Mr. Colm O'Gorman:

On LGBTI rights, Deputy Neville referred to Uganda. In 2013 we hosted Kasha Nabagesera, one of the leading LGBTI activists there who came to address our annual conference. It was the same weekend that the Constitutional Convention met to discuss same-sex marriage. She was buoyed up and inspired by the idea that a country like Ireland might consider such a question. I have sent her an e-mail to get her reaction to the recent referendum. It is safe to say that when countries like Ireland speak out on the discrimination against, and persecution of, LGBTI people it makes a difference. The message we sent out on 22 May to the world about LGBTI rights has huge significance and sends important messages to governments. Ireland’s foreign affairs policy has consistently highlighted issues in respect of LGBTI rights and we commend the Government for that. It is all part of our work in combatting persecution and discrimination and sits side by side with our work for religious minorities. Deputy Neville referred to the persecution of Christians. I should have mentioned the situation of Coptic Christians in Egypt for many years. We research and campaign on this.

On the death penalty, in 2014, 140 countries, two thirds of all countries, had abolished the death penalty but 22 countries carried out executions, down from 41 in 2013. This year I think there has been a decline in the number of executions but an increase in the number of sentences. Much of that related to the handing down of mass death sentences following mass trials in Egypt all through 2014 and into this year. Death sentences jumped by more than 500 in 2014. That was largely accounted for by Egypt and Nigeria. At least 2,466 people were sentenced to death in 2014, up 28% on 2013, mainly in Egypt and Nigeria. These are the two countries where there is significant crack down and violations by the state in the name of state security.

China, Iran and Iraq were the top three executing countries globally, often after unfair trials. These three, as well as Pakistan, executed people accused of terrorism in 2014. The number of executions fell by 22% to at least 607 in 2014. Even though I referred to China, it executes more people than the rest of the world put together. We stopped reporting on the numbers of executions carried out in China a couple of years ago because the application of the death penalty is in many cases a state secret there. We know that it executes thousands of people every year but we do not know the true number. We have stopped reporting figures because they are not reliable. Year on year we know that China executes more people than the rest of the world combined.

Senator Daly may not be aware of the work of Amnesty International in the case of the hooded men going back several years. The original case Ireland took, which was the first ever inter-state case ever taken to the European Court, followed Amnesty International’s research that identified what had happened to the hooded men. It was very involved in advocacy to ensure that the Irish Government did decide to refer the case back to the European Court. We hosted an event last year when we had the hooded men in Dublin in the run-up to that decision. We very much welcomed the Government’s decision. Amnesty International has had an interest in that case going back 40 years and continues to have. Senator Daly is right, it is an incredibly important case because the decision has been used by governments around the world to justify their use of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, particularly by the Bush Administration in the US and its use of similar interrogation techniques or torture as part of the so-called war on terror. We are acutely aware of, and engaged with, the case and have been for four decades and will continue to be. It was not mentioned in our global annual report because it deals with human rights across 160 countries. We cannot and do not highlight individual cases, particularly in the report.

On the case of Ibrahim Halawa, I would like to correct something Senator Daly said. Amnesty International has certainly not said he has not been tortured. We will not say that. We have made it clear that we have very grave concerns that as long as he is prison in Egypt he is at ongoing risk of torture. The treatment he has received certainly could constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture. It is not a pedantic point on Amnesty International’s part to make it very clear that a finding of torture has a specific meaning in law and certain criteria have to be clearly established, including intent or the purpose for which a person has been subjected to treatment. That is part of what determines whether in law somebody has been tortured. That does not mean that for somebody to be subjected to incredibly harsh treatment is not tantamount to torture, even though it might not meet the legal threshold of torture. I would suggest that it does not serve Ibrahim’s case, and I am not suggesting that Senator Daly seeks to do this, to reduce it to creating some level of disagreement in the opinions of individual NGOs. The Reprieve submission, as I understand it, was a legal opinion prepared by a Queen’s Counsel in London on behalf of Reprieve and it sets out its view of the conditions he is experiencing. To be clear, we consider Ibrahim Halawa’s case to be incredibly important. We have been active on it for several years and we will remain active on it, nationally and globally. We designated him a prisoner of conscience because we determined he was being detained purely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. We will continue to advocate for his immediate and unconditional release.

It is incredibly important that we stay focused on who is responsible for this. Egypt needs to be the focus of our attention. It is there that the solution to this case lies. We must all continue in any way we can to exert as much pressure as possible on Egypt to secure his release and return to his family. Senator Daly is incorrect and factually wrong when he suggests that Amnesty International has said that Ibrahim Halawa has not been tortured. We have not said that. We will not say that.