Permanent international criminal court urged

Calls were made in the Dail yesterday for a permanent international criminal court which would try individuals for crimes against humanity. The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, said "adhoc" United Nations tribunals like those set up in Rwanda and Bosnia were not the answer. Neither body was "operating with anything like the efficiency that one would have wished".

He said that after four years only one person had been convicted for acts of genocide by the Bosnian tribunal. with seven other suspects detained. The Rwandan tribunal has failed to secure a single conviction.

Mr Higgins condemned the execution last week of 22 people charged by the Rwandan government with genocide, and the conditions endured by prisoners awaiting trial. He cited a report by The Irish Times Development Correspondent, Mr Paul Cullen, showing that 7,000 men were being kept in a jail built for 700.

Mr Higgins was speaking during the second stage of the International War Crimes Tribunals Bill, 1997, which enables the Government to seek the arrest and extradition of people suspected of acts of genocide.

The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said the legislation applies to those accused or convicted by any present or future UN tribunal.

Provisional arrest warrants may be issued by the High Court on the sworn information of a Garda, not below the rank of inspector, acting on a request from an international tribunal. Search warrants can be issued by the District Court.

The Minister may postpone the surrender of someone who is being sought by an international tribunal but has committed crimes in the State.

The leader of Democratic Left, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said it would be "extremely ironic" if the Government implemented legislation dealing with alleged war criminals and failed to deal humanely with ordinary refugees and asylum-seekers.

The Labour Party spokesman on justice, Mr Pat Upton, welcomed the Bill but criticised the Government for "stalling" on legislation which would implement the UN Convention on Torture.

He expressed disappointment at the lack of medical facilities available for survivors of torture in Ireland.