As Ireland takes its seat on the United Nations Security Council, it should seek to make a measurable independent contribution to peace and security, which can only be based on human rights. Although the White Paper on foreign policy states that human rights are a central concern of Irish foreign policy, this is not the case in practice.
Amnesty International believes clear policy criteria should be properly developed and published, establishing an inviolable place in foreign policy. Geopolitical, security, trade or economic interest, cultural or historical links must be reconciled with foreign policy.
The Government must develop human rights policies to be consistently applied in all areas of foreign policy and domestic matters and based on a transparent and objective assessment of the human rights situation in each country. Experience has shown that human rights issues play a complex role in the Security Council, where positions must be taken almost every day.
In the Department of Foreign Affairs there is no mechanism to mainstream human rights in the formulation of foreign policy. There is a tiny, overworked human rights unit with laughable resources, making it difficult to pursue any issue in any depth or with any consistency.
Whether or not human rights criteria are taken into account when policy is formulated depends very much on the strength of conviction of individual civil servants in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Even if individual desk officers have a broad commitment, their woeful lack of resources means they are often chasing their tails.
The Minister has reaffirmed the Government's commitment to the crucial areas of UN peacekeeping, disarmament, human rights and development aid co-operation and says: "Our commitment to these crucial areas will be carried through in our work on the council". I applaud this statement. This is the first step needed to shape the collective mind-set in the Department of Foreign Affairs and point noses in the right direction.
However, it must be followed up with a clear political direction which gives the same weight to human rights as other considerations.
It is also vital that:
the human rights unit in the Department gets additional human and financial resources to strengthen its work.
the political director of the Department ensures that desks within the political division incorporate a human rights dimension when formulating country-specific policies.
the regional desks get additional resources. It is ridiculous that so few have to cover so many countries.
The Government must also ratify without further delay its outstanding UN obligations:
the Statute of the International Criminal Court. the UN Convention Against Torture.
the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (particularly in light of next year's UN World Conference on Racism).
the UN Secretary-General's recommendation to make 18 a minimum age for recruitment into defence forces should be implemented.
Smaller countries on the Security Council can play a role in shaping the agenda. This can occur where the five permanent members don't dare block a motion, or where they won't take an initiative. Equally, in Africa and Asia, it is the smaller countries on the Security Council which act as mediators.
The UN has been a cornerstone of Irish foreign policy since we joined the organisation on December 14th, 1955. The building of a strong and effective UN continues to be a key objective. Having lain low, on and off, over the years, the Government now has an opportunity to renew and redouble its efforts through its membership of the Security Council.