The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, is to be asked to raise human rights issues in Russia, particularly relating to disabled children in state institutions and women, at an EU/Russian Federation summit next month.
At an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, the secretary general of Amnesty International Irish section, Mr Colm Ó Cuanacháin, said that in the Russian Federation 29,000 children were in state institutions. Some were orphaned or from broken homes but a significant number had mental disabilities.
"Children born with a disability are taken from their families at birth and brought to state institutions. Of the nearly 30,000 under 18 in these places, over 5,000 are confined to bed, unable to move. They all receive cruel, degrading treatment and have no rights to education or liberty," he said.
The institutions were given a minimal budget and the children live in close confinement with little or no sensory stimulation. These children include those with conditions such as Down's Syndrome and autism, he said.
Mr Ó Cuanacháin told the committee over 14,000 women died ever year at the hands of a husband or other family member, but there was no accountability and no political will to address the issue. He said the real problem was with regard to the police and violence towards women. Women did not report violence and instead of turning to the police, they had a fear of them.
"It is up to the EU institutions to hold the Russian Federation accountable for these human rights violations," Mr Ó Cuanacháin stated.
The chairman, Mr Gay Mitchell (FG), said there was a suggestion from the committee that the Russian Ambassador should be invited to address the TDs and senators on these issues.
""We should try to do this before the summit on November 6th so that we have an opportunity to raise these issues with our Minister," Mr Mitchell said.
Items relating to human rights would be on the summit agenda and the Minister could bring them up at the summit, he said.
Mr Jim Loughran, Amnesty International Irish section, spoke about the arms trade, stating that since 1997 Ireland has exported €240 million worth of military goods and €23.7 billion of dual-use goods to a range of countries with a track record of serious human rights abuse.
There was a need for a Dáil committee with the capacity to exercise effective scrutiny of exports of military and dual-use goods from Ireland, Mr Loughran stated.