Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-159"
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"en.20040114.3.3-159"2
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"Mr President, here at the beginning of 2004 the climate of obsession with security has become more pronounced. The fight against terrorism is now held up to justify any repressive, authoritarian or discriminatory measure. Freedom of expression and freedom of movement, indeed all democratic rights at times, are suffering in many countries, including under George Bush’s administration, which has just established a specific procedure for officials of airline companies from 10 countries to enter American territory.
Throughout the world, there are also numerous examples of an offensive against those men and women who campaign tirelessly for human rights. In anticipation of the next session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, I would like to mention a few of them.
I am thinking of Sihem Bensedrine, a writer, journalist and former spokesperson for the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia, who was attacked in the middle of the street a few days ago in Tunis on her way home. A group of 15 lawyers lodged a complaint on her behalf and Sihem Bensedrine blamed, and I quote, ‘the political police’. As usual, the Tunisian authorities rushed to deny the existence of any such police.
The many recent interventions by this courageous and passionate campaigner to denounce breaches of human rights in her country in the European media, before a parliamentary committee in Germany or even when her last book came out have certainly not seemed to please the Ben Ali regime. The harassment suffered every day by Tunisian human rights defenders shows that the Tunisian regime has not made progress, despite the shocking statements to the contrary made by the French President, Mr Chirac, in Tunis in December.
On the contrary, freedoms as fundamental as the freedoms of expression, of opinion, of association and of assembly continue to be violated every day, treating the European Parliament’s repeated requests with disdain. This assessment is also shared by Mrs Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders. In my view, the European institutions, the Council and the Commission, must shilly-shally no longer and must, at the session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and in general, assert an unambiguous position regarding this regime and use their influence to demand respect for all freedoms. The credibility of the EU-Tunisia links must measure up to this requirement.
We welcome the very recent release of political prisoners in Morocco, and in particular that of the journalist Ali Lmrabet and several Sahrawi prisoners who had been in jail for many years. Their release is proof of the importance of international solidarity. I would like to take the opportunity provided by this debate and by the forthcoming visit by Kofi Annan to Brussels to receive the Sakharov Prize to reiterate demands that have already been stated here but which are still relevant.
I would like to talk about the issue of Western Sahara and to call on the governments of the Member States to give their full support to the current efforts of the United Nations. As the deadline has been set for 31 January, there is an urgent need to put pressure on Morocco to accept, as did the Polisario Front so courageously, and to implement without any further delay the UN peace plan, which at last provides for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people through a free and democratic referendum. The Council and the Commission have the resources to help bring this about.
Finally, I would like to mention the situation in Palestine. The people of Palestine have had enough. Every gesture of goodwill, like the Geneva peace initiative adopted by Israeli and Palestinian leaders, is immediately scorned, to say the least, by Sharon. Accusations of treason, the circulation of black lists, fatal shootings by the Israeli army in the Occupied Territories and the sentencing of young, refusenik soldiers are just some of the blows to the very idea of peace in the Middle East. The escalation continues to be dangerous and bloody. In this respect, I can only welcome the beginning of the next session of the Court in The Hague, which is due to give a ruling on the legitimacy of the ‘wall of shame’. However, as regards condemning breaches of rights, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the European Union must assume their responsibilities."@en1
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