Human rights and victims’ organisations have accused the Government of “colluding” with the “narrow agenda” of the UK by backing a proposal which they say seeks to weaken the protections of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In a letter to Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee, seen by The Irish Times, they call on the Government to drop its support for a statement by some members of the Council of Europe which would “risk undermining the protection against torture in article 3” of the convention.
Describing this as a “departure” from the State’s long-standing policy of upholding the Belfast Agreement “and the human rights protections that underpin it”, they urge the Government “to return to its leadership role in defending and strengthening the ECHR”.
The letter was signed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Amnesty International in the UK and Ireland, Public Interest Litigation Support NI, Relatives for Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre.
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They wrote to the Minister last month expressing their concerns following a meeting of Council of Europe justice ministers in December, which was attended by Jim O’Callaghan.
Ireland was one of 27 member states, including the UK, which signed a joint statement recommending a number of changes to the interpretation of the ECHR, which they consider “imperative to ensure that the convention framework is fit to address today’s challenges”.
These include that “the scope of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ under Article 3 [of the ECHR] ... should be constrained to the most serious issues”.
Article 3, the prohibition of torture, states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
The Council of Europe’s steering committee for human rights is meeting this week to draft a text for a political declaration on migration and the ECHR, which is due to be adopted in May.
In the letter, the organisations emphasised the record of successive governments as “among the principal defenders” of the ECHR and cited the current inter-state case taken by Ireland against the UK over the 2023 Legacy Act, which “in part deals with the right to remedies of victims of torture during the NI conflict”.
Describing this as “a critical juncture where there are fresh threats to the future of the ECHR”, they said any constraints to Article 3 “feeds negative discourse on migration cases” and “risks undermining the integrity of standards against torture and inhuman and degrading treatment for all”.
“Should this agenda prevail, there could be a significant impact both on the protections of article 3 in regard to Northern Ireland legacy cases and on contemporary safeguards against inhuman and degrading treatment.”
In a statement, the Department of Justice emphasised the Government’s “deep and abiding” commitment to the ECHR and its significance as a “core safeguard” of the Belfast Agreement. It said article 3 was “unqualified” and “non-derogable”.
As a founding member of the Council of Europe, “Ireland fully supports its essential role in promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe”, it added.
It said member states, including Ireland, “have concerns about ensuring a fair and effective migration system, while fully respecting the integrity of the ECHR and the universality of human rights” and “considers that there is a need for such discussions to take place” at the Council of Europe.
