Report on Citizenship Law: East Timor (Timor-Leste) exclusively adopted for the natives were only applicable to the individuals who were naturals or inhabitants of the colony, as defined by the Government’s Council; ‘all other individuals were exempted from those provisions and were guaranteed the full use of all civil and political rights recognised by the laws in force’ [Article 17].19 On the basis of ‘civilizational criteria’, to be ascertained by the administrative authorities (Silva 2012: 132), the indigenous population was divided into two groups: a small group of ‘assimilated natives’ (assimilados), socialised through education and employment in the colonial administration, who enjoyed individual rights (theoretically) on a par with Portuguese citizens in continental Portugal (Taylor-Leech 2008: 157), and a large group of ‘unassimilated natives’, the indigenous population sensu stricto, to whom specific statutes applied and who did not enjoy equal civil or political rights. This categorisation was only abandoned in 1971, with an amendment to the 1933 Constitution20 which eliminated any references to indigenous populations. On 25 April 1974, the ‘Carnation Revolution’ in continental Portugal put an end to the Estado Novo dictatorship and opened the way for decolonisation. East Timor had been declared a ‘non-self-governing territory’ for the purposes of Chapter XI of the UN Charter, by the UN General Assembly, in 1960 (Teles 2001: 587-588), which meant that, from an international perspective, the East Timorese were recognised the right to self-determination and it was understood that ‘steps sh[ould] be taken to transfer all powers to [them], without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom’.21 With the change of government in 1974, Portugal acknowledged its obligations vis-à-vis its overseas possessions under Chapter XI of the UN Charter, and ‘proceeded quite rapidly to grant independence to those possessions’, with the exception of Macau, which was temporarily kept as a ‘Chinese territory under Portuguese administration’ by agreement with the People’s Republic of China, and East Timor (Nygh 2002: 508; Teles 2001: 589). Portugal made preparations for the independence of East Timor, in 1974 and 1975, including the organisation of local elections by the National Decolonisation Commission, between March and July of 1975 (Lisson 2008: 1477), and the setting of a highlevel meeting in Macau, in June 1975, with the main Timorese political forces – FRETILIN,22 UDT23 and APODETI24 – to agree on the terms of the self-determination process (Teles 2001: 592).25 However, these efforts proved fruitless. UDT attempted to seize power in August 1975 19 In case this formulation was not sufficiently clear as to the exclusion of the indigenous population from the exercise of political rights, Article 18 (3) added that the definition of the civil, political and criminal status of the natives should respect the rule according to which they were, in principle, not to be granted political rights regarding ‘institutions of a European character’. Before 1914, the large majority of the indigenous population was already excluded from the political process, as they were not allowed to vote (let alone hold office) for lack of assets and/or of education, which were the constitutional requirements for the exercise of the right to vote (Figueiredo 2004: 294, 304). 20 Law no. 3/71, of 16 August 1971. Text available at https://www.parlamento.pt/Parlamento/ Documents/Lei3_71.pdf [01.10.2016]. 21 Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, of 14 December 1960; text available at http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/1514(XV) [01.10.2016]. 22 Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente), earlier ASDT – Timorese Social Democratic Association (Associação Social-Democrata Timorense) –, which favoured immediate independence from Portugal (Lisson 2008: 1476-1477; Teles 2001: 590). 23 Timorese Democratic Union (União Democrática Timorense), which favoured a federative solution with Portugal (Lisson 2008: 1476; Teles 2001: 590). 24 Timorese Popular Democratic Association (Associação Popular Democrática Timorense), which favoured integration with Indonesia (Lisson 2008: 1476-1477; Teles 2001: 590). 25 The meeting did not take place as planned, because FRETILIN refused to participate if APODETI was present. Due to FRETILIN’s absence, the Portuguese government conducted separate talks with UDT and APODETI and decided to define unilaterally the self-determination procedure, which it did with Law no. 7/75, RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author 7