Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-19-Speech-2-130"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20100119.7.2-130"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, can I thank the High Representative, Baroness Ashton, for her statement.
I do think it is relevant to mention that the debate we are having tonight is taking place against the backdrop of the Chilcot inquiry in the UK into the illegal war on Iraq and what lessons should be learned from that, and a lot of information is coming to light which confirms what many of us believed at the time of the invasion: that the reason for the war was regime change and control of resources and not the threat of weapons of mass destruction. And, in terms of long-term planning for a post-war Iraq, words like ‘dire’, ‘deeply flawed’ and ‘woefully thin’ are being used by senior diplomats and military officers in their evidence to the inquiry, so it is little wonder that we are now seeing severe consequences of the action.
Baroness Ashton said that some progress has been made, and of course it has, but there are severe problems still. There is no legislation to protect minorities in Iraq. There is a continuing major refugee problem. Trade unionists, journalists, women politicians and human rights activists have disappeared or have been killed. Suicide attacks continue. With elections due on 7 March, the Iraqi Election Commission last week, as my colleague mentioned, barred almost 500 candidates, mainly Sunni politicians, from standing. They are already under-represented in the Iraqi Parliament and this is certain to lead to more tension and instability.
Last November, the EU Presidency urged the government of Iraq to suspend the death penalty and abolish it altogether, but 900 people are still on death row in Iraq and death sentences are handed out often following unfair trials, some lasting only a few minutes.
The EU has a responsibility to help build democracy and ensure respect for human rights, and the framework for engagement with Iraq sets out three priorities to help build basic services like health and education, to enhance the rule of law and to support the Human Rights Commission.
The partnership and cooperation agreement will be the basis for future work, but we must demand immediate action on issues like the abolition of the death penalty, on protecting vulnerable and targeted groups and on strengthening democracy and human rights."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples