Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to a person (details supplied) who travelled here last summer to have his eye replaced in Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin after a tear gas canister hit him in the face and destroyed his left eye, and who was sentenced on 28 January 2013, to six months in prison in Bahrain on charges of illegal gathering; and if he will raise concerns over his incarceration with the Bahraini administration. [8842/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers. According to reports received by my Department, Mohamed Al Jaziri was participating in a funeral procession which clashed with security forces in Sitra, Bahrain in early 2012. He was shot in the eye by a teargas canister and lost complete sight in his left eye. He received further treatment to save the sight in his right eye in Ireland with the assistance of the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti Violence Organisation, or BRAVO. Ireland’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi assisted in issuing a visa to enable him to travel to Ireland for the operation. Mr. Al Jaziri has now been sentenced to six months imprisonment on charges relating to the clashes. Concerns have been expressed by BRAVO that he could be denied access to adequate medical care during his sentence and that he was denied access to a lawyer during his interrogation.

I remain very concerned about the overall political and human rights situation in Bahrain. I have repeatedly called on the Bahraini Government to demonstrate its commitment to upholding human rights and to implement in full the recommendations of the Bahraini International Commission of Inquiry. The Commission has made specific recommendations which set out the way forward for Bahrain in terms of commitments in the areas of political dialogue, rule of law, human rights, and refraining from excessive violence. I am particularly concerned that the Bahrain authorities ensure that fundamental rights in relation to freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly and association, are fully respected.

At the same time, I welcome the fact that there has been some progress in relation to political dialogue with the main opposition party agreeing to meet with the Bahraini government and initiate a process of national dialogue which has just commenced in the past week. It is important that both sides engage constructively in this dialogue, with a view to furthering reconciliation and reform within Bahrain.

I have conveyed our concerns on human rights issues at every suitable opportunity with the Bahraini authorities and will continue to do so. They have also been raised directly with the Bahraini Ambassador in London, and through our Ambassador in Riyadh, who is accredited to Bahrain.