Human Rights Issues.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005

Wednesday, 26 January 2005

Questions (415)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

472 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has written to the US administration to express concern over the nomination as Attorney General of a person who stated in a 2002 memo that in his view a new paradigm in the war on terror renders obsolete the Geneva Convention’s strict limitations and that some of its provisions are quaint, and who requested a Justice Department memo on the way in which to evade a legal ban on torture. [1548/05]

Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

It is my understanding that the nomination of Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel, to be Attorney General of the United States is still being debated in the US Congress. It would not be appropriate for me to express an opinion on nominations to positions within the US administration and I have no intention of doing so. The United States is well aware of the Government's concerns about reports of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib and our view that those detained should be treated in accordance with the provisions of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions. These concerns have been regularly conveyed to the US authorities.