Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-04-Speech-4-185"
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"en.20020704.9.4-185"2
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". – Mr President, I am going to reply on behalf of Mr Patten: It is a fortunate coincidence that I was the Commissioner who had the opportunity to propose this legislation two years ago in Parliament. Now, finally, we have the adoption of the anti-discrimination legislation at European level. It was the first time that we agreed at European level that there should be no kind of discrimination in employment on the grounds of sexual orientation.
This case is not a matter of discrimination; it is a matter of fundamental human rights.
The European Commission closely followed the case of the 52 men arrested in the so-called Queen Boat affair and the conduct and the outcome of the case raised several issues of concern. The Commission was especially troubled by the use of National Security legislation, with no right of appeal for the 23 imprisoned men, and by the inflammatory language used at the trial and in the media, which undermined official Egyptian claims that the men were charged primarily for debauchery rather than sexual orientation.
Egyptian President Mubarak has recently ruled that all but two of the 52 men arrested in the Queen Boat case should not have been tried in the Security Court and their case will now be reheard in a misdemeanour court. A decision on the referral is expected to be given on 16 July. This is an important and potentially positive development, although its impact is mitigated by the possibility that even those acquitted in the first trial will be retried.
The European Commission will continue to follow the Queen Boat case and other similar prosecutions. The European Union's concerns have already been communicated to the Egyptian authorities through the normal channels and will be reiterated if appropriate.
The European Union is committed to the defence of human rights and condemns the prosecution of individuals or groups for their sexual orientation. This commitment is integrated into the European Union's external policy as a matter of principle and in the form of concrete measures and actions.
At a global level the European Union supports the protection of human rights by grants to civil society groups and non-governmental organisations through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. At a bilateral level, the Association Agreements increasingly govern the European Union’s relations with third countries and require that such relations "shall be based on respect of democratic principles and fundamental human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights".
The recently signed European Union-Egypt Association Agreement contains such a clause and respect of human rights is explicitly identified in the text as an "essential element" of this agreement. The Association Agreement with Egypt provides an important additional forum for both parties to discuss issues of human rights and democracy."@en1
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