Dick Roche
Question:22 Mr. Roche asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will request the Secretary General of the United Nations to release the report of the UN Special Rapporteur (details supplied) on extra judicial killings and torture.
Written Answers. - East Timor Peace Talks.
Dick Roche
Question:24 Mr. Roche asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will use his good offices with the Portuguese Foreign Minister to ensure that a representative of the people of East Timor is invited to participate in the forthcoming talks between Portugal and Indonesia on the problem of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
Roger T. Garland
Question:30 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government supports the right to self-determination for the people of East Timor; the steps, if any, the Government have taken to ensure that the people of East Timor are represented in any peace talks; if the Government have sought a ban on arms exports to Indonesia while it continues to occupy East Timor; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 24 and 30 together.
Following the killings of innocent civilians in Dili, East Timor on 12 November 1991, the Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Mr. Amos Wako, Attorney-General of Kenya, as his personal representative to visit Indonesia and East Timor in order to obtain clarification on the tragic events of the massacre and to report back to him.
Mr. Wako visited the area in February 1992. During his visit he met President Suharto of Indonesia and members of the Indonesian Government. He visited East Timor and there met the then Governor, Church representatives and local leaders. He has since submitted his report to the Secretary General. As Mr. Wako is the Secretary General's personal representative, it is a matter for the Secretary General to decide in light of the circumstances whether or not to make public his report.
Ireland, together with our partners in the Twelve, has expressed its deep concern on a number of occasions over the past year about the situation in East Timor, and in particular about the question of human rights abuses there.
At a meeting with the Indonesian Ambassador to Ireland earlier this year I expressed my deep distress at the human rights situation in East Timor. I recently met in Dublin Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta, a spokesman for the people of East Timor, and conveyed to him my deep sympathy at the plight of his people and my dismay at the human rights abuses being perpetrated by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor.
While we have always advocated restraint in international arms sales in the interests of international peace and stability, Ireland has not sought a ban on arms exports to Indonesia.
The status of East Timor will be the subject of a dialogue between the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Portugal which will take place under the auspices of the Secretary General of the United Nations starting in December, and in which the Secretary General, or his designated representative, will participate. The Government fully support these talks which we hope will achieve a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution to the question.
Portugal was designated by the United Nations some considerable time ago as the administering power in East Timor, and I believe that the question of the inclusion of representatives of East Timor in these talks should remain a matter for it and for the other participants.