Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-27-Speech-3-016"
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".
Mr President, I would like to begin by apologising on behalf of Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, who has not been able to come here today, and also by saying how pleased I am to be able to replace her to discuss an issue which is so essential to our model of society, of political and civic community, and to our European project.
The European Union believes that there are three fundamental principles in relation to the Court. Firstly, the principle of the Court’s universality, and to that end we are campaigning throughout the world to increase the number of ratifications of the Rome Statute, and I am pleased that, in March, 77 ACP countries jointly agreed to include a commitment to ratification of the Statute in the new Cotonou Agreement, which will be signed soon.
Secondly, we believe that the principle of the Court’s integrity, which has been attacked by some countries, is fundamental. For example, the bilateral immunity agreements proposed by the United States undermine the very concept of the Court. The Commission is also concerned about the system of sanctions imposed by the United States on those countries that refuse to sign those agreements and we are continuing to express our concern about these issues in our dialogue with the United States.
Finally, the third principle of the Court is complementarity with national judicial systems; international justice is not a replacement of national justice. We therefore support the reconstruction of legal systems in those countries in which the judiciary has not been able or has not had the will to tackle mass violations of human rights.
The adoption on 31 March of a United Nations Security Council resolution on the situation in Darfur, which refers for the first time to the International Criminal Court, makes us very hopeful.
Finally, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you, on behalf of the Commission, that the large number of countries and issues dealt with in the report will be an immense help when we begin our work soon on the European Union’s annual report on human rights. I would therefore like once again to thank, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Commission, Mr Coveney and the European Parliament as a whole for your excellent work and to point out once again that we are always prepared to cooperate with Parliament in this task.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins by pointing out that ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. All of us, in carrying out our responsibilities and in our daily and private lives, have the duty to promote and protect the rights of all human beings everywhere in the world.
The European Parliament’s report on human rights that we are discussing this afternoon makes an extremely important contribution and I would like to begin by paying a warm tribute to Mr Coveney on his excellent work, which illustrates once again this Parliament’s firm commitment to human rights. The report contains extremely important food for thought and many very useful recommendations; there are too many of them for me to respond in detail to all of the issues it raises, but, as usual, the Commission will follow up this debate by responding to every one of the report's recommendations in writing.
Nevertheless, I would like to take this opportunity to draw attention to certain points raised by Mr Coveney in his report. Specifically, I would like to make some brief comments on three issues: firstly, on the rights of children, in particular in armed conflicts, secondly, on human rights activists and, finally, on the International Criminal Court.
With regard to the rights of children, the Commission is pleased that the report places emphasis on this point. In recent years, the European Union has implemented an effective framework for integrating the rights of children into its policies and programmes, in cooperation with UNICEF, we have launched a specific training programme on the rights of children and, last September, we established an Interinstitutional Group on this issue. The Commission plays an active role in the application of the European Union’s guidelines on children and armed conflicts approved in 2003: we regularly raise the issue in our dialogue with third countries and with representatives of groups involved in armed conflicts. For example, during her visit to Sri Lanka in March, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner had the opportunity to place particular emphasis on the importance of eradicating the use of children in these conflicts. The Commission supports a wide range of projects dealing with the different aspects of this problem and, following a thorough analysis, we have decided to direct funds from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights towards support and training programmes in third countries. The aim of these programmes and these resources is to make progress in the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that the group of commissioners on human rights places particular emphasis on this issue. My colleagues have reviewed the work of the Commission in this field and are currently considering the best way to prioritise this issue; one of the possibilities being considered is the approval of a communication, as suggested by Mr Coveney in his report.
Secondly, I wished to refer to human rights activists. In his speech to the United Nations general assembly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that human rights activists are our eyes and ears and that they represent our collective conscience. They are a crucial source of information on the events taking place in third countries. We, therefore, the European Union, depend on them, on human rights activists, to provide us with information. This means that we have an immense responsibility to protect them, we must focus on improving the follow-up and communication of information and, in this regard, a firm commitment on the part of the European Union's missions and the Commission's delegations in the world.
The Commission is determined to play an active role in implementing the guidelines on human rights activists. To this end, our campaign prioritises ‘promoting a culture of human rights’, which is one of the four key elements of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. Furthermore, we place particular emphasis on supporting local human rights organisations in third countries. The programming for that Initiative for this year and next year provides for more than 50 European Commission delegations to implement a microprojects plan that will represent more than 30% of the total budget.
Finally, Mr President, I would like to refer to the International Criminal Court, an institution of vital importance to the international promotion of peace and justice. The Commission considers the Court to be one of the fundamental components of a regulated international order. Thanks to this Court, those guilty of mass violations of human life and dignity know that the international community is going to call them to account and we all hope that this will reduce the frequency of these crimes, but in those places where they take place and where national systems do not wish or are not able to act, the international community now has a complementary system of criminal justice, enforced by means of the Court, which must distribute justice in an impartial, transparent and effective manner. This is the only way to ensure that it is seen as a legitimate institution and to ensure that many other States sign up to the Rome Statute which established the Court."@en1
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