The Minister for Foreign Affairs has become the first politician to sign up to a new campaign, to be opened today, seeking the release of the East Timorese resistance leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao.
Mr Andrews is to join representatives of all the main political parties at 1 p.m. on Grafton Street in Dublin for the launch, which coincides with the anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in which over 270 East Timorese students were shot dead by the Indonesian military.
The campaign will involve the posting of 20,000 postcards - the first of which has already been signed by the Minister - to the Indonesian government calling for the immediate release of Mr Gusmao, who is serving a life sentence in a prison in Jakarta for his role in the independence movement. Similar campaigns will start today in more than 10 other countries.
Mr Tom Hyland, co-ordinator of the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign said: "Xanana's release would have an immediate impact on the East Timor issue similar to the catalyst provided by the release of Nelson Mandela at the end of the apartheid era in South Africa."
He said the Indonesian government was using Xanana "as a bargaining tool by saying he would be released if the people of East Timor accepted occupation by Indonesia. Like Xanana, they have rejected the offer as nothing short of blackmail."
Ms Patricia McKenna MEP (Greens) said Mr Gusmao's incarceration was "illegal and untenable", adding that his participation in talks with Indonesia was crucial to finding a solution to the issue.
Ms Mary Banotti MEP (FG) said the Irish public had a particular responsibility to support the campaign. "If the Indonesian government hear the voices of Irish people, where we speak about the importance of a peaceful and just settlement from direct experience, then they may be more open to change."
At least 200,000 East Timorese civilians have been killed by the Indonesian military since it invaded the country in December 1975.
