Advocacy groups heartened by proceedings

REACTION:MINISTER FOR Justice Alan Shatter's defence of the Republic's human rights record drew a mixed reaction from advocacy groups. Many said they were encouraged by the hearing, but said the Irish responses were short on detail.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties welcomed the confirmation that a referendum on children’s rights would be held early next year. It was pleased by a commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which would allow individuals to complain about alleged violations of such rights internationally.

However, the council said there was a lack of precision elsewhere. While the Minister conceded there was a need to act “expeditiously” to implement the European Court of Human Rights’ recent abortion judgment, he did not specify what would be done, or when.

“He said many of the right things, but when he was pressed to give details and explain the substance of what legislation would be and when it would happen, at that point all that appeared to be solid melted into the air,” council director Mark Kelly said.

Mr Kelly said he was “astonished” Mr Shatter believed there was not a problem with excessive violence in Irish prisons, and that he could not understand where the claim came from. “I know where they got it from,” he said. “They got it from successive reports from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which has said repeatedly that Ireland’s prisons are not safe places either for prisoners or for staff.”

The Irish Family Planning Association called the hearing a “momentous day for Ireland” in that UN member states “took a stand for Irish women’s reproductive rights”. Chief executive Niall Behan said Mr Shatter must “make a firm commitment to provide legislation for adequate abortion services and to give clarity to women and their doctors”.

However, the Pro-Life campaign said the universal periodic review presented a “genuine opportunity to reaffirm self-evident inalienable human rights, the most basic of which is the right to life”. Noting six states had raised the Republic’s laws on the issue, Caroline Simons, the group’s legal consultant, said: “If ending the life of an unborn child were to be officially declared a human right, the term ‘human rights’ would be stripped of all meaning.”

While welcoming Mr Shatter’s statement human rights would be at the heart of Irish policy, the Human Rights Commission said acting on recommendations of fellow states would prove that commitment. Its president, Maurice Manning, echoed the concerns of a number of states regarding the effects of austerity and called on the Government to ensure the forthcoming budget “does not place more people in situations of poverty or at risk of poverty”.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions noted Mr Shatter did not answer a question from Norway on whether Ireland was prepared to enact a law to underpin workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

Amnesty International welcomed Mr Shatter’s assurance the Government would introduce universal healthcare, but expressed disappointment there was no recognition of the need to provide a right to health in the Constitution.

Pavee Point applauded an indication from the Minister that the State may recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority.

Director of the Irish Traveller Movement Damien Peelo said the reclassification of Travellers would mean a move “away from assimilation to a cherishing of our largest indigenous minority”.