Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Mar 2003

Vol. 562 No. 5

Written Answers - Human Rights Abuses.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

131 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the situation of the imprisoned Kurdish leader (details supplied) who was imprisoned by the Turkish authorities and sentenced to death in February 1999; if he has asked or will ask the Turkish authorities whether this person is still alive, as he has not been seen or heard from in approximately three months; if he is alive, if he has raised or will raise concerns regarding his conditions of detention; if the recent abolition of the death penalty will apply in his case; and the steps the Government has taken or will take, independently and with the other EU member States, to ensure this person's human rights are respected and not further violated by the Turkish Government. [6519/03]

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Question:

191 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has expressed concern regarding the conditions in which a person (details supplied) is being held in solitary confinement in a closed prison (details supplied) in view of the report of the human rights association delegation chaired by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6425/03]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 191 together.

The human rights reforms adopted in Turkey in August 2002 included the abolition of capital punishment in peacetime. As a result, the death penalty on the individual in question was commuted in October to a sentence of life imprisonment. As the Deputies are aware, the Government had made representations to the Turkish authorities not to execute this person. I strongly welcome the abolition of capital punishment in Turkey.

On 17 February 2003, a delegation from the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CPT, visited the prison on the island of Imrali in which the individual is the sole inmate. The delegation interviewed him and had discussions with the relevant Turkish authorities on concerns regarding his right to receive visits from his relatives and lawyers. The CPT had earlier visited Imrali closed prison in March 1999 and in September 2001.

The European Court of Human Rights is continuing its consideration of this case. The embassy in Ankara and the Permanent Representation to the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, will continue to monitor developments.