Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank Deputies Tuffy, Troy, Mac Lochlainn and Maureen O'Sullivan for raising this important matter. Human rights are and always have been a priority of successive Irish Governments and a key plank of their foreign policy. Together with our EU partners, Ireland monitors the human rights situations in many countries throughout the world on the basis of information obtained from a variety of sources, including both official channels and non-governmental or civil society organisations. Where and when the situation warrants, we make known our concerns about human rights violations to the governments in question. We do this bilaterally, through the EU or through action at the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council, as appropriate.

The Government remains concerned about the case of Mrs. Asia Bibi. In November 2010 a Punjabi court found Mrs. Bibi guilty of blasphemy and sentenced her to death by hanging. This is the first time a woman has been sentenced to death in Pakistan under its blasphemy law. When the case came to the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the ambassador accredited to Pakistan at the time called upon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad to convey Ireland's concern at the conviction and sentence. He also expressed our disquiet at the nature of Pakistan's blasphemy law. Since that time, a number of representations have been made to the Embassy of Pakistan by senior officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mrs. Bibi's case and Pakistan's blasphemy laws were discussed at length during bilateral political consultations in Dublin in 2011, which were held with the Pakistani Additional Foreign Secretary for Europe. In the course of these consultations, Ireland's concerns about the conviction, the sentence and the nature of Pakistan's blasphemy laws again were strongly expressed.

At the European level, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, also has expressed her concerns at the Bibi judgement and others like it and has called on Pakistan to respect human rights as guaranteed under international conventions to which it is a party. The EU engages in regular dialogue with Pakistan on human rights and democratic principles, including religious discrimination. The EU has called on the Pakistani authorities, at the highest level, to adopt measures to protect individual and minority rights in line with its constitution and with international human rights standards and conventions. The EU has made clear to the Government of Pakistan that under its constitutional and international requirements, it has a responsibility to protect its citizens regardless of their faith.

The controversial application of the blasphemy laws is a source of deep concern for the EU. In the view of Ireland and its EU partners, the blasphemy laws in their current form are open to abuse. Most recently in the EU-Pakistan dialogue on human rights that took place in February 2012, the EU expressed concerns at the rise of fundamentalist and sectarian violence and encouraged the Government of Pakistan to reform the blasphemy laws, emphasising nevertheless that the response needs to be broader and that real efforts to counter intolerance must come from Pakistan itself.

Respect for human rights is a cornerstone of foreign policy for both Ireland and the European Union as a whole. The Pakistani Government has made commitments to protect religious minorities and to promote religious tolerance. However, real and tangible progress on the ground is what is required. I urge the Pakistani Government to resolve Mrs. Bibi's case as soon as possible and to initiate a thorough review of its blasphemy law, including the use of the death penalty. I also ask it to respond to the concerns of Ireland and the international community by addressing the conditions of Mrs. Bibi's detention. Mrs. Bibi's case will continue to be followed closely by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and officials in his Department will remain in contact with the Pakistani authorities on this matter.

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