Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-16-Speech-4-142"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2004-09-16"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Maldives2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20040916.7.4-142"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2004-09-16-Speech-4-1432
lpv:speaker	lp:Nirj Deva2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, why are we talking about the Maldives today? We are talking about the Maldives because we have ignored it for 23 years. We have let it be. We have not looked at the living conditions or quality of life of the people in that country. They have been living under a dictatorship. There have been no elections. The President runs the country as his private property. Though it is classified under the GNP criteria as having a living standard in excess of $3 000 per capita, 50% of the people live for less than a dollar a day. But if you were to go there, Mr President, you would have to pay $300 a night to stay in one of those rooms! Where does the money go? Who collects it and where is it banked? Certainly not for the benefit of the people of the Maldives. Moreover, recently, on 16 August, 200 people were detained without charge or arrest. Eight MPs were detained, MPs who had been tasked with drafting constitutional amendments for increased representation in parliament, including a former candidate for the role of Speaker, former Secretary-General of SAARC Mr Ibrahim Zaki, who has been nominated by some of us for the Sakharov Prize. Others have been held in prison without charge. Habeas corpus has been suspended and human rights have been abused. If the government of the Maldives wants to engage with the European Union, it should first restore the fundamental rights of those people it has imprisoned. Then we can talk. We do not want to hurt a small archipelago of 1 200 islands. We want to help them. The only way to help them is to ensure that European travellers visiting the Maldives also have access to fair travel so that they do not feel compelled to live in a country which is abusing its own citizens."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2004-09-15--2007-03-13)3 member; Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (2004-09-15--2009-07-13)3 substitute; AFET (2004-07-21--2007-01-14)3 member; DEVE (2004-07-21--2007-01-14)3 unknown; Conservative and Unionist Party (2004-07-20--2009-07-13)3 member_of_the_bureau; EPP-ED (2004-08-31--2009-07-13)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"(Applause)"1 "Deva (PPE-DE )."1

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