Written answers

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Human Rights

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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341. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the measures taken to protest the treatment of members of the Falun Gong community in China. [16755/20]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government closely follows reports of persecutions against Falun Gong practitioners, and officials in my Department have met with representatives of the Irish Falun Dafa Association and human rights lawyers on a number of occasions.

Ireland frequently raises human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities in both bilateral meetings and in appropriate multilateral fora, including rights related to freedom of religion or belief. Ireland joined a Joint Statement at the UN Third Committee in New York in October 2019 which called on China to uphold its national laws and international obligations and commitments to respect human rights, including freedom of religion and belief, across China.

The EU also regularly discuss human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities. The EU-China Human Rights Dialogue is the primary formal framework through which Ireland and other EU Member States share with China our experience in the field of human rights protection and promotion, and urge China to take clear steps to improve the human rights situation. The latest session of this dialogue took place on 1-2 April 2019, and the EU raised a number of issues relating to freedom of religion and belief, as well as the rights of persons belonging to minorities, freedom of expression and association, arbitrary detention, and the death penalty.

Ireland, together with our EU partners, will continue to address human rights issues with China, in frequent and regular dialogue, through our contacts in both Dublin and Beijing, and through the relevant multilateral channels.

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