Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-13-Speech-4-178"
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"en.20011213.12.4-178"2
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"Mr President, this week we awarded the annual Sakharov Prize to three very worthy recipients who fight for peace and tolerance in an environment which is anything but peaceful and tolerant. The awarding of the Sakharov Prize is not only a grand ceremony but also an important demonstration, with echoes around the world. Hopefully, it also gives further courage to brave people coping with oppression and slavery. The prize is an expression of the basic values characterising EU foreign policy: respect for democracy and human rights throughout the world.
Those who were awarded the prize last year live under difficult circumstances, but they live in peace. That is not so in the cases of two former recipients of the prize: Aung San Suu Kyi, who received the prize in 1990, and Leyla Zana, who received it in 1995. These two courageous women, both parliamentarians, have been kept locked up by their respective governments year after year, despite international pressure. Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept in solitary confinement and under house arrest for an unimaginably long time. It is eleven years since she was elected as her people’s legitimate leader. We have seen some softening of attitudes on the part of the Burmese regime. A small number of political prisoners have been released recently. That is not enough, however. Together with the other political prisoners in the country, Aung San Suu Kyi must be released immediately.
Leyla Zana is held prisoner by a country that is applying for membership of the EU. I hope that Turkey will be able to play its part in this House one day. However, radical and genuine improvements are required in terms of human rights before we can even begin
about membership. Leyla Zana and all the other political prisoners in Turkey must also be released.
In this House, there is firm cross-party resolve to keep on reminding the world, including Burma and Turkey, of the fate of these two women and of the struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom of expression that they represent. I hope that the Commission can also talk about what it intends to do to ensure that next year is a year in which we help secure the release of these two women."@en1
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"negotiating"1
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