Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

154. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will bring to the attention of the Government in Yemen, the concerns of the Baha'i Community, in relation to a Yemeni national (details supplied) who has been imprisoned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8470/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A deterioration in the crisis in Yemen precipitated a discussion at the EU Foreign Affairs Council which I attended and participated in on 9 February 2015.

This meeting was an opportunity for the EU to discuss collectively how best to respond to the deepening political and security crisis in Yemen. The Foreign Affairs Council adopted conclusions on Yemen at this meeting which reflect the urgency of the situation on the ground.

My Department has no information on the case of the individual in question other than publically available reports on his arrest and treatment at the hands of the authorities, as well as the calls by organisations such as Human Rights Watch for the charges against him to be dropped.

Ireland does not have an Embassy in Sana’a. The present crisis in Yemen has resulted in a vacuum of effective political authority. Until this situation improves, the scope for us to engage with Yemeni authorities on this or any other matter is severely constrained.

Freedom of religion and belief continues to be a priority area for our human rights policy. The persecution of any individual on the ground of his religious beliefs is unacceptable wherever it occurs. My Department regularly engages with the Baha’i community in Ireland on this issue, and they are represented on my Department’s standing committee on human rights.

Ireland participated in the Universal Periodic Review of Yemen at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2014. Both of the recommendations we made in this review were accepted by Yemen. Our most recent statement on human rights in Yemen was in September 2014 at the Human Rights Council where we welcomed the UN efforts to conclude a ‘Peace and National Partnership Agreement’. Regrettably, the promise of this agreement has not yet been fulfilled. Our statement at this time called for an end to hostilities and expressed serious concern about the death penalty in Yemen and the recruitment of child soldiers.

My Department will continue to monitor the political, security and human rights situation in Yemen, including monitoring in so far as is possible the case raised by this question in this regard.