Geneva/ Dublin
24 May 2011
Media advisory – for immediate release
Ireland will score a global first today (24 May 2011), when the Government’s hearing before the UN’s anti-torture watchdog is webcast live from the United Nations in Geneva. This is the first time that any country’s hearing before the UN Committee Against Torture has been made available live to a worldwide public.
The Irish Government’s delegation, led by the Secretary General of the Department of Justice Sean Aylward, has a tough case to answer this afternoon, based on a series of questions asked yesterday by the UN’s top anti-torture experts.
Members of the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) yesterday posed a series of searching questions to the Government, reflecting many of the concerns raised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) in their Joint Shadow Report to UNCAT.
The Committee Members’ questions included:
• How does the Government intend to provide justice for women who were held in the Magdalene Laundries?
• When will the Government legislate to clarify the law on abortion as required by a recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights?
• What action will be taken to reduce overcrowding and end slopping out in Ireland’s prisons?
• How does the Government intend to reinforce safeguards against people being returned from Ireland to countries where they face the risk of torture?
• When will the Government introduce a system for independent investigation of deaths in prison?
• Why has the rate of recognition as refugees of people seeking asylum in Ireland fallen to the lowest level of any EU state?
• Will the Government allow the Ombudsman for Children to investigate complaints from children in prison?
Secretary General Aylward’s answers to these and other questions will be broadcast live from 2pm-5pm Irish Time, at the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iprt
Journalists and members of the public are strongly encouraged to view the hearing, which promises to be interesting.
A further ICCL/IPRT statement with reaction and analysis to the Government’s answers to the UN Committee’s questions may be issued later today.
Media spokespersons from the IPRT and the ICCL are available in Dublin and in Geneva.
For all media enquiries, or to arrange an interview with speakers, please contact:
• Fíona Ní Chinnéide, Campaigns & Communications Officer, Irish Penal Reform Trust
T: + 353 1 874 1400 M: +353 87 135 4107 E: communications@iprt.ie
• Walter Jayawardene, Communications Manager, Irish Council for Civil Liberties
T: + 353 1 799 4503 M: +353 87 9981574 E: walter.jayawardene@iccl.ie
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. Ireland’s Examination under the UN CAT
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. The 23-24 May 2011 session is Ireland’s first time being examined by the UN Committee Against Torture on the extent to which it is meeting its human rights obligations under the Convention. A high-level government delegation is taking part in the public hearing in front of the UN Committee against Torture. The full Government delegation is listed here: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/list/List_Ireland_Cat46.pdf
A team of Irish NGOs, including the ICCL and IPRT travelled to Geneva on 20 May 2011 to present an advance briefing to the Committee, alerting it to some of the major issues it feels are not adequately tackled in the Government’s report.
On yesterday (23 May 2011), in its opening hearing with the Irish Government delegation, the UN Committee against Torture put a series of questions to the Government on its record under the convention, many of which reflected the concerns raised by the NGO delegation. This question session was webcast and can be viewed at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/14908354 and a rundown of the questions posed can be found on the ICCL twitter page (@ICCLtweet).
On 3 June the UN Committee against Torture will adopt its concluding observations on Ireland’s compliance with the UN Convention against Torture – these observations will form a list of essential improvements which the Irish State will have to undertake to tackle in the coming years.
2. 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 is designed to ensure that the UN Committee Against Torture does not rely solely on the 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 will be available for download here.
3. 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.
4. 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.