Dublin 6 June 2011
Press Release
The UN’s top anti-torture experts have today (6 June 2011) urged the Irish Government to live up to its domestic and international obligations to prevent ill-treatment.
The message came in the Committee’s formal ‘Concluding Observations’ following Ireland’s first examination under the UN Convention against Torture. The examination, which took place on 23 and 24 May and which was webcast worldwide, saw a delegation of senior Irish officials answer tough questions on Ireland’s record on a range of issues, including abortion, prison conditions, domestic violence, the asylum process, extraordinary rendition, trafficking and the Magdalene laundries.
In addition to calling on the government to ensure redress for victims of rights violations or abuses, such as victims of clerical abuse, the Committee stressed the need for a systematic approach to ensure ill treatment is prevented before it occurs.
The Concluding Observations echoed many of the concerns outlined by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) in their Joint Shadow Report, which was presented to the Committee in Geneva on 20 May 2011 in advance of Ireland’s examination.
Deirdre Duffy, Research and Policy Officer with the ICCL, said today:
“As the Ryan and Murphy reports show us, Ireland is slowly waking from a culture of impunity. The UN Committee’s recommendations have today underlined that tackling impunity requires a two prong approach of prevention and redress.”
“Despite this, Ireland has yet to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture to provide for routine inspections of places of detention. It has yet to create an independent prison complaints body. Independent appeals and safeguards are absent from our asylum process. The UN Committee against Torture has expressed concern about these issues and about the fact that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has asked to be allowed to leaseback investigations to the Garda, thereby allowing the police to investigate itself.” she added.
“The State must live up to its obligations by implementing the Committee’s recommendations to improve accountability in these areas” she concluded.
The UN experts also engage with the thorny subject of abortion, recommending that Ireland:
“clarify the scope of legal abortion through statutory law and provide for adequate procedures to challenge differing medical opinions as well as adequate services for carrying out abortions in the State party, so that its law and practice is in conformity with the Convention.”
Commenting on this recommendation, ICCL Director Mr Mark Kelly said:
“The UN’s top anti-torture experts have sent a clear signal to Ireland that its laws on abortion must be overhauled forthwith. Further procrastination on this subject, whether in the form of setting up expert groups or spurious calls for further referenda simply will not wash in the international arena. We trust that the Irish Government will provide a clear response to this recommendation in the State report under the United Nations Universal Periodic Review which it is currently preparing”.
ICCL representatives, and representatives of other NGOs involves in the UNCAT process are available for further comment and interview. For all media enquiries, or to arrange an interview with speakers, please contact:
Walter Jayawardene, Communications Manager, Irish Council for Civil Liberties
T: + 353 1 799 4503 M: +353 87 9981574 E: walter.jayawardene@iccl.ie
Fíona Ní Chinnéide, Campaigns & Communications Officer, Irish Penal Reform Trust
T: + 353 1 874 1400 M: +353 87 135 4107 E: communications@iprt.ie
For issues surrounding torture, refoulement and their effects: Spirasi: Greg Straton, Interim Director – 01 8823518
For issues surrounding the Asylum process and refoulement: Irish Refugee Council: Sharon Waters, Communications Officer – 085 133 2502
For issues surrounding rendition and mental health: Amnesty International Ireland: Noeleen Hartigan, Programmes Director – 087 616 7689
For issues surrounding the Magdalene Laundries: Claire McGettrick, Justice for Magdalenes, 086 121 2674
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The UN Committee’s Concluding Observations can be seen in full HERE. They included recommendations:
• to ensure that the scope of the definition of torture under domestic law should include a public official or other person acting in an official capacity
• to provide further information on specific measures taken to investigate allegations of the State party’s involvement in “rendition programmes” and the use of the State party’s airports and airspace by flights involved in “extraordinary rendition”
• to clarify the scope of legal abortion through statutory law and provide for adequate procedures to challenge differing medical opinions as well as adequate services for carrying out abortions in the State party, so that its law and practice is in conformity with the Convention
• to review the draft Immigration, Residence and Protection bill in order to bring it into line with the requirements of the Convention in particular with regard to the rights of migrants to judicial review
• to expedite the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2002 and the establishment of a National Preventive Mechanism
• to adopt specific timeframes for the construction of new prison facilities which comply with international standards
• to adopt a policy focusing on the development of alternative, non-custodial sanctions
• to eliminate, without delay, the practice of ‘slopping out’
• to address the factors contributing to inter-prisoner violence such as the availability of drugs, the existence of feuding gangs, lack of purposeful activities, lack of space and poor material conditions
• to ensure that all persons detained for immigration-related reasons are held in facilities that are appropriate to their status
• to establish an independent and effective complaint and investigation mechanism to facilitate the submission of complaints by victims of torture and ill-treatment by prison staff
