Dáil debates

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Other Questions

Human Rights Issues

1:00 pm

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 8: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the follow up work that has been done jointly between him and the Colombian Government on issues discussed during President Santos's visit to Ireland in January; and the recent efforts that have been made by him at European level to raise ongoing human rights concerns in advance of free trade agreement negotiations. [17221/12]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I met the Vice President of Colombia, Angelino Garzón, when he visited Ireland on 24 January. I conveyed the concerns of the Government of Ireland at reports of human rights abuses in Colombia. Vice President Garzón acknowledged these concerns and underlined the progress that had been made in recent years to improve the human rights situation in Colombia. During our meeting, Vice President Garzón and I discussed the possibilities for information-sharing experiences between Irish and Colombian NGOs and civil society organisations.

We also discussed the Colombian Government's plans for a national conference on human rights scheduled to take place in November-December 2012. Further information on the theme for, as well as the process of participating in, this important event has been sought from the Colombian embassy in London. It is intended that a series of regional roundtable dialogues in Colombia will precede the conference, the aim of which is to create a national framework for human rights.

Ireland actively supports the EU policy of engagement, dialogue and scrutiny as the best way to promote the advancement of human rights in Colombia. The EU recognises that Colombia remains a fragile state and that, despite the progress made, human rights abuses continue to occur. It is for this reason that Ireland attached such importance to the inclusion of a human rights clause in the EU free trade agreement with Colombia and Peru during its negotiation.

Ireland will continue to support the efforts of the Colombian Government to address human rights challenges via our embassy in Mexico city and with our partners in the European Union.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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There is a mistake in the question, which refers to President Santos. As the Tánaiste correctly pointed out, it was a Vice President Garzón. I met him in person and I thank the Tánaiste for clarifying that.

I met a former trade unionist yesterday in the House. He is from Colombia but is now a refugee in Europe. He expressed concern about the harrowing history of murders of trade union leaders. Colombia has one of the worst, if not the worst, records in the world. His concern is that, as civil society starts to organise itself through trade union movements, women's movements and rural peasant movements, they will not be allowed to make their protest peacefully and develop and articulate their sense of injustice.

The Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, have pointed out that Ireland inserted a human rights clause into the free trade agreement, which is heavily opposed by the trade union movement in Europe because of concerns that it is premature. Colombia has a long way to go in demonstrating its bona fides on human rights and the protection of rural landowners from pillaging of their matter resources by multinationals. This has been the case in Colombia and Peru. Will the Tánaiste give the House an assurance that, as the Government intends to proceed with the agreement and has inserted a human rights clause, he will lead from the front if there is any attempt to undermine a civil society movement or peaceful opposition by people in the country?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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We will lead from the front on this issue. As Deputy Mac Lochlainn acknowledged, we strongly argued that there should be a human rights clause in the free trade agreement. The agreement provides for a suspension or abandonment of the agreement if human rights are not honoured in Colombia. I share the concern expressed about the dangers in Colombia for trade union activists. I raised that directly with the Vice President when he was here. The Vice President is a former trade union leader in Colombia and has some understanding of these issues. We intend to proceed with this and it is one of the reasons we discussed the possibility of an arrangement whereby the civil society organisations on the Irish and Colombian sides, such as NGOs and trade unions, could have an exchange at that level. This would lead to active engagement between people who work the ground in the trade union area with counterparts in Colombia. We will keep on top of this.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 April 2012.