Press release – for immediate release
Dublin and Geneva, 5 October 2011
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter TD will face a jury of his peers tomorrow morning (6 October 2011) when he defends Ireland’s human rights record at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
Tomorrow’s three-hour hearing is part of Ireland’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN and it is the first time that Ireland will face direct scrutiny of its track record on rights by other United Nations member States.
In recent months, the Your Rights Right Now coalition of 17 leading organizations has been working hard to ensure that diplomatic representatives in Geneva are fully informed about the situation in Ireland and well-equipped to ask searching questions of Minister Shatter.
The first hard evidence that this work is bearing fruit comes in the form of the “advance questions” to Ireland from a number of EU states, which have just been released on the UN’s website.
Some of the questions that Alan Shatter will face include:
Finland and United Kingdom — what progress is being made to create effective national bodies to monitor conditions in place of detention (a measure that will be required before Ireland can ratify a key UN treaty (the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture)?
Finland, Netherlands, and United Kingdom — how does the Government intend to improve the protection of children’s rights and formally recognise modern, pluralist and inclusive family relationships?
Czech Republic — will the Government grant ethnic minority status to the Traveller community?
Netherlands — what steps has the Government taken to ensure that austerity measures do not disproportionally impact on the most vulnerable and excluded people in Ireland?
Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and United Kingdom — will the Government legislate to clarify the circumstances in which abortion may be lawful (as required by the 1992 Supreme Court judgment in the X case and the 2010 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of A, B and C v Ireland)?
Norway — is Ireland prepared to enact legislation to underpin the right of workers to collective bargaining through their trade unions?
For further information, see the note below, and/or contact:
Walter Jayawardene
Communications Manager
Irish Council for Civil Liberties
9-13 Blackhall Place
Dublin 7
Ireland
Tel. + 353 1 799 4503
Mob: +353 87 9981574
walter.jayawardene@iccl.ie
Press contacts for other civil society organisations in the ‘Your Rights Right Now’ coalition are listed below.
NOTES TO BROADCASTERS AND JOURNALISTS:
Notes on the Geneva Hearing
• Ireland’s hearing under the UN Universal Periodic Review will take place in the Palais des Nations in Geneva between 8am and 11am Irish time. The Irish Government Delegation will be led by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter. The hearing will be streamed live via the ‘Your Rights Right Now’ campaign website at www.rightsnow.ie, and via the UN at http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/c/12th-upr-2011.html. More info on the UPR below.
• Advance questions submitted by a number of EU states can be read in full online at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/IESession12.aspx
• For journalists in Geneva, the ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ campaign will have a number of representatives available in Geneva to provide comment and analysis on the proceedings. Please contact Walter Jayawardene at the above details to arrange an interview in or from Geneva. There will also be a human interest element to the ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ campaign presence in Geneva – a number of rights holders who have faced their own human rights challenges in Ireland are travelling to Geneva to witness the hearing first-hand. These include representatives from Older and Bolder, and Ms Lauren Donovan, a student at Youthreach Sherrard Street who won the ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ / Youthreach human rights competition we co-organised with Youthreach and who will be travelling as part of her prize.
Notes on activities in Dublin, Cork and Limerick
• The ‘Your Rights Right Now’ campaign will be holding a breakfast screening of the UPR hearing live from Geneva on the morning of 6th October 2011 from 8am in the Connolly Room, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1 (Entrance via Liberty Hall Theatre).
• Representatives from a range of Irish civil society participants in the ‘Your Rights Right Now’ campaign will be present, and a media hub will be provided to journalists where press materials, spokespersons and live reaction to events in Geneva will be provided. Journalists and media are encouraged to drop in at any time between 8.00 am and 11.00 am to enjoy a light breakfast and meet with members of Your Rights. Right Now while watching the live feed from the UN in Geneva.
• Parallel events are taking place at the same date and time in:
o Limerick – Best Western Perys Hotel Glentworth Street, Limerick. Guest Speaker: Dr Edel Hughes, School of Law, University Limerick. For more information Contact Siobhan on s.oconnor@dorasluimni.org or 061310328
o Cork – NASC, 35 Mary Street Cork. For more information contact clairemccarthy@nasc.ie or 021431 7411
Photos:
• High resolution photos from the campaign so far, including dramatic shots of our campaign branding on Liberty Hall, can be accessed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourrightsrightnow/. There is no reproduction fee.
The ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ Coalition is made up of: Children’s Rights Alliance; Disability Federation of Ireland; Dóchas; Educate Together; Free Legal Advice Centres; Immigrant Council of Ireland; Irish Congress of Trade Unions; Irish Council for Civil Liberties; Irish Family Planning Association ; Irish Penal Reform Trust; Irish Senior Citizens Parliament; Irish Traveller Movement; National Women’s Council of Ireland; Simon Communities of Ireland; The Integration Centre; Transgender Equality Network; Union of Students in Ireland
The following are available for comment:
Children’s Rights Alliance (childrens’ rights, child protection, Ryan report): Carys Thomas, Communications Director: Mobile: +353 87 7702845 carys@childrensrights.ie
Dóchas (International Development): Holy Ramanankasina, Information Officer: 01 4853414 holy@dochas.ie
Free Legal Advice Centres (transgender rights, access to justice, human rights and poverty): Yvonne Woods, Communications and Information officer: 0872309227 yvonne.woods@flac.ie
Immigrant Council of Ireland (immigration, racism): Martina Quinn / Lydia Ishak, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4200580 / 087-6522033 / 086-3868615
Irish Congress of Trade Unions: Macdara Doyle, Communications Officer: macdara.doyle@ictu.ie
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (fair trial rights, equality): See Walter Jayawardene, details above
Irish Family Planning Association (reproductive rights): Fiona Tyrrell, IFPA Communications Officer, 01 607 4456 or 086 7952167 fiona@ifpa.ie
Irish Penal Reform Trust (prisoners’ rights, prison conditions, juvenile detention conditions): Fíona Ní Chinnéide, Campaigns & Communications Officer: 087 181 2990 communications@iprt.ie
Irish Traveller Movement (Traveller rights, recognition of Traveller ethnicity): Jacinta Brack Public Relations Coordinator 087 27 44 791 publicrelationsitm@gmail.com
The Integration Centre: Helena Clarke helena.clarke@integrationcentre.ie 01-6453070
Transgender Equality Network Ireland: Broden Giambrone: 01 8733575 director@teni.ie
National Women’s Council of Ireland: Rachel Doyle, 0872998619 racheld@nwci.ie; Jacqueline Healy 0858586476
Also, Older and Bolder will be accompanying ‘Your Rights Right Now’ to Geneva. Media contact: Roisin Boyd, m: +353 87 7989 139, roisin.boyd@ireland.com/ Pat Montague 087 2549123.
General information:
What is Ireland’s ‘UPR’ on 6.10.11?
The 6th October 2011 will be a big day for Ireland, marking the first time that Ireland will go under the spotlight of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Process. The Universal Periodic Review is a process through which the human rights records of the United Nations’ 192 Member States are reviewed and assessed every four years, and this October it’s Ireland’s turn. This process is also a genuine opportunity for people in Ireland to highlight important human rights issues facing the country, and encourage Ireland to promise to address these issues in front of an audience of its international peers.
The ‘Your Rights. Right Now’ Campaign www.rightsnow.ie
The ICCL, as part of a coalition of 17 civil society organisations (see the website for full list) in Ireland called ‘Your Rights. Right Now’, has been working throughout 2011 to ensure that the voice of ordinary people across Ireland is heard and reported to the UN as part of this high-profile event on the international stage.
In February and March 2011, the Your Rights Right Now Campaign Team conducted seventeen consultation and public information events throughout the country. The team visited locations including Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford in order to ensure the widest possible participation.
These meetings covered a broad range of human rights issues with a focus on local concerns, and were attended by interested members of the public and representatives from a diverse range of special interest groups including local community organisations, women’s groups, refugees, LGBT people, young people, trade unionists, people with disabilities, older people and many others. The meetings offered members of the public to give voice to their concerns about human rights in Ireland.
The process culminated in a report covering a range of human rights issues of concern to Irish civil society, which was sent the UN on 21 March 2011 and was officially launched on 19 April 2011 by Kathleen Lynch TD, the Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People. This report provided crucial information to the UN Universal Periodic Review of Ireland, whose compiled Stakeholder Report makes specific reference to the Your Rights Right Now submission 30 times in the 11 page report and 52 times in 167 footnotes.
The past two weeks has seen the campaign raising public awareness of the UPR, and of Ireland’s examination in Geneva on 6.10.11, including the launch of a national poster campaign and the unfurling of a 20 metre high banner on Dublin’s Liberty Hall.