Vol. 565 No. 1
110 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the repression of women's protests in the oil producing delta region of Nigeria to which his attention has been drawn in a recent report by Amnesty International; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9850/03]
The Niger delta region of Nigeria is the main source of oil production in Nigeria. Since oil was first discovered in the area in 1956 there has been a pattern of endemic social unrest between the various ethnic groups who live in the region, the Federal Government and the oil companies, exemplified most notably in the trial and execution of the human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995.
The Amnesty report referred to by the Deputy raises some serious concerns regarding the repression of women protesters in the Delta region by the security forces in July and August 2002. While some of the protests had been resolved in a peaceful manner and without the use of force on the part of the authorities, as in the case of the protests at the Chevron Nigeria platform in Escravos in July 2002 , it is most regrettable that this has not always been the case and I welcome the Amnesty report in highlighting these important concerns.
As the Deputy may be aware there is currently a serious conflict ongoing in the Warri area of the Delta region between two ethnic groups. This conflict has resulted in the shutting down of production at major oil refineries and production platforms in the region.
112 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's attitude towards a resolution concerning Falun Dafa at the forthcoming meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9829/03]
The Government takes seriously the issue of respect for the human rights of Falun Dafa practitioners. Both the Taoiseach and I have raised this issue on a number of occasions with the Chinese Government, and we will continue to use such bilateral contacts to further the cause of human rights in China.
I discussed this matter with my EU colleagues at the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in March 2003. We agreed that at the current session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, the EU would convey its deep concern over the violations of human rights in China, and at the lack of progress in a number of areas. In our conclusions, we agreed that the Union will urge China to take clear steps to improve the situation generally, and more specifically with regard to respect for the freedoms of expression, religion and belief, which have a particular impact on practitioners of Falun Dafa.
As the Deputy will be aware, the EU discusses these key human rights concerns with China within the framework of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. The most recent session of the dialogue took place in Athens on 5 and 6 March this year, and discussions were particularly frank and open, facilitating a substantial exchange of views. The EU continues to evaluate the results of the human rights dialogue at regular intervals to determine how far its expectations have been met, and how improvements could be made.
It is a welcome development that a visit to China by Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has been scheduled for later this year. I also welcome China's announcement of its intention to issue as soon as possible, an unconditional, formal invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Mr. Abdelfattah Amor to visit the country.
