A/HRC/42/37/Add.2 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on her visit to Timor-Leste I. Introduction 1. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, presents the findings of her visit to Timor-Leste from 8 to 16 April 2019. She thanks the Government for having invited her and for its excellent cooperation during the visit. 2. During her visit, she met with the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Minister for Legislative Reform and Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister for Education, Youth and Sports, the Minister for Justice, the Secretary of State for Equality and Inclusion, the Secretary of State for the Environment, senior representatives of several ministries, members of the judiciary, the President of the Court of Appeal, parliamentarians and several traditional Elders (Lia Nain), as well as with representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the independent national human rights institution (Provedoria de Direitos Humanos e Justiça), a broad range of civil society organizations and the United Nations country team. 3. She held meetings in Dili and visited communities in Ermera, Liquiçá and Atauro. She had several separate meetings with women throughout the visit. 4. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur studied diverse issues affecting indigenous peoples, including customary justice systems, community land issues, education, conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. The present report takes into account recommendations previously issued by other human rights mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, who visited the country in 2011 (A/HRC/20/25/Add.1). II. Indigenous history and identity in Timor-Leste 5. The vast majority of the population of Timor-Leste is of Malay-Polynesian and Melanesian-Papuan origin. The history of the first indigenous peoples in Timor-Leste has been traced back some 40,000 years through archaeological sites and rock paintings. The early inhabitants had high-level maritime and fishing skills. Indigenous legends refer to creation myths whereby a giant crocodile turned into the island of Timor. 6. In the thirteenth century Javanese and Chinese traders visited and in the fifteenth century Dutch and Portuguese arrived, subsequently resulting in Timor-Leste becoming a Portuguese colony for over 400 years. The colonial presence was concentrated on the coast. Despite the introduction of Roman Catholicism, the strong animist beliefs of most Timorese remain to the present day. 7. Japan occupied Timor-Leste during the Second World War, after which Portugal resumed colonial rule. Timor-Leste unilaterally declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975. Days later Indonesia invaded and annexed the territory as its twenty-seventh province. The annexation was never recognized by the United Nations. It is estimated that the ensuing 24-year period of occupation cost the lives of over 100,000 Timorese due to violence, disease and famine. 1 In the 1999 referendum, an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. After a period of United 1 2 Chega!: The Final Report of the Timor-Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), 2005.