Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 November 2020
11. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will raise the matter relating to a person (details supplied) with his EU counterparts at upcoming EU-wide meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38338/20]
View answer24. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his discussions with the ambassador of Saudi Arabia on the issue of the treatment and imprisonment of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38336/20]
View answer27. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of progress his Department has made towards the release of the women's human rights defender (details supplied) currently on hunger strike in Saudi Arabia. [38299/20]
View answerI thank Deputy Kenny for foregoing his very serious question on abuse of human rights in Palestine to allow me to raise this matter. The reason he did so was that yesterday Ms Loujain al-Hathoul was 1,000 days in custody and had her first appearance in court, having been transferred to the anti-terrorism court by the Saudi regime. Her crime was to have posted on social media posts on women's rights. Ms al-Hathoul was jailed just before driving was made legal for women but she also campaigned on domestic violence against women in Saudi Arabia. Ironically, yesterday was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. I am aware that the Minister has done some work on this but will he please comment on the question I have asked and will he raise the matter further with his EU counterparts?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 24 and 27 together.
I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. Protecting and promoting human rights is a cornerstone of Ireland’s foreign policy, as I have said in my answers to most questions. Ireland has consistently supported women human rights defenders and continually advocates for the freedom of all civil society actors to operate in a safe and enabling environment. The detention of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia is deeply concerning and Ireland has raised our concerns bilaterally with the Saudi authorities. Most recently, on 9 November, the detention and welfare of Ms Loujain al-Hathloul were raised directly by officials from my Department with the Saudi ambassador to Ireland.
Ireland also raises these issues in international forums. At the most recent meeting of the Human Rights Council in October, Ireland co-signed a joint statement expressing deep concern at the ongoing detention of women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. Ireland has also co-sponsored resolutions at the Human Rights Council calling on states to investigate alleged human rights violations in the administration of justice and abuses suffered by persons deprived of their liberty.
During the latest universal periodic review of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record in November 2018, Ireland raised its concerns about the imprisonment of human rights defenders. Ireland regularly discusses these issues in various EU forums and works closely with other member states to ensure human rights issues in Saudi Arabia are addressed. The EU delegation in Riyadh has raised the cases of the detention of women human rights defenders, including Ms al-Hathloul, directly with the Saudi authorities on multiple occasions and will continue to do so. We welcome the advancement of plans to establish an EU-Saudi Arabia human rights dialogue. This will provide a valuable additional forum to discuss human rights issues, including individual cases. Ireland will continue to take every opportunity to raise this case with all appropriate interlocutors.
Some 31 Deputies and Senators signed an open letter on this matter to the Minister and he responded by sending officials from his Department to the Saudi ambassador. We have to ratchet up our response because Saudi Arabia has certainly raised the bar. Yesterday, Ms al-Hathloul was transferred and she had one day's notice that she was to appear in court after 1,000 days of illegal detention. Her family said they were shocked when they saw her in court. She was shaking uncontrollably and she was very weak. She has been on hunger strike to protest physical and sexual abuse and torture in prison. She is not the only feminist in prison in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is charging her with crimes that it claims involve espionage and agency work. Espionage and agency work do not get posted on social media to encourage women to fight for their rights. The Minister needs to ratchet it up and call in the ambassador himself, rather than sending officials. I ask him to please call him in and intervene directly and correctly in this issue.
This is not the first time we have looked at the case of this young woman or women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia in general. There is a growing body of opinion that the loss of international prestige is too high a price for Saudi Arabia to pay and many want this crackdown to end. There needs to be more focus. This particular case is horrific, as has been outlined. Ms al-Halthloul has been beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted and her crime, if any, was speaking out for women's rights and applying for a job in the UN. Women such as Samar Badawi, Nassima al-Sadah and Loujain herself are being subjected to torture, including flogging, electric shocks, sexual abuse and solitary confinement, on a daily basis. They cannot afford to wait for the niceties of international diplomacy to be observed by countries such as Ireland, the UN or the EU. It is time to act and put serious pressure on Saudi Arabia to defend these human rights defenders.
I appreciate the concerns of colleagues about this case and others that have been mentioned. As I said earlier, officials from my Department spoke to the Saudi ambassador to Ireland on 9 November to set out our concerns about the ongoing detention of Ms al-Hathloul and the conditions under which she is being held, including the restrictions on visits from her family and other concerns, some of which have been outlined. Ireland also raises concerns about women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, including Ms al-Hathloul, as a member of the EU. The UN delegation in Riyadh has raised the cases of the detention of women human rights defenders directly with the Saudi authorities on multiple occasions and at various levels. I welcome plans, which are advanced, to establish an EU-Saudi Arabia human rights dialogue co-chaired by the EU special representative, Eamon Gilmore. This will provide a valuable additional forum to discuss human rights issues, including individual cases such as the one that has been raised. Deputies are asking me to take a more direct approach with the Saudi embassy here in Dublin and I will certainly do that on the back of the requests made today.
A direct approach and as strong an approach as possible would achieve a huge amount more than what has been done so far. It is absolutely required because the Saudi regime, which is very wealthy and powerful and recently hosted the G20 summit, has clearly offered lots of platitudes about human rights. It talked about all the forums the Minister just mentioned and all the dialogue it has but it makes no odds when it comes to the repression of those who seek their own liberty. Due to its wealth and power, it seems to wield an awful lot of influence in the western world. We need to put pressure on the regime by calling in the ambassador and insisting this is dealt with in a humane way, that Ms al-Hathloul is released and that the terrorism charges against her are dropped. Clearly what she is doing is campaigning for human rights.
This is important because the open letter Oireachtas Members sent to the Minister has been circulated in Norway, Sweden and in the British Parliament as an example of how world pressure must be put on the Saudi regime, and other parliamentarians have been asked to follow the Irish model. If the Minister calls the ambassador in and does his absolute best to tell him this will not be tolerated and that it is seriously damaging Saudi Arabia's international relationships, they may well follow the Irish example. I ask him to please do something to set that example on behalf of the women of Saudi Arabia and on behalf of all human rights activists.
The oppressive system of male guardianship within Saudi Arabia is well-documented and restricts women from enjoying the most basic of civil rights, which are taken for granted in this State and in most European countries. Women must gain permission from a male guardian for many of the most mundane and everyday decisions and actions. While Ireland has worked alongside other EU member states to ensure human rights issues in Saudi Arabia are raised with the authorities there, it does not appear to be having the desired effect. I appreciate and welcome that the Minister will take a more direct approach with the embassy here. However, as a nation set to take its seat on the UN Security Council, we also need to utilise our position and status to bring the world's focus onto the plight of oppressed human rights defenders across the globe, particularly in regimes such as that of Saudi Arabia.
I have heard what people have said. I am familiar with the letter and our response to it. I will certainly take on board the Deputies' concerns. I will talk to my team and try to do something as impactful as possible to ensure we impact on the decisions taken regarding the case in Saudi Arabia that has been raised today.
