I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carey, to the House. He is a good friend of mine and I congratulate him on his appointment.
Adjournment Matters. - Conference on East Timor.
Acting Chairman
I welcome the Minister of State. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and stress the need for the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to convey to the Interparliamentary Conference on East Timor, taking place in Portugal, Ireland's strong stance against the atrocities continuing to be perpetrated against the people of East Timor and Ireland's support for the self-determination of the Timorese people.
I wish the Members of this House attending the Interparliamentary Conference on East Timor well — Senator Norris, Senator Henry and Senator Lydon. The issue has been debated in this House on several occasions and it is right and fitting that the House be represented at this important conference. It is important to continue to discuss the levels of atrocities committed in East Timor. The conference in Portugal will play a key role in overcoming the international silence which has enveloped East Timor since the Indonesian invasion in 1975.
The basic facts ought to be well known, but they are not. As a direct result of the invasion about 200,000 people — a third of the population — have died. The estimate was made in 1983 by the head of the Roman Catholic Church in East Timor. What in other countries would be condemned as a crime against humanity has, it seems, been quietly deemed acceptable.
I wish to acknowledge the Tánaiste's statements to this House in April when he acknowledged the concern in Ireland at the situation in East Timor and at the gross abuse of human rights which has been reported from the area. International pressure must be mobilised to stop the persecution of the East Timorese people. Evidence is still coming through of the continuing atrocities.
On 16 May a male nurse, in an interview with the Australian Associated Press, told of treating victims of torture, rape and beatings by Indonesian soldiers in East Timor while working there for three months this year. Mr. Simon De Faux from Melbourne told the Age newspaper that he heard from locals that there had been six other massacres following the Dili massacre. He said he was watched around the clock after arriving there in February and that he was hit by a soldier with a rifle butt when he tried to stop troops beating an eight year old boy. The boy's injuries were so serious that almost certainly he would have lost an eye.
Mr. De Faux said on another occasion an officer tried to shoot him after he took photographs of a village market place with a soldier in the background. A local nun stepped in front of the rifle and talked the officer out of it. Mr. De Faux arrived in the East Timor capital, Dili, on 9 February after the Indonesian authorities would only allow him in as a health worker and not a nurse. He said he found himself in the middle of a dirty war which was being fought on Australia's doorstep, but no one knew about it. He quickly found out that the Australian Government did not care.
He said he secretly treated victims of Indonesian atrocities brought to him. They included women who had been repeatedly raped, men tortured by being tied by the neck to a metal bed and having electric charges sent through their bodies, youths almost drowned in barrels of water and many victims who were badly beaten. He said that in East Timor's south area the Timorese were being forced off fertile land to make way for Indonesian migrants. The Church then moved him to the north which he reached by hiding under pig carcasses in the back of a truck.
On 8 March the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Alan Taylor, undertook a tour of East Timor. Mr. De Faux said that a member of Mr. Taylor's staff told him not to talk to the media about his experience. "The Australian was not interested in what I said and told me to keep quiet."
I refer to a report from a source close to the Catholic Church in East Timor, which for obvious reasons must remain anonymous. This was a briefing on East Timor by the Catholic Church. During the past six months, since the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Jakarta, the situation in East Timor has been extremely volatile with increased numbers of actions by the clandestine urban movement. This has largely been in the form of demonstrations or mass response to violent or intimidating behaviour by the occupying military forces. The common view is that this is evidence that the clandestine movement is not only still strong but able to change and adapt to meet the new demands and strategies of the occupying Indonesian forces.
Two particular killings have had a strong impact in the past three months, the reported massacre in Baucau, outside the parish church in January, and the killing of six civilians in the town of Liquicia in February. The number of people killed in Baucau is unclear and, as yet, the justice and peace commission of the diocese has made no investigation. A number of sources report that the local Church officials are not happy about reporting this incident for fear of reprisals.
In Liquicia the opposite was true, with effective reporting from the local parish bringing the killings to international attention and ensuring that the new Indonesian national human rights commission undertook an immediate investigation. The report of the commission described the incident as a "military engagement" and demanded that the military take action against those responsible. Although little confidence in Indonesian national institutions is expressed by most Timorese, there was a positive response to the commission's report.
It is likely that more severe penalties will be imposed on the officers responsible for the Liquicia killings than those given to the military responsible for the Santa Cruz killings in 1991 in order to satisfy international opinion. There are strong rumours that the present military commander in East Timor will be removed and there is some trepidation in regard to who will replace him. However, with the clandestine network as strong as ever, any opportunities to demonstrate rejection of interrogation will continue to be taken and the military will not temper its brutality.
The Indonesian policy of divide and rule and application of a form of low intensity conflict is having a substantial impact. The ninja gangs, groups of Timorese youths paid by the military to undertake terrorising gang raids at night on the houses of identified critics of Indonesian interrogation, have produced a heightened sense of fear. Recruits for the ninjas are said to come from the increased numbers of youths involved in martial arts youth culture. The development of martial arts clubs is heavily encouraged by the military and many of them take on a fanatical nature similar to the Alsa Masa militia group in the Philippines. In the southern town of Suai a litany of ninja gang attacks is reported, although it is difficult to ascertain whether there have been fatalities.
