Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 16 Oct 1997

Vol. 481 No. 6

Written Answers - Human Rights in East Timor.

Dan Neville

Ceist:

110 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will put pressure on the Indonesian Government to have a United Nations office opened in the East Timor capital of Dili in view of the serious breaches of human rights in East Timor. [16886/97]

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

111 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take diplomatic initiatives in order to promote the establishment of a UN human rights office in Dili, capital of East Timor. [16815/97]

Michael Ring

Ceist:

112 Mr. Ring . asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will put pressure on the Indonesian Government to allow a United Nations human rights office to be opened in the East Timor capital, Dili. [16816/97]

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

113 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take immediate steps to request the Indonesian Government to permit a United Nations human rights office to open in the East Timor capital, Dili; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16817/97]

Paul McGrath

Ceist:

115 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the deteriorating human rights situation in East Timor; if he will contact the UN and the Indonesian Government to express the concern of the Irish Government and the Irish people in this regard; if he will support the opening of a UN human rights office in Dili, the capital of East Timor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16798/97]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 to 113, inclusive, and 115 together.

The Government is seriously concerned at the deteriorating human rights situation in East Timor. This concern was expressed by my predecessor in his address at the 52nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September. Furthermore, earlier this year, at the meeting in Geneva of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Ireland co-sponsored the resolution which was passed on the situation of human rights in East Timor and which, inter alia, calls upon the Government of Indonesia to take the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of East Timor.

The appointment by the United Nations Secretary General of Mr. Jamsheed Marker as his special envoy on East Timor has been welcomed by Ireland. We stand ready to support any initiative taken by the Secretary General on East Timor which may be considered as feasible and appropriate. It will be recalled that during the Irish presidency of the European Union in the second half of 1996 Ireland approached the United Nations in Geneva to express EU support for the establishment of a branch of the UN human rights committee in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Unfortunately, it did not prove possible to secure the agreement of the Indonesian Government for the establishment of such an office at that time. The Indonesian Government is also opposed, it is clear, to any UN office in East Timor.