Vol. 383 No. 9
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the estimated number of political prisoners tortured and executed by the Khomeni regime in Iran since he came to power; the estimated number of political prisoners still held in custody there; and the approach adopted by Ireland at the United Nations towards this issue.
29.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to reports of a major increase in mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in recent weeks; if he will give any information available to the Government on the number of persons executed in Iran since 1981; if he has made any representations to the Iranian authorities on these executions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 29 together.
Allegations of an alarming increase in the number of executions of political prisoners in Iran in the months since July of this year have been drawn to my attention. They are currently the subject of examination within my Department and are likely to have an impact on the forthcoming consideration of the question of human rights in Iran at the United Nations General Assembly. We shall follow developments closely and make our concern known as appropriate. Regrettably it is not possible to obtain reliable figures for the categories requested by the Deputies. Deputies are, of course, aware that infringements of human rights in Iran have been a matter of concern for several years and have been the subject of resolutions in the Commission on Human Rights and in the General Assembly which Ireland supported. Our views on this issue are clearly on the record.
The Minister accepted that there are reports in the international press and elsewhere that the number of executions since 1981 in Iran total about 70,000, that there are 140,000 political prisoners there at the moment, that the number has been significantly increased in recent months. There are also very credible reports of mass executions taking place there in the last number of months. In the light of those circumstances would the Minister accept that, as a country committed to human rights, there is a duty on us, both at the Human Rights Commission and at the United Nations to raise our own voice in protest against this total abuse of democracy and human rights?
With regard to the source of the information to which Deputy O'Keeffe has referred, the latest report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran was prepared by the special representative of the Commission on Human Rights for the current session of the United Nations General Assembly. This response sets out the allegations of violations of human rights, including violations of the right to life which have been brought to the attention of the special representative. It invites the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide any information or comments they wish with regard to those allegations. While the special representative has, over time, made some progress in drawing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran into a dialogue which could be conducive to improving the human rights situation in that country, he has to date failed to elicit detailed replies to specific allegations communicated to the Iranian authorities. The Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly have explicitly shared the opinion expressed by the special representatives in previous reports that the denial by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran of the allegations of violations of human rights as a whole without details is not sufficient for a sensible assessment of the situation of human rights in that country. I would like to assure the Deputy that our position with regard to human rights in Iran is that we have supported all the resolutions presented at the UN on the situation on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In relation to the Minister's last reply that Ireland has supported most of the resolutions condemning the violation of human rights——
All the resolutions.
I am glad the Minister has corrected me on that. Arising from the question that is on the Order Paper, is it Ireland's intention now to be a cosponsor in any new resolution drawing attention to the failure of Iran to respond responsibly to the report of the special commissioner?
Arising out of the supplementary question by Deputy Michael D. Higgins, I would like to assure the House that we will participate actively in all discussions designed to lead to the tabling of an appropriate draft resolution again this year. We are prepared to cosponsor an appropriate text in company with those partners in the Twelve and the other member states who also cosponsored last year's motion.
Arising from the Minister's earlier reply that it was difficult to get clarification of the allegations regarding executions etc., would he support the call to the Secretary General of the United Nations to send a special mission to Iran to investigate the allegations and would be agree that this would in fact be the most effective way of having specific information on what exactly is going on there?
I said in reply to the original question that certainly the United Nations have had a special inquiry made to try to get reliable information here. We are still not satisfied that the information we have is factual and will certainly support any effort made to get accurate information in this area.
