Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which genocide has been reported throughout the continent of Africa in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31958/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The crime of genocide, as defined in international law, involves the commission of acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such. These acts may include killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Situations which fully meet this definition are thankfully extremely rare. Nevertheless, there are a number of current situations in Africa which give rise to extreme concern. The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide is mandated to alert the international community to the potential of genocide in a particular country or region. The mandate of the Special Adviser requires him to focus on prevention, and specifically excludes him from making a determination of whether genocide has already occurred or not. In his most recent annual report of February 2009 the current Special Adviser, Francis Deng, described specific situations of concern in Africa including DRC, Kenya and Darfur.

I support the work of the Special Adviser as I do the recognition by the wider international community of its responsibility to work to prevent genocide. In this regard, it is notable that the Constitutive Act of the African Union expressly endorses the right of the AU to intervene in a member state in respect of grave circumstances, including genocide. In addition, the 2005 World Summit of the United Nations acknowledged that the international community has a responsibility to protect against genocide, while nonetheless recognising that each State bears the most fundamental responsibility to protect its own population against serious crimes of this nature. This was reaffirmed in 2006 by UN Security Council Resolution 1674.

The international community also has a responsibility to ensure that serious crimes, including genocide, do not go unpunished. It was for the purpose of ending impunity for such crimes that the international community, by adopting the Rome Statute, created the International Criminal Court. Ireland has been a consistent and strong supporter of the ICC, recognising it as an essential means for bringing to justice those responsible for the most serious international crimes.

Tackling serious abuses of human rights, including genocide, in Africa are among the most important tasks facing the international community in the 21st century. These problems have many causes and manifestations, but poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity have all played a significant role. The risk of such abuses is greatest where political, economic and administrative systems are weak. Ireland is committed to addressing these underlying problems. In our dialogue with partners in the EU and the UN, Ireland is a strong advocate for the developing world and for international peace, human rights and tolerance. Africa is, of course, at the heart of Ireland's programme of official development assistance.

In developing a sustainable approach which properly addresses the root causes of human rights abuses in general and the crime of genocide in particular African leadership and responsibility are crucial. This is recognised by the EU and UN, which are both working to build the capacities of African states and the African Union to respond to these challenges. Ireland is committed to playing its part in this work, and I believe that our comprehensive and inclusive approach to the challenges of poverty, conflict and security stands the best chance of facilitating real and positive change in the lives of millions of people in Africa.