Vol. 429 No. 5
25 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to reports of arbitrary arrests, torture and killings of the people of East Timor by the Indonesian Army; and the steps, if any, he is taking to protest at bilateral level, through the EC and at the UN.
I am very much aware of the situation in East Timor both from reports available to my Department through diplomatic channels and from a recent meeting I had with representatives of the Ireland East Timor Solidarity Campaign.
Ireland remains concerned at reports of human rights abuses in East Timor. In March of this year at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, together with our Community partners, we made known our strong views on the unsatisfactory situation in the territory. At the same session the Twelve co-sponsored a resolution, adopted by the Human Rights Commission, which was critical of the human rights situation in East Timor. Ireland played an active role in Geneva in support of this resolution.
