Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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86. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the escalating campaign of reprisals against human rights defenders and their families in Bahrain; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that civil and political society leaders have been subject to a pattern of intimidation, including the vandalising and destruction of their property with apparent impunity; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the families of exiled human rights defenders have been recently summoned to appear at police stations at which they were instructed to call their family member and ask for them to give up their activism abroad or their families would all be arrested; and his views on whether the latest acts of reprisal against activists inside and outside Bahrain and the continued use of both judicial and extrajudicial means to crack down on any and all dissent in the country are completely inexcusable. [25634/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am keenly aware of the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, which I have remarked on in this House several times of late. I have noted that this deterioration has particularly targeted those who express dissent or criticism of the Bahraini Government.

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. I am aware of the clashes that took place this week in the Bahraini village of Diraz, of the shootings, mass arrests and destruction of property. Preventing people from expressing their views does not quash people’s grievances; it only reinforces them. I call on the protesters and the Bahraini authorities alike to exercise restraint, for the protesters to express their views peacefully and for the authorities to permit them to do this.

Ireland’s concerns about human rights issues in Bahrain, in particular around civil liberties, are regularly conveyed to the Bahraini authorities. In March, officials from my Department met with an official from the Bahraini Embassy in London to discuss the human rights situation in Bahrain. Ireland’s (non-resident) Ambassador to Bahrain met with the Bahraini Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, at the beginning of this year and they discussed human rights.

My officials also raised ongoing human rights issues with Bahrain in the context of Bahrain’s Universal Periodic Review, which took place in Geneva at the beginning of the month. In advance of this review, in early February the Irish Mission to the UN in Geneva supported an event by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Ireland also made specific reference to Bahrain in our Item 4 (Human Rights situations that require the Council's attention) Statement 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”.

Further, my Department, both here in Dublin and in Geneva, engages with a number of Irish and international NGOs on human rights issues in Bahrain. For example, in October 2015, the Bahrain National Institution for Human Rights came to Ireland on a training visit, which included meetings with Irish human rights and civil society organisations. Officials from my Department also met with this group, and set out Ireland’s support for human rights promotion across the Middle East region.

My Department will continue to monitor the situation in Bahrain, and will continue to call on the Bahraini Government to make good on their stated commitment to make progress in the area of human rights.