Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-01-Speech-3-101"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-12-01"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Annual report on human rights2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991201.9.3-101"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-12-01-Speech-3-1022
lpv:speaker	lp:The Lord Nicholas Bethell2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, it is a very great joy that we have at last a report from the Council of Ministers on human rights. I can remember making this request in December 1979 when the Russian troops were getting together to invade Afghanistan. For some reason, over these past twenty years the Council of Ministers or the ministers meeting in political cooperation have been unwilling to put together a document. Now at least we have a document, although I have to say that it is rather thin soup. The careful balance the Commissioner mentioned needs to be made very carefully, but we need facts and details on how the human rights situation throughout the world is being handled. I trust that this first document will be just one step along the way towards bringing us together and helping us to tackle human rights. It has been an abominable year after all. We have had war, murder, genocide, racism, xenophobia, and I wish we could have had something a little bit more powerful in this document, which was, I have to say, distributed very quickly. It found itself in our pigeon-holes today and it was there for debate with the human rights forum which the President referred to. These things are in need of quick action. At the human rights forum this morning I spoke to one of the President-in-Office’s Finnish colleagues from the Finnish Foreign Ministry, about a particular case mentioned by the European Parliament recently, the case of Alexander Nikitin, a man who is on trial just a few miles away from Helsinki, for high treason. He is facing the death penalty because he reported on the ecological disaster of nuclear submarines in the Murmansk area. I take it this matter is of interest to the Finnish Government, but even though I raised this question with a member of the Finnish Foreign Office, we still do not have any information and the man is on trial today, and tomorrow. I imagine it is familiar to those who are sitting with the Council of Ministers. I hope someone can tell us something about it. Mr President, this is, I suppose, the parliament in Europe that takes human rights the most seriously, and we have great possibilities in dealing with countries that violate human rights. I believe that we have to look much more carefully at this question, to tackle those countries that behave disgracefully; the so-called fingernail-pulling governments need to be taken to task, and the European Parliament must be the institution that takes the lead in making sure that human rights are top of our agenda."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	vice-chair; Delegation to the EU-Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-07-22--2002-01-14)3 member; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Slovak Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-08--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Conservative and Unionist Party (1999-07-20--2003-09-29)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2003-09-29)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Bethell (PPE-DE )."1

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