Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
160. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which he and his EU and-or UN colleagues continue to monitor the situation in various trouble spots globally including Yemen, Syria and on the African continent with particular reference to non-compliance with international human rights standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48359/18]
View answerThe promotion and protection of human rights internationally is a foreign policy priority for my Department. Ireland works closely with EU and UN partners in the multilateral fora to monitor non-compliance with international human rights standards.
Ireland frequently raises issues of human rights abuses, in a national capacity, through the human rights mechanisms of the UN including the Human Rights Council and Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York. At the most recent session of the Human Rights Council, in September 2018, Ireland made a national intervention during the Interactive Dialogues with the Commissions of Inquiry on Syria and South Sudan. During this session, Ireland also expressed concern over the ongoing situation in Yemen and South Sudan in our statement during the Item 4 General Debate.
During the most recent session of the Universal Periodic Review, which concluded last week in Geneva, Ireland made two recommendations to all fourteen countries under review. Countries under review included Senegal, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad and Congo. Recommendations covered issues such as eradication of Female Genital Mutilation, LGBTI rights, human rights defenders, sexual violence, the death penalty and freedom of association and assembly.
Ireland strongly believes in the importance of multilateral engagement, both in a national capacity and through the EU. Ireland inputs into EU policy through meetings of the EU Working Party on Human Rights in Brussels and coordination with the EU Delegation in New York and Geneva. At the current session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the EU delivered a statement on behalf of all member states on “Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and human rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives”. This statement made reference to a number of country specific human rights situations including in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. During the 39th session of the Human Rights Council, the EU also delivered a statement during the Item 4 General Debate. This statement expressed concern over the human rights situations in, among others, Yemen and South Sudan.
