Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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At 6 o'clock this evening outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Dublin a protest will take place organised by the National Union of Journalists and Amnesty International to highlight the plight and persecution of Raif Badawi, a liberal from Saudi Arabia who set up a website called Free Saudi Liberalswhich called for a debate on the freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia and for the separation of church and state there.

For his troubles, last year he was sentenced to 1,000 lashes over a period of 20 weeks which coincidentally began the very same week of the killings of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists in Paris. He received the next 50 lashes the following Friday. Tomorrow, he will get another 50 lashes. This punishment will continue for another 17 weeks after which he will then serve ten years in prison. All just for calling for the freedom of speech and the separation of church and state. His lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison for criticising human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. This is against a background where 83 people were beheaded in Saudi Arabia last year. As one Italian journalist put it recently, when it comes to beheadings ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, has nothing over Saudi Arabia.

Given the justified outrage expressed by our Taoiseach and world leaders who went to the trouble of attending a mass rally in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo killings, declaring their commitment to freedom of speech, declaring their outrage that anybody would suppress freedom of speech or persecute or kill journalists, where is the outrage, condemnation and the demands for leniency by the Saudi Arabian Government in the case of Raif Badawi? Where are declarations that this will not be tolerated and action will be taken against Saudi Arabia over this persecution of a journalist?

Will we also do the same for the killing of 17 journalists during the Israeli assault on Gaza? This was justified by officials of the Israeli Defence Forces publicly with no condemnation, no rallies, no marches or threats of sanctions. World leaders, however, flocked to Paris saying they will not put up with the persecution of journalists. It was right to do this in Paris. Why do we say nothing when it comes to Saudi Arabia? Will the Taoiseach join the demonstration outside the Saudi Arabian embassy later, particularly if he went to the trouble of going to Paris several weeks ago? If there is this lack of consistency in calls for the upholding of the freedom of speech and defending journalists’ right to freedom of speech everywhere, can we really take seriously those very declarations of a commitment to the freedom of speech in Paris several weeks ago? It was utterly nauseating to see Benyamin Netanyahu on the Paris protest when he was responsible for the killing of 17 journalists in Gaza. Not a word was said about that. There were no protests, no rallies and no leaders joining marches against those killings in Gaza.

Will the Minister explain these double standards? Will the Government speak out loudly and angrily about what is happening to Raif Badawi? Will we demand trade sanctions be imposed on Saudi Arabia? Will representatives of the Government join protests demanding his release and the end to the persecution of journalists and people who wish to engage in free criticism and speech about social and political affairs in Saudi Arabia?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The case of Raif Badawi which the Deputy raised is clearly a matter of ongoing and serious concern to the Government. Our concerns relate both to the conviction of Mr. Badawi for activities widely regarded here as the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression and also to the nature of the sentence which included corporal punishment. The carrying out of this sentence began with the public flogging of Mr. Badawi in Jeddah on 9 January 2015. When I met with the director general of the Irish branch of Amnesty International this afternoon, we had an opportunity to discuss this case.

Our concerns about this case have been repeatedly raised by the European Union on behalf of its member states, including Ireland, with the Saudi authorities when Mr. Badawi was convicted and, again, now that punishment has commenced. They have also been conveyed directly to the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Dublin by a senior official in my Department. EU embassies in Riyadh, including Ireland's, are continuing to work intensively on this case.

In addition, the spokesperson of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms Federica Mogherini, issued a statement on the case of Mr. Badawi on 9 January, calling on the Saudi authorities to suspend the flogging, a call which was echoed on 15 January by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. I sincerely hope the Saudi authorities will answer the High Commissioner's call for Mr. Badawi to be pardoned and for this harsh form of punishment to be urgently reviewed.

In the meantime, I welcome the fact the second session of punishment of Mr. Badawi, scheduled to take place on 16 January, has been postponed. I also welcome the reports of a further postponement which have emerged just this afternoon. The reports that his case has been referred to the Saudi Arabian supreme court is a positive development. I hope this will presage a wider rethink of the case, as well as the important issues it raises, by the Saudi authorities.

