Vol. 504 No. 1
51 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if investigations will be made into the serious concerns raised by a person (details supplied) in County Dublin regarding his treatment in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11210/99]
The Department of Foreign Affairs learned on 18 September 1998 from the father of the person to whom the question relates that he was detained by the police in Manama, Bahrain from 26 July 1998 until 8 September 1998 on suspicion of embezzlement and that he was deported on 8 September 1998 after signing a confession. On 22 September the person himself wrote to the Department stating that he had been denied legal defence, telephone calls and permission to write and had been told by the Bahraini authorities on the third day of his detention that the Irish Embassy had been informed of it.
The Embassy of Ireland in Riyadh, which is accredited to Bahrain, contacted the police in Manama on 28 September. The police confirmed that they had informed neither that embassy nor the British embassy in Bahrain of this persons detention. Our embassy has now formally requested from the Bahraini authorities clarification of why it was not so informed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. I have instructed the embassy to also investigate the claim that the person was not allowed access to a lawyer nor to communicate with anybody outside the police station while he was there and I will be in further contact with the Deputy in the matter.
