Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 10 Feb 1993

Vol. 425 No. 7

Written Answers. - Treatment of Bosnian Women.

Liz O'Donnell

Question:

44 Ms. O'Donnell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement about the terms and conditions on which a grant of £30,000 is to be made to the Rape Crisis Centre in respect of the Yugoslav rape outrages; the way in which the money will be spent; and the period during which the grant is expected to be effective.

Nora Owen

Question:

46 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to ensure that those guilty of rape of Bosnian women and children will be brought to justice in the light of his statement on 2 February 1993.

Liz McManus

Question:

56 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the information available to him on the extent of the rape of women in the former Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia-Hercegovina; if the Government intends to press for any action through the United Nations to halt the reported systematic sexual abuse of women and to bring those responsible to justice; if the Government will consider providing any financial or other assistance to the victims; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

85 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will support the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of the appalling crimes against women in the former Yugoslavia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 44, 46, 56 and 85 together.

I said in my statement on 18 January that the treatment of women in Bosnia is a shameful episode in the Yugoslav conflict and a gross affront to the personal dignity and fundamental human rights of the women concerned. It demands a concerted and sustained response from the international community.

Both the European Community and the United Nations have been active and have sent investigation missions to the area. Copies of the Final Report of the Community's mission led by Dame Anne Warburton have been deposited in the Dáil Library. The report is extensive and its findings are clear and damning. The rape of Muslim women is perpetrated on a wide scale and in such a way as to be part of a clearly recognisable pattern sufficient to form an important element of war strategy. The most reasoned estimates available place the number of victims at around 20,000, and suggest that there may be as many as 1,000 resulting pregnancies. The evidence indicates that such abuse occurs mainly in small centres, for example schools, hotels, police stations; but there may be larger concentations of women held in detention centres in areas currently inaccessible to international investigation.

The Special Rapporteur appointed by the UN Commission on Human Rights has also visited the region and reported on the large-scale violations of human rights there. A further report by him will be available shortly and is expected to highlight the crimes against women. It will be taken up at the current session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva where Ireland and its partners in the Community will be pressing for strong international action.

The report of the Warburton Mission contains over 20 recommendations for action grouped under four headings:

first, it calls for an international meeting this month of Community member states, relevant EC bodies, and other interested governments to implement a plan of action to provide assistance and support for the victims;

second, it contains a wide-ranging set of recommendations on such matters as hospital facilities, medical care, counselling, support groups, refuge camps, ambulance services, information and housing;

third, it asks EC member states to consider making places available for Bosnian women; and

fourth, the mission believes that there is a strong case for identifying the abuses as war crimes irrespective of whether they occur in national or international conflicts.

On the basis of a proposal tabled by Ireland the General Affairs Council on 2 February adopted a decision which endorsed the report's findings and undertook to implement its recommendations. Beyond this the Council also agreed to our proposal for an early political approach to the leadership in the former Yugoslavia to impress on them the incontrovertible nature of the evidence, and the imperative need to bring these abhorrent practices to an end, and to demand access to locations associated with the practice of rape. I expect that the Community will actively follow up these decisions.

On the question of war crimes, work is proceeding at the UN, at the CSCE, and in the European Community. A special Commission established by the UN Security Council last October is examining and analysing information on breaches of international humanitarian law and of the Geneva Conventions. The CSCE has begun work on drafting a statute for a war crimes tribunal. And the French Government are preparing proposals for the establishment of a War Crimes Tribunal which are expected to be made available shortly to the Twelve. I hope that the results of this work can lead to the early establishment of a Tribunal to bring the perpetrators of these appalling crimes to justice.

At the national level following my recent meetings with an all-party group of women TDs and with representatives of several Irish non-governmental organisations I announced a grant of £30,000 to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. The Funding will come from this year's Vote for International Cooperation and is intended to assist the Centre to train people from Bosnia in rape counselling skills.

The House will be aware that since the Edinburgh European Council Ireland has been actively involved in this issue. We shall continue to work for the implementation of an effective programme of action to assist the victims of rape and for continued international pressure on the parties involved to bring an end to these abhorrent crimes.