonifacio Order of Merit, State University of Rio de Janeiro
• 2000 - Kwangju Peace Prize, Korea 2000 Sydney Peace Prize, Australia
• 2001 - United Nations Assocation of Australia, International Peace Award (presented in Melbourne on 10 October, 2001)
• 2001 - Honorary Adult Friend, The World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child (Sweden)