Vol. 533 No. 3
95 Mr. Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the recent reports by Amnesty International which provides ample information on the continuing incidences of torture and ill treatment, unclarified deaths in custody and human rights violations in EU member states; if the Government is willing to support the adoption of a comprehensive EU policy on eradication of torture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8841/01]
Amnesty International and other national and international NGOs rightly highlight human rights abuses wherever they may occur, including in the member states of the EU.
The Treaty on European Union, as amended by the Amsterdam Treaty, clearly states that human rights figure among the principles common to all the Union's member states and on which the Union is founded. The European Union is firmly committed to the principle that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. A procedure to monitor respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms by member states in laid down in Article 7 of the treaty, whereby the Council may decide to suspend certain rights of a member state.
Each member state of the EU is party to a wide range of international human rights instruments, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the core UN human rights conventions, which bind each member state to respect fundamental rights and freedoms. Each EU member state, except Ireland, has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and is obliged every four years to submit a report to the UN Committee Against Torture on the measures they have taken to give effect to their undertakings under the convention. It is hoped that Ireland will be in a position to ratify this convention shortly.
