Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

It is a universal issue which applies not merely to one race of people. Human rights denied or abused diminishes all of humanity.

The slaughter of innocents in Afghanistan cries out for justice. However, instead of justice for the survivors, the incident will be filed under some type of military term and that will be the end of it. Even though our voice is not always heard, if we do not speak up, we are party, to some extent, to what is happening. Anybody who saw the television pictures and heard the shocking story of the entire family, including four or five children, that was wiped out cannot but be shocked. These people were merely sheltering from the bombing raid.

Events in Afghanistan have gone off the radar in recent times. Were it not for those courageous journalists and camera men who are prepared to go into war zones, we might never have heard about what happened there. Those who dropped the bombs may have been well intentioned in so far as their policies are concerned, but such an approach is counter-productive. This event will serve to feed terrorism by providing propaganda to the Taliban and others who are engaged in terrorist activity. Above all, however, it has devastated an entire community. The Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, seemed genuinely shocked when acknowledging that a mistake was made. That is certainly different from what we got from the previous Administration. She seemed to be attempting to put down a marker that such incidents are unacceptable.

The people of Afghanistan will not know that a debate on their situation is taking place in this House. However, such a debate may contribute to an awareness of this issue and to the eventual attainment of justice for these unfortunate people.