The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) today gave a cautious welcome to the Government decision to address the recommendations made by both the IHRC and the UN Committee Against Torture on the Magdalene Laundries. It also welcomed the recent statement by four religious congregations on the matter.
In its November 2010 Assessment Report on the Magdalene Laundries, the IHRC found that serious human rights issues arose in relation to the treatment of women and girls in the Magdalene laundries. The IHRC report called on the Government to immediately establish a Statutory Inquiry into their treatment and to provide redress to the survivors as appropriate. The IHRC called on the Government to first examine the extent of the State’s responsibility and then advance to conducting a larger-scale review of what occurred, the reasons for the occurrence, the human rights implications and the redress which should be considered, in full consultation with ex-residents and supporters’ groups.
On 1 June 2011 the UN Committee Against Torture recommended that the State should institute prompt, independent, and thorough investigations and, in appropriate cases, prosecutions in addition to affording redress, compensation and rehabilitation to former residents.
The IHRC notes that an Inter-Departmental Committee is to be chaired by an independent person and will clarify State interaction with the Magdalene Laundries and produce a narrative detailing such interaction. It notes that the State will work with religious congregations to make available all records, that it will identify those women currently residing with or in the care of the religious congregations and that it will then consider putting in place a restorative and reconciliation process and its structure. The IHRC regards the establishment of the Inter-Departmental Committee as a positive first step in establishing the level of State responsibility in relation to what occurred in the Magdalene Laundries and bringing about a process of redress for the women concerned.
Welcoming the Government statement that it will meet with the groups representing former residents of the Magdalene Laundries, the IHRC reiterates that it is available to Government to assist it in its deliberations as appropriate.
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