We normally raise human rights issues, including specific cases such as Mr. Badawi's, in conjunction with our EU partners in Saudi Arabia as we do in many other locations. It is quite clear we have the greatest impact on matters of foreign policy, including human rights, when the 28 EU member states speak with one voice.

Ireland has always been at the forefront internationally in raising human rights issues through bilateral contacts and through the European Union and the United Nations, and we have never shied away from addressing these issues. As the Deputy may be aware, the Government's review of foreign policy, The Global Island, which was launched last week, underlines the Government's continuing commitment to promoting human rights.

Ireland specifically sought and fought for election to the UN Human Rights Council as one means to fulfil this commitment. Membership provides us with an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the work of the Human Rights Council and to the global protection and promotion of human rights. As a member of the Human Rights Council, Ireland makes specific recommendations to many countries on human rights issues under the universal peer review procedure. In October 2013, Ireland made two recommendations during the UN universal periodic review of Saudi Arabia.

Let me assure the Deputy and the House that Ireland will continue to closely follow the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and to monitor the case of Raif Badawi in this context.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome the fact that there has been a postponement of a couple of the episodes of the flogging. However, I cannot help but note the stark difference between the tone of concern raised by the Minister and European and international leaders when it comes to a case such as this or the 17 journalists killed in Gaza - the other example I mentioned - or the fact that there were over 80 beheadings in Saudi Arabia last year. This would be a regular occurrence. Mr. Badawi was lucky in the sense that his flogging took place at the same time as the Charlie Hebdo atrocity and for that reason has gained some international focus. However, what happens when that focus is gone and this barbaric action continues? All we get from the European Union and from leaders in this country and elsewhere are expressions of concern or appeals to the governments in question, in this case the Saudi Government.

When the Charlie Hebdoatrocities occurred we had a much more vigorous response, including declarations of zero tolerance. To put it simply, we would not allow an embassy of ISIS to open in Dublin. However, the Saudi Arabian Embassy is allowed. They are beheading people week in week out, jailing journalists, flogging them and cutting people's hands and legs off. Yet we continue to treat them in the normal diplomatic manner. We continue to trade with them. There are no sanctions. There is not the same tone of unequivocal outrage we saw expressed in Paris. It was as if a war against extremism was declared in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdoaffairs, yet when atrocities just as bad or worse take place in countries with which we happen to do business, we are much more muted in our language and in the substance of our response.

Where are the sanctions? Where are the penalties? Where are the Government-organised protests over the behaviour of the Saudi Government or, for that matter, the outrageous attempt by Israel to justify the killing of 17 journalists in Gaza? It sought to publicly justify this and called some of the journalist terrorists. Where is the consistency in our concern for human rights and freedom of expression and how is that going to be manifested?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I wish to reiterate for the benefit of the Deputy and the House that the case to which the Deputy refers is clearly a cause for serious and deep concern. As I mentioned earlier, Ireland has always been to the fore internationally in raising issues of human rights and the Government's ongoing commitment to human rights is expressed in the recently published Irish foreign policy review. I invite the Deputy to read it.

With specific reference to Saudi Arabia, Ireland made two recommendations in its most recent review under the Human Rights Council review process. These were that Saudi Arabia would set a clear timeframe for the enactment and implementation of a law on associations which respects international human rights standards. This was noted by Saudi Arabia. Second, that Saudi Arabia would prohibit employees of government from requiring a guardian's permission to allow women to conduct official business, particularly in situations such as filing complaints for domestic violence. This was also accepted by Saudi Arabia.

I reiterate that this case is a matter of serious concern. Ireland will continue to express our concern through official channels. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in conjunction with our EU colleagues and it is our hope that this issue will be dealt with by the Saudi authorities, with particular reference to a pardon in respect of the offence. If the behaviour took place in this jurisdiction this would not be an offence by any manner or means. Further, if a full pardon is not forthcoming, we trust that the issue will be dealt with by way of severity of sentence. We believe the sentence, as currently handed down, is by no means in accordance with human rights standards.