Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-13-Speech-4-237"
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"en.20080313.20.4-237"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk with you about the cases of Perwiz Kambakhsh in Afghanistan and the Iranian citizen Mehdi Kazemi.
In relation to Mr Kambakhsh, we obviously share all your concerns and we are following the case closely on the ground through our delegation to Afghanistan in cooperation with the head of mission and the EU Special Representative. We have raised the case repeatedly with the Afghan authorities, most recently with the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Spanta, at the troïka meeting in Ljubljana on 21 February.
I know that the European Parliament’s Afghanistan delegation also raised the issue directly with the Afghan Parliament and that the Afghan MPs gave you an assurance that a satisfactory solution would be found.
I believe we should continue to take the approach followed thus far, relying at least for now on discreet diplomatic activity. Judging by the current political climate in Afghanistan, it will be harder to secure Mr Kambakhsh’s safe release if it appears that the Afghan authorities are bowing to international pressure.
I want to assure you, however, that we shall continue to follow this case very closely and that we shall be ready to take further steps in the event of the death sentence being confirmed on appeal. Almost 30 years of armed conflict have wrecked Afghanistan’s judicial system. We have therefore made reform of the country’s judicial institutions a priority in our programme of aid to Afghanistan. We already have experts working there with the Supreme Court, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, with a view to professionalising those institutions at both central and provincial level. The European Commission programme will also help the authorities to put in place a new legal-aid system – something that is sorely needed in Afghanistan, as this case has shown. There is currently no firmly established, independent Bar and no access to public legal aid. I am very hopeful that the Commission’s judicial reform programme – being implemented in close cooperation with the EUPOL Afghanistan police mission deployed under the ESDP – will help to improve the human rights situation in the medium and long term.
Obviously, the Commission also shares your deep concern about Mehdi Kazemi and other similar cases. The Dutch and British authorities are currently considering Mr Kazemi’s case very carefully. With regard to the protection of refugees, we would point out that international law stipulates, notably in the Geneva Convention in relation to the status of refugees, that no contracting state shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Under the Iranian criminal code the act known as
is punishable by death. However, the term
makes no distinction between sexual relations freely entered into and forced sexual relations. In the latter case it would seem that, where the penalty is pronounced for
in conjunction with other offences, the term normally denotes rape. It goes without saying that the Commission is categorically opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, and all the more so where no crime has been committed. The situation of homosexuals in Iran is a cause for concern. Violations of the right to private life and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation are entirely at odds with Iran’s obligations under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it has ratified.
The European Union conveys these messages about human rights to Iran in a general way and also through action on a number of fronts. Unfortunately, Iran has not yet accepted our offer to resume bilateral dialogue about human rights. Nonetheless, in our discussions with Iranian representatives, we emphasise that we wish to see progress on all the issues of concern to the European Union in the fields of politics, nuclear policy, trade and human rights. Without general improvement in the human rights situation there, our relations with Iran cannot develop satisfactorily.
On a personal note, I should like to extend my own warmest thanks and congratulations to Mr Bowis on his contribution: I fully share the sentiments he expressed."@en1
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