Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 February 2019
88. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps being taken at EU and international level against countries in the Middle East in which there are flagrant abuses of human rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9095/19]
View answerThe promotion and protection of human rights internationally is a foreign policy priority for Ireland, as set out in The Global Island, Ireland's Foreign Policy document. Multilateral engagement, both in a national capacity and through the EU, is fundamental for adhering to this objective. Ireland works closely with our EU and UN partners in the multilateral fora to monitor compliance with international human rights standards.
Human Rights concerns are an integral part of Ireland’s and the EU’s relations with all of the states across the Middle East region. Discussions at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), whether on the Middle East or other areas, frequently touch on human rights concerns. For example, recent FAC discussions on Syria in February 2019, Iran in December 2018 and Libya in October 2018 all touched on these issues. In February 2019, the FAC adopted Council Conclusions on EU Priorities in UN human rights fora, which reaffirmed the EU commitment to the UN Human Rights system and made specific mention of human rights concerns in countries throughout the Middle East.
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 (UPR) in Geneva and the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York.
At the UN Human Rights Council’s most recent completed session in September 2018, Ireland raised many concerns under Item 4, as being human rights situations requiring the Council's attention. The situations about which we expressed Ireland's concern included reports of attacks in Yemen resulting in civilian casualties; the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and efforts to prevent outside observers from scrutinising Israel's conduct of the occupation; and restrictions on civil society space and the treatment of human rights defenders in Bahrain. During this HRC session, Ireland also made a national intervention during the Interactive Dialogues with the Commissions of Inquiry on Syria. Ireland will raise a number of human rights concerns in relation to the Middle East in the current session of the Human Rights Council, which opened this week.
The UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is another important mechanism for taking action to highlight human rights violations. Ireland used the UPR session on Yemen in January 2019 to highlight grave breaches of international humanitarian law and challenges to humanitarian access. Ireland made several recommendations to the Government of Yemen including: to engage with the work of the Group of Eminent and Regional Experts appointed by the Human Rights Council; to monitor and report on the situation of human rights in Yemen; and to take all steps necessary to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas.
Human rights will continue to be a key element in Ireland's policy on the Middle East, as they are elsewhere in the world. We will continue to use the most effective and appropriate means to promote respect for human rights, whether this is public statements, bilateral contacts, or indeed working through the EU and UN to highlight the importance the international community attaches to this issue.
