Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-21-Speech-3-305"
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"en.20040421.12.3-305"2
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"Mr President, I am a great supporter of genuine human rights, but there is a danger that we are moving to an increasingly rights-based culture and that just about every human desire and social and health need is defined as a fundamental human right. This approach is unhelpful from many standpoints, not least from the point of view of those who suffer genuine human rights abuse and whose cry is muffled by all the other competing demands.
I have another concern: at a time when international terrorism ranks among our greatest anxieties, we all too often see terrorists and their front organisations and political apologists abuse the human rights label for their own purposes as a political weapon and as a means of reducing the effectiveness of the security forces operating against them.
The report before us contains all of these faults. It is a great improvement on the first draft, but still lacks sufficient focus on the real human rights concerns around the world. Whilst swiping at the current targets of the left - the United States and Israel - it misses the opportunity to expose those corrupt regimes on many continents that keep their people in misery, and offers very little support to the victims of terrorism or those engaged in fighting terrorism.
In regard to the Israel-Palestine question, paragraph 46 of the report infers that settlement activity outside Israel's borders is somehow comparable to indiscriminate terrorist attacks on innocent civilians inside Israel. Such comparisons are nothing short of abhorrent and it is most irresponsible for politicians to make such suggestions, particularly when all our peoples are faced with the threat of terrorism. In regard to the issue of Guantanamo Bay, the report offers excessive comfort to those detained in Camp Delta, while ignoring the difficulties faced by our democracies in dealing with fanatics who are intent on menacing and murdering innocent civilians.
I would like to see a call for tough action by the EU and the rest of the international community to bring about real change in the countries that are the real human rights abusers, like Zimbabwe. Let us focus on real human rights problems, not political whim."@en1
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