Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will come as no surprise to learn that we will not be supporting the agreement. The enhanced partnership agreement seeks to increase co-operation between the European Union and Kazakhstan in 29 areas, including economic and financial co-operation, energy, transport, the environment and climate change. While we welcome co-operation in some of these areas, others are problematic. Thus, Sinn Féin opposes the agreement.

The agreement calls for the European Union to create an enhanced partnership with Kazakhstan, but it does not take a strong stance on human rights in Kazakhstan, one of the least free countries in the world which Nazarbayev's regime has ruled with an iron fist since independence in 1990. No elections held since have been judged to have been free or fair. It is wholly inappropriate for the European Union to increase co-operation with any country with such severe human rights issues. More than 140 participants in the peaceful protests held on 10 May and 23 June have been persecuted for executing their right to peacefully demand that the political oppression and torture be stopped and advocating for free education. On 7 October Kazakhstani human rights defender Elena Semenova was banned from leaving the country to participate in meetings with members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In recent years the European Union financed a €5.5 million project aimed at enhancing the criminal justice system in Kazakhstan and co-financed the programme to support the Kazakh authorities in improving the quality and efficiency of the justice system, yet, according to the reports of human rights organisations and independent international watchdogs, the officially presented outcomes are imaginary and do not correspond to reality. The European Union should withhold financial support from Kazakhstan, unless it makes genuine progress in protecting human rights, rather than implementing any new co-operation agreement. Kazakhstan is ranked as one of the least free countries in the world.

The European Union's insistence on liberalising trade with as many countries as possible will have negative consequences for ordinary people in Europe and throughout the world. The problem with the agreement is that we know from experience the human rights mechanisms will never be enforced or triggered. It amounts to carte blanchefor the regime to carry on its suppression and oppression. One need only look at the European Union's free trade agreements with Colombia and Israel to see this. Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a trade unionist. Hundreds of community leaders have been murdered there with impunity this year. Sinn Féin opposed the EU-Colombia free trade agreement. The Government repeatedly told us that it would be a step forward in protecting human rights, but all we have seen is a major regression. None of the human rights mechanisms in the agreement has been triggered.

Israel has implemented an apartheid regime and commits war crimes with impunity. The EU-Israel association agreement has a human rights mechanism, but even in the face of the most serious human rights and international law violations, it has never been triggered. The European Union failed to suspend the agreement when Israel murdered 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza in the space of three weeks in December 2008 and January 2009 during Operation Cast Lead. Again, there was no suspension when it murdered over 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza in the space of seven weeks in July and August 2014 during Operation Protective Edge. The European Union has never moved to suspend the agreement while Israel maintains an illegal and mediaeval siege of Gaza and continues to build illegal colonial settlements on the West Bank. If the European Union will not abide by the human rights mechanisms in the face of these war crimes, when will it ever do so? That is the question.

The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, has referred to the influence Ireland will have. What influence has it used against the daily slaughter of Palestinians? There are no answers. In fact, my colleague, an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, raised this issue with the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee. He asked for one example of an EU co-operation or trade agreement that had been suspended because of the issue of human rights. The Minister of State was unable to name one. I cannot think of one either. Despite these agreements including clauses on human rights, they are never enforced or acted on. They are simply used as cover and it will be no different in this case. Therefore, Sinn Féin cannot and will not support the agreement and will be voting against it.

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