I move:
That Seanad Éireann endorses the declaration made in Lisbon at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on East Timor; and calls on the Irish Government to take all necessary steps to ensure the implementation of the declaration in order to secure freedom and the right to self-determination for the people of East Timor.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, and thank her for her attendance. I thank the Leader for providing time for this motion, as I realise the schedule for the remainder of the session is crowded, and for allowing the debate in the form of a motion rather than statements.
The background to the motion is unusual. It is signed by all parties in House and by the Independent Senators. This is quite unusual and is an indication of the seriousness with which this matter is viewed. The motion arises from the Interparliamentary Conference on East Timor which took place in Lisbon from 31 May to 2 June. All the parties in the Dáil and Seanad were represented there.
A declaration was adopted at the conference supported by Members of Parliament from more than 30 countries from every continent. It is important that individual parliaments adopt and support the Lisbon Declaration on East Timor and that is why this motion has been tabled. The authority for the motion will be greatly strengthened by unanimous support from Seanad Éireann.
It is important to read the declaration which was adopted at Lisbon as it was amended. It was adopted by a general assembly of the conference on Saturday morning in the parliament chamber. The declaration states by way of introduction that the Lisbon international parliamentary conference was primarily aimed at helping the people of East Timor to win their rightful freedom. Following a brief outline of the recent historical background to the present plight of the people of East Timor, it pointed out the illegal annexation of East Timor by Indonesia, the genocide policy which has caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people and the refusal of Indonesia to abide by UN resolutions. The declaration, with the amendments, states:
In view of the existing situation, the participants in the Lisbon international parliamentary conference:
1. Exhort the Republic of Indonesia to abide by the UN resolutions on East Timor and comply with the international norms of human rights and international law;
2. Call on the United Nations to ensure the respect for human rights in East Timor;
3. Urge the UN and all Governments and Parliaments of the countries which have been selling arms to Indonesia to take measures aimed at enforcing an embargo to such trade condemned by the European Parliament and by the international community;
4. Demand the immediate releases of Xanana Gusmao and all Timorese political prisoners held in custody in Indonesia and East Timor;
5. Urge the United Nations' member states, namely the powers with an influence in the area, to cooperate in the search for an internationally acceptable solution that enables the East Timorese people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination;
6. Request the United Nations to proclaim the 7th day of December as the international day of East Timor;
7. Congratulate the people of East Timor on their struggle for freedom and their preservation of their centuries old identity.
8. Appeal to Parliaments in the international community to show solidarity with East Timor [which was an amendment from Brazil].
A 23 point action plan on East Timor was included in the formal declaration. This plan was drawn up by the chairman of the executive committee of the International Commission of Jurists, Justice Kirby, who is a member of the Australian Supreme Court. It also included a resolution from Lord Avebury of England, one of the founding members of the Parliamentarians for East Timor group.
There is not enough time this afternoon to go through that plan in detail, but several aspects must be highlighted. Justice Kirby proposed that parliamentary resolutions be adopted, calling for the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of East Timor. We are seeking to do this today and to endorse the Lisbon Declaration. As parliamentarians we have also been asked to raise the issue of the rights of the people of East Timor in correspondence and at meetings with representatives of western and other countries which are major investors in Indonesia. The economic aspect is most important.
Justice Kirby made a number of other prominent proposals in his action plan and I wish to draw the House's attention to a number of them. One proposal requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit East Timor and to report to the Secretary General, the Commission on Human Rights and the international community on the compliance by Indonesia with (a) the report of the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions; (b) the reported abuses of fundamental human rights; and (c) the conformity of Indonesia with the duty to accord to the people of East Timor the right to self-determination accorded to them by the international community.
Additional elements are included in the 23 point plan. There is a proposal regarding an embargo on the sale of arms to Indonesia. It is also proposed that there would be help from UNICEF and the Red Cross for the people of East Timor; that the issue of East Timor would be raised in the European Union and the European Parliament; that we would consider the use of the convention on genocide in respect of alleged cases of genocide by Indonesia and its military forces and officials on East Timor; and that we should call on the Indonesian Government and Parliament to respect rights of Members of that Parliament so that they can speak freely. A particular case in this regard is referred to in the declaration.
Several of these points were covered when I and other Members of different Parliaments met the Secretary General of the United Nations in February 1994. We then called for the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from East Timor and the holding of a referendum on self-determination for East Timor under strict international supervision. Pending that referendum, we urge the Secretary General to open an office in East Timor to oversee its demilitarisation, provide humanitarian aid and monitor human rights.
In an impressive message to the Lisbon conference, the imprisoned East Timorese leader, Mr. Xanana Gusmao, said that a referendum is a target to be aimed for and that there can be no genuine solution in East Timor if it is not by the freely expressed will of the people of that country. He said that a referendum must be supervised by the United Nations, given that the Indonesian regime clearly fails to understand the true meaning of democracy in its universal sense. In his statement, he also called for the dismantling of the secret police apparatus and a withdrawal of Indonesian armed forces.
I regret that, this afternoon, time prevents me from making more detailed reference to the 20 years of suffering and oppression which have taken place in East Timor and what the East Timorese people have had to go through but I am sure other speakers will be able to go into that aspect in more detail. The country was invaded, as we all know, on a pretext in 1975 and for the intervening 20 years the people have had a lonely struggle to establish their rights. We have to salute, as we have in the past, the bravery of individual journalists, some of whom have given their lives — in particular five Australians — for establishing beyond any doubt what was and is taking place in East Timor. There was definitely a campaign to try and convince us that what was happening there was not taking place. We also have to salute Bishop Belo, Mr. Xanana Gusmao and the Timorese people for refusing to be silenced in the face of torture and death.
I would like to thank the Portuguese Government and the chairman of the Portuguese Parliament's select committee, Mr. Fernando Amaral, for monitoring the situation in East Timor and for keeping the problem to the forefront of international consciousness by organising the Lisbon conference. The Portuguese Minister — I have had problems trying to pronounce his name — Mr. José Manuel Durao Barroso, has acknowledged the mistakes and omissions of the Portuguese colonial past. He stated in Lisbon that Portugal has no sovereignty or other claim to the East Timor territory; that Portugal's objective is to complete the colonisation through an act of self-determination in East Timor validated by the UN; and he stressed that Portugal would accept whatever solution is freely chosen by the East Timorese people. That position is to be commended.
Finally, I hope that the adoption of this resolution this afternoon — if it is adopted — can help contribute to the peaceful solution of the problem in East Timor and I ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Government to show that they are serious about East Timor and to continue to exert international pressure to allow the people of East Timor to live in freedom and in peace.