Written answers

Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Human Rights Cases

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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156. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the cases of persons (details supplied); if action has been taken at EU or international level to assist these persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1092/19]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am familiar with the cases of the persons in question, and remain concerned both about the grounds for their detention and with regard to their treatment by the Bahraini authorities over the past number of years.

Ireland attaches a high priority to safeguarding human rights defenders, and continually advocates for freedom for civil society actors to operate in a safe and enabling environment, without repression.

Our concerns relating to human rights in Bahrain are regularly conveyed through the Bahraini Embassy in London and through Ireland’s (non-resident) Ambassador to Bahrain. In February 2018, officials from my Department met with the Ambassador of Bahrain in Dublin and raised Ireland’s concerns about the human rights situation in Bahrain.

Ireland has used the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) as a means of keeping human rights issues in Bahrain under examination. Ireland regularly raises the case of human rights in Bahrain at the HRC in Geneva. In fact, Ireland has raised Bahrain in its past eight Item 4 Statements (human rights situations that require the Council’s attention). In Ireland’s most recent Item 4 Statement at the HRC session in September 2018, we expressed concerns about 'the ongoing restrictions on civil society space and the treatment of human rights defenders in Bahrain'. We also called on Bahrain to 'respect freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to a fair trial'. At the previous HRC session in June 2018, Ireland also raised concerns under Item 4. The EU, in its Item 2 Statement (on the reports of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), also highlighted the deterioration of the human rights situation, with particular reference to the shrinking of political space in Bahrain. Officials from my Department had previously raised ongoing human rights concerns with Bahrain in the context of its Universal Periodic Review, which took place in Geneva in May 2017.

With regard to the rights of prisoners and detainees, Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 36/16, which Ireland co-sponsored, calls upon states to ‘investigate promptly, effectively and impartially all alleged human rights violations and abuses suffered by persons deprived of their liberty, in particular cases involving death, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to provide effective remedies to the victims, and to ensure that detention administrations cooperate fully with the investigating authority and preserve all evidence’. Ireland has also co-sponsored; Resolutions 36/16 and 30/7, concerning human rights in the administration of justice; Resolution 31/31, concerning torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and UN General Assembly Resolution 71/188, also concerning human rights in the administration of justice.

My Department will continue to monitor developments in Bahrain, and will continue to call on the Bahraini Government to deliver on its stated commitment to make tangible progress in the human rights sphere. Ireland’s concerns about human rights will continue to be raised directly with the Bahraini authorities, and at EU and international levels, whenever opportunities arise.

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