Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-13-Speech-4-191"
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"en.20000413.7.4-191"2
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"Mr President, today we are discussing Tibet, but we have also discussed Chechnya, Kurdistan and Taiwan, and we will continue to do so. In my opinion, the reason for this is that when we talk of human rights, we always focus on individual rights and too often disregard the rights of peoples. The fundamental right of self-determination is all too often ignored, possibly for reasons of political convenience. It may be easier to act in defence of a person who has been wrongfully imprisoned, tortured or denied freedom of speech than in defence of an entire people. But this is the crux of the matter: until the right of self-determination is declared and applied everywhere, we will continue to witness such situations and we will continue to debate and adopt resolutions, but, as Mr Sakellariou said, sadly, nothing will change. We must change our perspective completely and progress from the protection of individuals to the protection of peoples, for it is not fair for the inhabitants of East Timor alone to be able to exercise this right: all peoples must have the facility to exercise this right if they so desire, from the Sahara to Chechnya, from Taiwan to Kurdistan, and, of course, in Tibet."@en1
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