Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending to deal with this item. I and my party are growing increasingly concerned about the repression of civil and political society in Bahrain. As Deputy O'Sullivan said, this is the eighth anniversary of the violent suppression by the Bahraini Government of the peaceful pro-democracy movement in Bahrain. In the eight years since the crackdown, the situation has worsened, with numerous adverse developments in the past year alone.

The Minister of State will know it has been reported that the Bahraini Government is engaged in a campaign to repress political, civil and human rights and has taken steps to curb fundamental freedoms, including the right of freedom of expression, free assembly and a free press, among others. In 2017, authorities in Bahrain shut down the country's only independent newspaper and the leading secular left opposition political society. Just this month, the Supreme Court of Bahrain sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary general of the dissolved Al Wefaq political society, and senior Al Wefaq members, Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali Aswad, to life imprisonment. Following the sentencing, the spokesperson for the EU said: "Today’s final verdict marks a further step against dissenting voices and undermines the residual chances for an inclusive political dialogue in the Kingdom of Bahrain." The elections in Bahrain in 2018 were neither fair nor free, and human rights defenders and those who have expressed criticism of government policy have been arrested, tortured, interrogated and held in arbitrary detention.

Given the current situation in Bahrain, it is ironic, to say the least, that Bahrain has a seat on the UN Human Rights Council and will do so until its term expires in 2021. The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system and is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, and for addressing human rights violations and making recommendations on them. One wonders how the council can effectively carry out its functions when one of its members is actively and deliberately suppressing human rights.

I ask the Government to show leadership on this issue. The 40th session of the Human Rights Council takes place from 25 February to 22 March. I urge the Government to use this as an opportunity to express our grave concerns and to issue a statement condemning the actions of the Bahraini authorities ahead of the next session of the Human Rights Council.

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