Ireland's rights abuses

26 May 2005
Emma Browne

Areas of particular concern are the ill-treatment and misconduct by gardaí, mistreatment of people in psychiatric institutions, the absence of rights in the Disability Bill, poor standards in detention centres, a fundamentally flawed immigration system, the shortage of funding for services for violence against women and gaps in legislation on arms trading.

Governments all over the world are betraying their promise of a world order based on human rights and are pursuing a dangerous new agenda, said Amnesty International on 25 May as it launched its annual assessment of global human rights. Speaking at the launch of the Amnesty International Report 2005 in Dublin, the Irish Section's, Jim Loughran, said: "Governments are betraying their promises on human rights. A new agenda is in the making with the language of freedom and justice being used to pursue policies of fear and insecurity. This includes cynical attempts to redefine and sanitise torture."

This new agenda, combined with the indifference and paralysis of the international community, failed countless thousands of people in humanitarian crises and forgotten conflicts throughout 2004.

In Darfur, the Sudanese government generated a human rights catastrophe and the international community did too little too late to address the crisis. In Haiti, individuals responsible for serious human rights violations were allowed to regain positions of power. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo there was no effective response to the systematic rape of tens of thousands of women, children and even babies. Despite the holding of elections, Afghanistan slipped into a downward spiral of lawlessness and instability. Violence was endemic in Iraq.

Russian soldiers reportedly tortured, raped and sexually abused Chechen women with impunity. Zimbabwe's government manipulated food shortages for political reasons.

"In Ireland there is equally no room for complacency," said Loughran.

Allegations persisted of ill-treatment by police officers and such allegations were not investigated impartially. Concerns about the system for reporting, recording and prosecuting racist crimes continued. Conditions in psychiatric and other institutions for mentally disabled people remained unsatisfactory. Concerns were expressed about inadequate asylum-seeking procedures and discrimination against migrant workers. Provisions to protect women escaping violence in the family were insufficient.