Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-15-Speech-3-064"
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"en.20000315.2.3-064"2
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"Mr President, I congratulate Mr Haarder whose excellent work I would describe as well-balanced, measured and well thought out. Furthermore, since I have had the honour of working with him on previous annual reports on human rights, I know how difficult it is. I hope that he receives the broad support of this House that he has asked for. He deserves it.
Mr President, at the beginning of his first intervention, Mr Haarder said that Europe did not invent human rights, and that is true. However, what does characterise Europe is the fact that, having moved them from the private realm into the public realm by making them actionable, it has made human rights the flag, the distinguishing mark which characterises us as Europeans.
We have talked about the defence of these human rights and I would now like to insist that if we proclaim human rights, it naturally follows that we must ensure that those rights can be exercised. I support all the points that have been made and I would like to add another. I am talking about those people who cannot exercise their rights because they are under pressure from certain quarters, certain organisations.
I will give just one example. Recently, the members of the
[Ermua Forum] visited us and I would like to remind the House that these members come from all sections of the political spectrum, ranging from left to right. They are intellectuals, they are men and women who live in the Basque Country and who cannot exercise their rights, their right to freedom of expression, because they constantly feel under pressure from
the political wing of ETA.
Just one more example: last Sunday the Basque people received an intimidating invitation not to turn out to vote. Fortunately, Basque society voted en masse, displaying the courage which is so essential in that environment.
Mr President, I will end as I began: this House must state loud and clear that the most important element of respecting human rights is the defence of the exercise of those rights – in full – in all cases and particularly in the face of those forces and organisations which hinder freedom of expression."@en1
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"Foro de Ermua"1
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