Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 May 1995

Vol. 453 No. 5

Written Answers. - Human Rights Abuse.

Liam Fitzgerald

Ceist:

62 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received a submission recently from the Tibet support group; if he will acknowledge that the continued occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China since 1949 is a flagrant abuse of human rights as the Chinese long term policy for Tibet is genocide and that the destruction of Tibet is creating an environmental crisis which affects not only Asia but the rest of the world; the action, if any, his Department and the Government have taken in recent times to convey its outright opposition to Chinese policy in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9620/95]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

I have received several submissions from the Tibet Support Group Ireland since the beginning of this year.

The human rights situation in Tibet is a matter of great concern to the Goverment which has taken up the issue bilaterally with the Chinese authorities and at the United Nations. I am also conscious of the reports that serious environmental damage is being caused to Tibet itself and the damaging effects that that is having on other countries.

I told the House in reply to a parliamentary question on 4 April that, during my visit to China last September I met with Vice President and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and raised with him the question of human rights and the treatment of prisoners in Tibet.

The Irish delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights, CHR, which took place in Geneva from 30 January until 10 March 1995, played an active role in drafting a proposed Resolution on Human Rights in China and ensured that appropriate reference to the situation in Tibet was included in the text. The draft Resolution, which Ireland co-sponsored, highlighted how inadequate is the situation for Tibetans, their ethnic identity, religious freedom, language and culture. The Minister of State, Deputy Joan Burton, received the Dalai Lama's European Representative, Mrs. Kelsang Takla, on 27 April 1995. She specifically expressed thanks for Ireland's co-sponsorship of the draft Resolution which came much closer to being adopted than at previous sessions. As in previous years China moved a no-action motion but for the first time it was unsuccessful. Members of the EU voted against China's no-action motion. As a result the draft Resolution was taken and it was defeated by only a single vote. China always campaigns strongly against the tabling of this draft Resolution. I know that this outcome constitutes an important message from the international community to the Chinese Government concerning its treatment of the people in Tibet.

Representatives of EU embassies in Beijing visited Tibet last November and made clear EU concerns about the human rights situation there. They once again raised with the authorities the list of prisoners which had been presented by the EU ambassadors when they visited Tibet in May 1993 and they also handed over a list of 14 nuns who had been arrested. I understand that a small number of Tibetan political prisoners have been released but the situation of political prisoners in Tibet remains an issue of concern.