The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, has expressed "great concern" at the killings by Indonesian troops of six students in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Mr Andrews said yesterday he was raising the situation with the EU "with a view to establishing what action the Union can take collectively to prevent further violence and to help restore stability in Indonesia". He called on Indonesia "to exercise the utmost restraint".
Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Dick Spring, said that concern expressed in the past by Ireland about the situation in Indonesia would count for nothing unless Ireland now raised the crisis within the EU.
Mr Spring, who as Minister for Foreign Affairs was publicly associated with strong criticism of human rights in Indonesia, called for the sending of an EU monitoring mission to Indonesia immediately. He said this would tell the Indonesian authorities "that the eyes of the world are upon them".
He called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to raise the matter with the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, who is president of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers. "Before the situation deteriorates further the European Union needs to indicate that it will not tolerate any escalation of the human rights abuse which characterises the Indonesian regime," said Mr Spring. The shootings of six students by the regime would only inflame the situation.
"The Suharto regime is now in a position reminiscent of the former communist states before they were toppled by public discontent. We know that there are further student demonstrations planned for today and that a major confrontation with the army is probably not far off. The European Union must at this stage indicate firmly its intention not to stand by and allow the situation deteriorate further."