Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise a topic I have raised before. To what extent do we make an effort to deal with the human rights of prisoners in various hot spots across the globe? We have referred to a number of locations at committee meetings. In some former or serving politicians have been interned. There may be different degrees to which their human rights have been abused, but I know from visits to Israel that at least four groups, three in particular, have taken prisoners in the past few years. The prisoners are not treated well, for want of a better description. There is also the case of Ms Tymoshenko which has been ongoing for a number of years. We have raised other issues here, including the detention of an Irish citizen overseas. We spend a lot of time agonising over the issue and I wonder to what extent the international community is alert to it, having been prompted by Ireland. I compliment the Department on the work it has done on it. Is the international community sensitive to these issues or does it just hope they will go away? On my most recent visit to Israel, I was anxious to meet prisoners in all areas to find out exactly what was going on. One of the areas in which human rights abuses are greatest is prisoners, particularly where large numbers are held in camps for long periods without charge.