THE IRISH Human Rights Commission, which lost nearly a third of its budget last year, will “not be able to exist” if the Government imposes further cuts this year, its president, Maurice Manning, has warned.
The Government had obligations under the Belfast Agreement to “adequately resource and fund” the human rights body, which the United Nations “lays down as a cardinal principle”. “It is clear that we live in a time of cuts, cuts that are universal and deep,” Mr Manning told the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Swansea, but said the commission had suffered a 32 per cent budget cut last year.
“I would ask that the 32 per cent cut – when others all took between 5 and 6 per cent – will, hopefully, not be repeated. Because if it is the commission will not be able to exist,” he told the gathering of TDs, MPs and representatives from Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Later Mr Manning told The Irish Times: “We would expect, in fairness, not to be cut any further. But we are not getting any signals at all. None at all, and that is the worrying thing.”
The commission and the Equality Authority were targeted for the heaviest cuts last year by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, a move which caused tensions, and provoked sharp criticisms of Mr Ahern.
Mr Manning addressed the parliamentary assembly, which meets every six months, alongside Monica McWilliams, chair of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
He said the commission had the task of scrutinising Government legislation, but it was also prepared to provide “an independent, expert critique” directly to members of the Oireachtas.
He said the commission should be made accountable to the Oireachtas and not to the Department of Justice, as happens currently. “There is something incongruous about reporting to justice.”
Most human rights abuses, he said, happened in bodies that were accountable to institutions such as the Department of Justice. “Accountability to parliament would make more sense, and it would strengthen parliament at a time when parliaments need to be strengthened.
“Linking the IHRC to the Oireachtas would not only be in keeping with international best practice, but it would also acknowledge that human rights impact on all areas of law, policy and practice in Ireland and not merely issues within justice.
“Furthermore, it would honour the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee which called for the IHRC’s independence and capacity to be further enhanced by endowing it with adequate and sufficient resources and linking it to the Oireachtas.”
The Oireachtas should establish a joint committee on human rights modelled on the existing one in Westminster “to scrutinise all government Bills and government action on judgments of the domestic courts, and the European Court of Human Rights would strengthen Ireland’s strong commitment to human rights”.
The existing human rights body in the Oireachtas was a sub-committee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. “What are we saying? Human rights are okay for foreigners, but don’t bother us with them back home?”
He said Northern Ireland was still ahead of the Republic on some human rights issues; same-sex partnerships, and the protection of the new identity of those who have sex changes. “I hope that there will be similar movement down South.”
Ms McWilliams expressed concern about the way in which some politicians and media organisations have criticised the way the Human Rights Act in the UK has been used to stop some deportations. “The issue is whether those countries use torture or not. Human rights are universal. We should uphold them at home and abroad,” said Ms McWilliams.