Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 November 2012
6. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress that has been made to date in supporting imprisoned Irish trained doctors in Bahrain who have had their appeals rejected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50162/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI remain very concerned about the overall situation in Bahrain and the increasing divisions in Bahraini society. I condemn all acts of violence, including the recent bomb attack in Manama city which resulted in the deaths of two foreign workers. I urge the opposition to refrain from violent provocation of any kind. I have made clear in this House my view that all charges against the medical professionals should have been dropped. Given the great concerns and doubts which have surrounded the case of the medics from the start and particularly in the light of the well documented reports of ill-treatment to which many of those originally detained were subject, it is my view that the Bahraini Government should consider exercising clemency and releasing the imprisoned medical professionals. This would also be very much in the wider interests of promoting urgently needed reconciliation and national dialogue within Bahrain.
More broadly, the Government has repeatedly conveyed its concerns at every suitable opportunity to the Bahraini authorities about the human rights situation in Bahrain, including our concerns about the case of the medical professionals, as well as that of the respected human rights defender, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. We have repeatedly raised these cases with the Bahraini ambassador in London and through our ambassador in Riyadh who is accredited to Bahrain, including after the Court of Cassation’s decision on 1 October upholding the prison sentences against the medical professionals.
Bahrain has implemented some of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report, but renewed impetus in implementing the BICI recommendations is necessary. This would help to create an environment conducive to reconciliation and dialogue and enable reform and change to take place as a result of a consultative process. I strongly encourage the Bahraini authorities to focus on reconciliation and initiate a genuine process of dialogue and reform.
I agree with the Tánaiste that this is a serious issue. Our Oireachtas colleague, Senator Averil Power, and a former constituency colleague of yours, a Cheann Comhairle, and the Tánaiste, Mr. David Andrews, travelled to Bahrain some time ago to raise the issue. I compliment the eminent and distinguished orthopaedic surgeon in Cappagh Hospital and the Mater Hospital, Professor Damian McCormack, who has commented on the issue on numerous occasions. He has stated clearly that Irish-trained doctors have been illegally detained, tortured and convicted of the “crime” of treating injured anti-government protesters. Does the Tánaiste agree that doctors who bravely defied government orders and did their duty in treating injured protesters during anti-government rallies in Bahrain deserve the utmost assistance from the international community? Media attention seems to have drifted from Bahrain and the doctors remain under sentence. Their treatment has rightly been roundly condemned by the United Nations and many international NGOs. Will the Tánaiste consider raising the issue at European Union level? It is a serious one. Has the Tánaiste been in contact with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, the Irish Medical Organisation or the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland? Eminent medical personnel such as Professor Eoin O’Brien, as well as Dr. Ruairi Hanley from Kilskyre, County Meath, have commented on the lack of a response and action by those internationally recognised professional organisations.
I acknowledge the work done by Senator Averil Power and one of my predecessors, the former Minister, Mr. David Andrews. I met both of them in connection with their visit to Bahrain which this country has been pressing in multilateral fora to undertake human rights reforms. At the most recent session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva we raised our concerns about the grave allegations of mistreatment, amounting to the torture of detainees, documented in the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and urged Bahrain to undertake further steps to implement the full recommendations made in the report. At the previous session of the UN Human Rights Council in June Ireland made a joint statement with 26 other countries urging Bahrain to enhance its co-operation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. At Bahrain’s universal periodic review in May Ireland recommended that all decisions of the national security courts be subject to review in ordinary courts and that laws be enacted to prohibit civilians being tried in military courts in the future. We have called on the Bahraini Government to exercise clemency and release the imprisoned medical professionals. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is a private institution, but I met its chief executive some time ago to discuss the situation in Bahrain.
In regard to the meeting with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, did the Tánaiste express the view that Bahrain had a sectarian society and that the society appeared to be propping up such a society? People are discriminated against and denied jobs on the basis of their religion, yet an Irish company is operating within such a society in Bahrain. What is happening is unacceptable. Does the Tánaiste agree that, unfortunately, the situation in Bahrain is getting worse? Recently, 31 dissidents, including lawyers, MPs and academics, had their citizenship revoked. At the same time, an Irish company is stuck in the middle of it and appears to be propping up the prevailing sectarian ethos in Bahrain.
We have seen 18 months of violent suppression of the opposition in Bahrain, as well as by Britain and America. Recently, all anti-government demonstrations have been outlawed and the government has threatened to take legal action against opposition groups. I accept that the Tánaiste has called for better behaviour on the part of the Bahraini authorities, but does he consider that the European Union should become more vocal in its opposition to this behaviour? It is hardly news to anyone that there seems to be a bias in how we treat various countries according to on which side of the fence they sit, depending on whether they are with or against western powers.
There is no bias in the way in which we approach human rights issues. We regard human rights as universal and want them to be applied in an even-handed way. I am greatly concerned by the decision of the Bahraini Government to revoke the citizenship of 31 activists, including former Members of Parliament. This renders some of those concerned stateless and deprives them of their most basic rights. The decision will only serve to deepen divisions and tensions in Bahraini society.
With regard to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, it has commented publicly on numerous occasions on the case of the Bahraini medics and urged the Bahraini Government to withdraw the sentences and release the medics. It has also written to the King of Bahrain asking him to drop the charges against them. It has appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs to answer questions from members about its activities. It is important to distinguish between the involvement of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in the training of Bahraini medical personnel, which is entirely positive, and the detention of medical personnel by the Bahraini authorities. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is a private third level institution and its approach has been governed by its role as an education provider and its responsibility to its 900 plus students. I also note that the RCSI campus is the one place where Sunni and Shia students are educated together. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland strives to place the focus on educational excellence, not on ethnic difference. It has also been forthright in urging the Bahraini Government to exercise clemency in the case of imprisoned medics.
I remind Members that in taking Ordinary Questions there are six minutes available for each question – two minutes for the Minister’s initial reply and a limit of one minute on supplementary questions.
