Written answers

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Human Rights Cases

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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353. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); his views on the fact this person is facing two separate trials in March 2017 related to their right to free speech; and if he will urgently raise his concerns regarding the case of this person with his Bahraini counterpart. [11443/17]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am familiar with the case of the person in question, and of his repeated imprisonment and release over the last number of years for his work as a human rights defender.

This has coincided with an overall deterioration in the human rights situation in Bahrain of late. This has manifested in particular in the targeting those who express dissent or criticism of the Bahraini Government, despite repeated statements from the Bahraini authorities of their commitment to improving the human rights situation. Ireland made specific reference to Bahrain in our Statement on human rights situations requiring attention at the Human Rights Council in Geneva last September, expressing concern about “restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association aimed at silencing the voice of civil society and human rights defenders in countries including Bahrain.

Ireland attaches a high priority to safeguarding human rights defenders, and has continually advocated for freedom for civil society actors to operate in a safe and enabling environment, without repression. In August 2014, officials from my Department met with the individual who is the subject of this Question, and discussed with him the situation of human rights in Bahrain. In October 2015, the Bahrain National Institution for Human Rights (BNIHR) came to Ireland on a training visit, which included meetings with Irish human rights and civil society organisations. Officials from my Department met with this group also, and set out Ireland’s support for human rights promotion across the Middle East region.

Ireland’s concerns about human rights issues in Bahrain, in particular around civil liberties, are also regularly conveyed to the Bahraini authorities. Ireland’s non-resident Ambassador to Bahrain recently met with the Bahraini Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, and they discussed human rights. The Irish Mission to the UN in Geneva supported an event by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights in early February, which provided updated information about the human rights situation in Bahrain in the context of its UPR review in May 2017 and the current session of the HRC. Officials from my Department are also due to meet this week with an official from the Bahraini Embassy in London, to discuss the human rights situation.

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