asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement indicating the progress which is being made on human rights at the CSCE.
Written Answers. - Progress on Human Rights at CSCE.
19.
The Vienna meeting of the CSCE has been taking place since November 1986 and there are indications that it will end early next year. At this meeting, Ireland, together with our partners in the Twelve, has sought to ensure that participating states will make new and substantial commitments in the area of human rights. Although negotiations are still going on, I am confident that this will be achieved, and that the human rights provisions in the Vienna concluding document will strengthen significantly the commitments contained in the Helsinki final Act and the Madrid concluding document.
The expected results will include measures to strengthen the procedures for reviewing implementation of the provisions relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms and human contacts. States will be able to make representations on particular situations and cases to the state concerned and bring them to the attention of all 35 participating states. It will be possible to raise these cases also at the annual sessions of a conference on the human dimension, as well as at the normal CSCE review meetings.
As well as confirming the participating states' respect for human rights and their determination to guarantee the effective exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Vienna concluding document is expected to contain specific and detailed measures to be taken by states in implementation of this commitment. These will include measures in the field of religious freedom, rights of the individual, freedom of movement, and family reunification.