Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates and thank Mr. Wrafter for his comprehensive report. I welcome co-operation with Hungary in regard to the civil society space. I am pleased to see that link-up, because I see many instances, particularly at EU level, where people criticise that country without having done any research. In fact, Hungary has changed its constitution and done a great deal of good work on fundamental human rights. It might not, however, conform to the ideological selectivity that goes on in some areas regarding human rights, which are distorted into adult rights rather than human rights.

I also welcome the campaign to prevent mortality and morbidity among children under five years of age. That is a very good initiative.

The report refers to the safeguarding of freedom of opinion, expression and religion as priorities for Ireland. I would argue that freedom of conscience, which is something more than just freedom of opinion and expression, should be included. We saw a serious breach of that principle in these Houses before the summer. It is important that we recognise where we are failing. We might not have a great deal of credibility on this issue at this time, in light of the events to which I referred, but we should try to include it. It is a factor in many countries across the world.

With regard to the promotion of gender equality, a heavy emphasis should be placed on developing a strategy to oppose the practice of rape being used as a weapon of war. That is very common in many parts of the world and has horrendous effects on the victims and on society as a whole. It should be a strong priority for us. In the context of a three-year term, there is time presumably to flush out and enhance the agenda.

Regarding freedom of religion, the persecution of Christians is probably the single most significant discrimination applying to any minority group. The number of Christians killed every year is quite significant and much of it is taking place in the Middle East. We have talked before in this committee about Boko Haram in Nigeria, the situation in Egypt and so on. In fairness, this is also a problem in Europe, where we see a growing but more subtle intolerance and discrimination against Christians. Standing up for the rights of Christians flies in the face of some of these ideological movements, but it should be done. The right to life is fundamental.

I attended the launch last Thursday of a book by Ann Cadwallader called Lethal Allies which deals with the collusion that applied during the Troubles, particularly within the murder triangle in Northern Ireland. Many of the victims told their stories to the justice committee, of which I was a member at the time. They are seeking the truth of what happened. Mr. Justice Barron, who chaired the initial inquiry into these matters, sought to assist them, as did the justice committee and indeed the Houses of Oireachtas. A motion was passed by Dáil Éireann calling on the British Government to co-operate, but that has never fully happened. The message must go out that where a person fails to co-operate with inquiries or conceals information that would expose collusion, then that is a continuation of the collusion. Such a person is as complicit as if he or she was involved from day 1 in the atrocities. That message needs to be brought home to the British Administration. Our position on the Human Rights Council should be used to highlight this issue of collusion, which is also happening in other countries, including Sri Lanka.

An issue about which I feel very strongly from a human rights perspective is the protection of the unborn. I was appalled last week to see an attempt at the European Parliament to have abortion - the killing of the unborn - declared a human right. That is an appalling position. Can the delegates tell me whether Mr. Anand Grover is the rapporteur to the Human Rights Council? In his capacity as rapporteur to one of the UN's human rights committees, he goes around the world promoting abortion, which is the killing of the most innocent of all. If anybody dismembered a baby at one, two or three months of age, it would be considered a major crime and there would be a huge outcry globally. The fact that it is done three or four months earlier does not make it any less of an atrocity. The protection of the unborn should be declared a human right. The inclusion of that protection in our Constitution puts us in a position to advocate and promote the principle at European level.

I presume the UN will be marking the fact that 2014 has been declared the year of the family. I would like to see an initiative which seeks to give a human rights underpinning to the family. In all objective surveys that are done, particularly in larger countries, there is clear evidence that the institution of marriage provides far and away the best outcome for children. If we place children as our priority, we must move away from a position where certain human rights are allowed to morph into adult human rights rather than human rights per se. Our human rights evolve in the mere fact that we are human. We should try to promote that philosophy and have it accepted more widely. That is not to claim that women are not affected by the abortion issue.

We must find ways of ensuring proper support and care for these women and it must be done without infringing the most fundamental human right of all, the right to life.