• to ensure by law that all allegations of torture and ill-treatment by the police are directly investigated by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and that sufficient funds are allocated to the Commission so as to enable it to carry out its duties promptly and impartially and to deal with the backlog of complaints and investigations which has accumulated
• to indicate how it proposes to implement all the recommendations of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) and indicate the timeframe for achieving them
• to ensure that all victims of abuse obtain redress and have an enforceable right to compensation
• to institute prompt, independent, and thorough investigations into all allegations of torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that were allegedly committed in the Magdalene Laundries, and, in appropriate cases, prosecute and punish the perpetrators with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offences committed, and ensure that all victims obtain redress and have an enforceable right to compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible
• to proceed, without any delay, with the construction of the new National Children Detention Facilities at Oberstown
• to prohibit all corporal punishment of children in all settings and conduct public campaigns to educate parents and the general public about its harmful effects
• to explicitly define under the law that female genital mutilation (FGM) amounts to torture
• to strengthen efforts to prevent violence against women
• to review the Mental Health Act of 2001 in order to ensure that it complies with international standards
• to take measures to protect separated and unaccompanied minors
• to ensure that law enforcement personnel are provided, on a regular and systematic basis, with the necessary training on the provisions of the Convention especially with regard to the prohibition of torture
• to strengthen its efforts to implement a gender-sensitive approach for the training of those involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of women subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment
Ireland’s Examination under UNCAT
The Committee against Torture (CAT) monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by State parties which have ratified the Convention. Ireland ratified UNCAT in 2002.
On 23 and 24 May, 2011 a high-level Irish Government delegation, headed by Department of Justice Secretary General Sean Aylward, was publically examined for the first time by the UN Committee against Torture on the extent to which it is meeting its human rights obligations under the Convention.
The hearing was webcast live worldwide and both sessions can be viewed in full at http://www.ustream.tv/user/iprt/.
Joint Shadow Report on the UN CAT
The Joint Shadow Report to the First Periodic Review of Ireland under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was launched at Buswells Hotel, Dublin 2 on Friday 20th May, 2011 at 11am. Speakers at the launch were: Mark Kelly, Director, ICCL; Liam Herrick, Executive Director, IPRT; and John Stanley, Chairperson, Irish Refugee Council.
A shadow report is designed to ensure that a human rights body, such as the UN Committee against Torture, does not rely solely on a Government’s account of how it is meeting the terms of an international human rights instrument, but has full access to the observations, claims and concerns of human rights defenders and other groups independent of Government.
The Joint Shadow Report to the First Periodic Review of Ireland under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment benchmarks Ireland’s performance under the United Nations Convention against Torture, and makes 50 clear recommendations to Government on action required to enable the State to meet its obligations under this treaty.
The Joint Shadow Report is the product of over a year’s research and consultation by the ICCL and IPRT with the Irish NGO community, including Amnesty International Ireland, the Children’s Rights Alliance, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Women’s Aid and Spirasi. The report has been endorsed by 31 Irish NGOs.
Key issues detailed in the Joint Shadow Report include: the lack of independent oversight over investigations into deaths in custody; inhumane and degrading treatment in Irish prisons; policing, police detention and public order; non refoulement, deportation and extraordinary rendition; and rehabilitation services for victims of torture.
Some if its key recommendations include:
• People detained in Garda stations should be afforded access to a lawyer during Garda interviews. (p43)
• Delays in the handling of complaints by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission should be eradicated, if necessary by the allocation of additional resources (p45)
• The State should take all necessary measures to improve conditions of detention including reducing overcrowding and setting safe custody limits.
• The State must eradicate the “slopping out” of human waste in Irish prisons as a priority issue.
• Independent oversight of decisions to refuse leave to land at ports of entry should be introduced as a matter of urgency.
• An independent appeals mechanism for immigration-related decisions, including deportation decisions, should be promptly established.
The Joint Shadow Report and the full list or recommendations, are available for download here.
Irish Council for Civil Liberties | www.iccl.ie
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is Ireland’s leading independent human rights watchdog, which monitors, educates and campaigns in order to secure full enjoyment of human rights for everyone.
Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) | www.iprt.ie
IPRT is Ireland’s leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of everyone in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy, with prison as a last resort.