Vol. 566 No. 1
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Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 7 May 2003
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Written Answers. - Human Rights Abuses.
262 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to concerns in respect of human rights in China, Peru and Mexico; his views in respect of the cancellation of Ireland's annual contribution to the United Nations population fund in view of these alleged breaches of human rights; if he is considering the reallocation of these resources to improving health care in developing countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11625/03]
The UN fund for population activities, UNFPA, which is supported by 119 countries, is the largest multilateral source of assistance on population issues for developing countries. The needs in this area are acute: it is estimated that some half a million women in the developing world die each year due to pregnancy-related causes and that 350 million women have no access to any form of contraception. In 2003, Ireland Aid has committed €2.539 million to support UNFPA's core resources which are focused primarily on the world's poorest countries.
UNFPA is committed by its mandates to the principles of voluntarism and all of its programmes of assistance throughout the world are based on the principles of freedom of choice and informed consent. Its guiding policy, as laid down by its governing council in 1985, stipulates that UNFPA is, "not to provide assistance for abortions, abortion services and abortion-related equipment and supplies as a method of family planning".
In recent years, there have been a number of allegations that UNFPA has supported coercive family planning programmes and/or abortion. Many of these allegations have been made by the Population Research Institute, a private body based in the United States. In response to representations from Ireland, the fund has categorically denied all of these allegations and insisted that it continues to abide by its mandate. In the case of China, a number of independent investigations have taken place into allegations made against UNFPA. All of these investigations have confirmed that UNFPA does not support China's one-child policy and is making an important contribution to encouraging the Chinese authorities away from coercive family planning measures.
Ireland served a three-year term on the executive board on UNFPA from 1998-2000 and was closely involved in discussions on UNFPA's policies and programmes. We were impressed by the quality of UNFPA's development activities, the commitment of its staff and the support it provides to some of the world's poorest countries. Ireland Aid continues to monitor UNFPA closely and attends all of the executive board meetings of the organisation. Over the past year, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Tom Kitt, has had a number of meetings with Ms Thoraya Obaid, the executive director of the fund, to discuss our contribution and the fund's activities.
Health is, and will continue to be, a major priority for Ireland Aid. Supporting UNFPA is just one part of this approach. For example, one of UNFPA's key tasks is to contribute to the implementation of the millennium development goal of reducing the maternal mortality rate by 75% by 2015. UNFPA's programmes also have a major focus on the fight against HIV/AIDS – one of the biggest challenges facing developing countries and an overarching priority of Ireland's development assistance.
However, Ireland Aid also contributes bilaterally and multilaterally and through NGOs and missionaries towards improving health in developing countries. Approximately 20% of programme expenditure in the priority countries of Ireland Aid; Ethiopia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Timor Leste is directed to the health sector.
263 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to a case (details supplied) alleging serious breaches of the convention against torture; and the action which the Government can take to deal with this problem. [11780/03]
I would like to thank the Deputy for drawing these cases to my attention. Under Article 20 of the UN Convention Against Torture, the Committee Against Torture can consider communications which contain well founded indications that torture is being systematically practised in the territory of a state party to the convention. Also under this convention, Article 22 provides that individuals can complain directly or through representatives to the committee, where they are the alleged victims of violations of the convention.
China is a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture and accordingly, under Article 2 of the convention, it has an obligation to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. However, in respect of Articles 20 and 22 of the convention referred to above, China has made a reservation stating that it does not recognise the competence of the Committee Against Torture as provided for in Article 20, and has not made the necessary declaration accepting the competence of the committee to consider individual complaints under Article 22.
The Government believes that torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment are among the most abhorrent violations of human rights and human dignity. Ireland calls on all countries to uphold their obligations under international human rights instruments to which they are party, in particular the UN Convention Against Torture.
Ireland is committed to working for the prevention and eradication of all such violations of human rights. We voice our concerns wherever possible, including in international fora such as the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights. At the recently concluded 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Ireland, along with our EU partners, co-sponsored a resolution condemning all acts of torture.
