John Perry
Ceist:208 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the growing difficulties experienced by the people of West Papua (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23067/01]
Written Answers. - Human Rights Abuses.
I am very concerned at the almost daily reports of continuing tensions and human rights violations in West Papua or Irian Jaya as it has been known since 1973.
I, along with my EU partners, have raised our concerns with the Indonesian authorities on a number of occasions. Most recently, at the General Affairs Council on 14 May 2001, we called on and encouraged the Indonesian Government to make further urgent efforts to address and resolve peacefully the various conflicts in Indonesia, including Irian Jaya. We have been closely monitoring the situation in Irian Jaya, particularly since Mrs. Megawati Sukarnoputri took over as President of Indonesia. Later this year EU heads of mission in Jakarta plan to undertake a fact finding mission to the province to evaluate at first hand the situation there.
In order to address the fundamental causes of tension in Irian Jaya, the Government, as well as the EU, supports an approach aimed at promoting greater decentralisation and autonomy, based on dialogue and negotiations between the local authorities and the authorities in Jakarta. This should include an effort by the Indonesian authorities to exercise full and proper control over the security forces in Irian Jaya to ensure that the human rights violations of which they are accused are investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted, and above all, that such abuses be brought to an end.