Since the retirement last year of the town mayor — a Timorese who had the confidence of the local population and who was replaced by a Javanese military officer — relations between the local government and Church have taken a downturn. A priest complained that three times ninja gangs had trespassed on the parish church compound, but when the police were summoned to give assistance they would not respond. This is the Church's clear evidence that the police and military are behind the ninja gang activities. Unlike Dili, no members of the ninja gangs in Suai have yet been caught and shown to be in the pay of the Indonesian authorities.
As I said at the outset, it is important to send a message to the interparliamentary conference in Portugal which I hope contributes to the improvement of the situation in East Timor.
I thank you Sir, for welcoming me to the Chamber this evening. I also thank Senator Neville, who raised the subject of East Timor and the important Interparliamentary Conference on East Timor which is taking place in Lisbon over the next few days. I am pleased that a significant number of Senators and Deputies are attending. I am sure they will articulate the great public concern there is in Ireland about the situation in East Timor, the strong stance the Government has consistently taken against the abuses of human rights there and its wish for a just, lasting and internationally acceptable solution to this major problem.
The Tánaiste delivered a detailed speech on East Timor to the Seanad on 8 March last. I take this opportunity to mention briefly some developments in the situation since then. In March the Tánaiste reported on the fifth round of talks between the Portuguese and Indonesian Foreign Ministers under the auspices of the UN Secretary General on East Timor. In particular, he drew attention to the initiative of the Secretary General to invite Timorese, both those who accept and those who reject the Indonesian presence in East Timor, to take part in a dialogue meeting to explore ideas of a practical nature which might have a positive impact on the situation in East Timor. This important dialogue meeting will now take place from 2-5 June in Austria. It had to be postponed from April because some of the pro-Indonesian participants withdrew. We are hopeful that this all inclusive Timorese dialogue will represent an important advance towards local autonomy and a better internal situation. We also hope that these talks will produce results which will be taken into account in the meeting which will follow between the Portuguese and Indonesian Foreign Ministers.
Senator Neville raises the issue of self-determination for the people of East Timor. This is a matter for the people engaged in the talks under the auspices of the United Nations. The Government will support any just, lasting and internationally acceptable solution which emerges from the talks. I understand that the sixth round of talks between the Foreign Ministers under the auspices of the Secretary General will be held on 8 July. Ireland will continue to follow developments in these talks closely.
As was stated by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Gay Mitchell, in the Adjournment debate on East Timor in the Dáil on 24 May, the Embassies of the six Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) sent representatives to meet with the Tánaiste and the Minister for Tourism and Trade on 23 May, one of the regular visits to Ireland of ASEAN Ambassadors in London accredited to Ireland. The Tánaiste took the opportunity to impress on the Indonesian Ambassador the great concern which exists in Ireland concerning Indonesia's human rights record in East Timor.
I would also point out that on a recent visit to Jakarta, the Irish Ambassador to Australia, who is also accredited to Indonesia, raised with the Indonesian authorities Ireland's concerns and drew attention to the intense public feeling in Ireland about human rights atrocities in East Timor. At a recent meeting of the EU-ASEAN senior officials in Singapore, Irish and EU concerns were also appropriately expressed.
Senators need not be in any doubt that the Indonesian Government is fully aware of the international concerns that exist about the situation in East Timor, and especially of Ireland's continuing concern. Again in reference to the Tánaiste's speech to the Seanad of last March, I know that Senators will be interested to note some of the recent comments made by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gareth Evans, during an interview which he gave in Parliament House on 16 May 1995. When asked about human rights abuses in East Timor, his response included the following remarks:
I don't think that we are turning a blind eye to them. When we get hard evidence of what is going on, and there has been plenty of that around, ... that only makes us redouble our efforts to try to persuade the Indonesians to make a change of policy. There is no doubt that there is an oppressive military presence in East Timor far and away beyond that which is needed for the security of the place.
The truth of the matter is that at the moment there is no visible progress towards the kind of reconciliation strategy that we would all like to see. I know that a great many people in Indonesia equally want such a strategy, a draw-down of the military presence, a more sensitive development programme, and a whole lot of other things. A lot of people want to see that happen. A lot of ministers, a lot of senior officials, and there is an active debate going on. But that needs to be translated into action, yes.
Commenting on the work of the Human Rights Commission in Indonesia, and some recent decisions of the Indonesian Supreme Court, Minister Evans said:
There is good news and there is bad news...the good news is ... there is a lot of openness, a lot of liberality creeping into the Indonesian system. We want it extended to East Timor, and we will go on making the case in our way, which we think is the most productive, until it happens.
These comments are both welcome and encouraging. Australia is in a position to use its special influence with the Indonesian Government to improve the situation in East Timor, and the Foreign Minister's comments demonstrate its willingness to do so.
The Government remains strongly committed to doing what it can to improve the situation of the people of East Timor. I know that those of you who are in Lisbon will be able to manifest this commitment and I wish you and the conference every success.
I thank the Minister for his reply.
Acting Chairman
I propose to adjourn the sitting until 8 o'clock to allow Senator O'Kennedy raise his matter on the Adjournment. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Sitting suspended at 7.55 p.m. and resumed at 8 p.m.