I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 10, 15 and 24 together.
My information is that the European Youth Orchestra has no plans to visit Indonesia.
In so far as the question of human rights is concerned, the Dáil will be aware that the Government takes every opportunity in our bilateral contacts and in the appropriate international fora to bring home to the Indonesian authorities the deep concern of the Government and the Irish people. On 23 May the Tánaiste received the representatives of the six Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN, embassies in London, including the ambassador of Indonesia, when they visited Dublin. He availed of that occasion to impress on the ambassador the public concern in this country as regards the situation in East Timor.
Ireland has also supported moves to raise the issue at the UN Commission on Human Rights. At this year's session the Indonesian Government agreed to invite the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit East Timor during the course of the year. The high commissioner will submit his report to the next session of the human rights commission. In these circumstances the Government does not think that it would be appropriate to take up any offer of private assistance in pursuing a charge of genocide.
At the political level, Ireland supports the ongoing talks between the Portuguese and Indonesian foreign ministers, which take place under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. In this context we welcomed Portugal's recent initiative to convene an Intra-Timorese meeting bringing together, under the aegis of the secretary-general, those who accept and those who reject the Indonesian presence in East Timor. The meeting took place earlier this month in Austria. Both the UN representative and the Portuguese Government have expressed their satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting, which, we expect, will be considered at the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Portugal and Indonesia on 9 July.
The Government can support the main lines of the declaration adopted at the recent Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Lisbon. In particular we believe that countries that supply arms to Indonesia for use in East Timor should reconsider their policy. We shall take up this issue with our European partners.
