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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 19 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 5

Written Answers - Human Rights.

Noel Treacy

Ceist:

45 Mr. N. Treacy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the fact that a previous statement made in answer to Parliamentary Question No. 34 of 6 February 1997, regarding the EU-Israel Association Agreement wherein he claimed that the overwhelming importance of the human rights clause and the extent to which it underlines all subsequent commitments is shown by the fact that it is placed in Article 2, at the very beginning of the association agreement, was misleading in view of the fact that the order in which the articles of any EU agree- ment with a third country are placed has no bearing on their importance and provisions contained in the first article can still be undermined by the last; and if he will follow the advice of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs which, on 26 February 1997, urged him to clarify the supremacy of Article 2 to avoid interpretation of the agreement in any manner which may undermine the non-derogability of human rights, particularly in view of the implications of the Israeli Supreme Court ruling of 14 November 1996, which legalised torture. [7454/97]

It is the view of the Government, shared by our partners in the European Union, that the placing of the human rights clause in Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement emphasises the overwhelming importance of this clause and the extent to which it underlines subsequent commitments. Article 2 involves a commitment by Israel and the European Union to consider human rights questions as a fundamental part of the political dialogue which is established between them.

This gives parties the legal right, for the first time, to raise with each other matters concerning their respective human rights performance. As I stated in my reply of 6 February to another question on this issue, it is the intention of the EU as a whole that these human rights clauses should be regularly monitored and instances of violations discussed.

Israel's fundamental commitments in the field of human rights derive from the fact that it is a party to a number of UN human rights instruments, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This covenant stipulates that parties can in no circumstances derogate from a number of rights such as freedom from torture. The non-derogability of human rights provisions, which has been established in international conventions, is not set aside by any article in the association agreement.

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