Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-17-Speech-4-280"
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"en.20090917.20.4-280"2
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"Mr President, the Commission shares the concerns of the European Parliament with regard to the human rights situation in Syria. Our assessment is that the situation has deteriorated over recent months, with more arbitrary detentions, harassment of human rights defenders and travel bans.
The arrest on 28 August of Mr Muhannad Al Hassani – a well known lawyer, President of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria and a member of the Damascus Bar Association for 15 years – is the most recent example. Mr Al Hassani is a human rights defender and one might suspect that his arrest is politically motivated.
The EU has already expressed its concerns to the Syrian authorities. Syria must observe its international commitments, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Syria is a state party. The Commission, through its delegation in Damascus, together with Member States’ embassies, are discussing how to more effectively and efficiently act in defence of human rights’ defenders. Clearly, we have to continue calling for actions to protect human rights defenders and to ensure the observation of trials at the Supreme State Security Court. We must continue to support the civil society through our instruments, such as the non-state actors and the European instrument for democracy and human rights budget lines, and give moral support to the families.
Despite being important, these actions are, nevertheless, insufficient. We believe the EU would have a stronger leverage on Syria if the association agreement was signed. I am glad that the Presidency is contemplating its signature in the coming weeks. With this agreement we will establish a regular dialogue to advise on these issues and achieve better results."@en1
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