Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
291. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the efforts he can undertake to raise awareness through the EU of the plight of a journalist (details supplied) who has been tortured and is being detained illegally in Belarus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43054/20]
View answerIreland is deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in Belarus. Media freedoms have been curtailed and journalists, both local and international, face violence, harassment, intimidation and detention simply for doing their jobs. This is totally unacceptable and Ireland has been vocal in our condemnation of the actions of the Belarusian authorities.
We have joined statements at the UN, including at the Human Rights Council, that specifically call for media freedoms to be respected. We also joined a statement of the co-chairs of the United Nations Group of Friends for the Protection of Journalists, which expressed profound concern over the deteriorating situation of human rights in Belarus, including multiple reports of harassment, arbitrary arrests, intensifying persecution and detention of journalists and media workers, as well as the human rights defenders and other members of the Belarusian civil society.
The individual in question has been detained, along with many others, for their political views. The EU delegation in Minsk follows the situation closely and we are kept appraised of developments in relation to detainees. We have repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those unjustly detained in Belarus, including political prisoners and we will continue to do so. We will continue to make our voice heard on this, both within the EU and in other international bodies.
The credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, including of the individual in questions, are extremely worrying. We have called on the Belarusian authorities to heed the recommendations of the international community at the Human Rights Council and the recommendations of the OSCE Rapporteur's Moscow Mechanism report. We have been clear that the violence must stop.
Ireland has provided funding for a project in Belarus that seeks to support the protection of media freedoms through the European Endowment for Democracy and we will continue to use our voice in international settings to call for the persecution of journalists to end.
