Vol. 243 No. 6
asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he has received a copy of the Report of the Commission on Human Rights on the violation of human rights by the Greek junta; whether this report upholds the charges made against the junta by the Governments of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands; and whether this report will be published.
79.
asked the Minister for External Affairs if he will state the position of the Irish Government with regard to the charges made against the Greek junta by four member governments of the Council of Europe.
80.
asked the Minister for External Affairs whether, if the report of the Commission on Human Rights on the Greek junta confirms the charges made against that régime, the Irish Government will vote for its exclusion from the Council of Europe.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I shall take questions 78, 79 and 80 together. I have received a copy of the report of the European Commission on Human Rights on the Greek case. Since the Convention on Human Rights provides that Governments "shall not be at liberty to publish it", I am not in a position to indicate the findings of the commission as contained in the report. The publication of the report depends upon a decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe after a period of three months has elapsed from the transmission of the report to the committee. I would point out that, apart from the procedure under the Convention on Human Rights, there is before the Committee of Ministers a draft resolution for the suspension of Greece from the Council of Europe and this will come before the forthcoming meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council in Paris on 12th and 13th December. As indicated in the Dáil on 4th December, I do not propose to say in advance of the meeting what the attitude of the Government is going to be in this matter.
Can we take it that it will be left to the discretion of the Minister for External Affairs as to which way he will vote at the Council of Europe?
The Minister discussed this before he left. Circumstances can change and there will have to be a certain amount of discretion, subject to some contact as well.
Did the Taoiseach see the report in an English Sunday newspaper that it was the intention of the Minister to abstain from voting?
I did not see it. I heard about it and I shall make no comment.
