Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-08-Speech-4-396"
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"en.20100708.21.4-396"2
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Madam President, the Chamber is quiet, I would say perhaps a little too quiet, and I for one regret that there are not more of us interested in these issues. To say that the situation in Zimbabwe is tragic is unfortunately an understatement. It is tragic as regards the economy, society and above all democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The last elections took place in a climate of fear. The arrest of Farai Maguwu, the Director of the Centre for Research and Development, following an interview with Mr Chikane, a monitor for the Kimberley Process, is therefore, unfortunately, just one more episode to add to the long list of human rights abuses in that country.
The mining conditions in the Marange diamond fields are particularly dreadful: forced labour, torture, contraband, even murders; everything is under military control and done for the benefit of Mr Mugabe’s friends. Time and again these conditions have been condemned by NGOs, including that of Mr Maguwu. This is why it is so surprising that Mr Chikane tabled a positive report concluding that mining at the site meets the requirements laid down by the Kimberley Process. The intersessional meeting in Tel Aviv failed to reach a decision on the follow-up to this report. Commissioner, can you confirm for us that, in the absence of consensus among the Member States, the European Union has indeed opposed the resumption of legal diamond exports from Zimbabwe; that it will continue to do so at the St Petersburg conference; that it will fight for the extension of the Kimberley Process to include respect for all human rights; and that it will do everything in its power to ensure that Member States take the measures necessary to prevent the import of diamonds from Zimbabwe, while such a situation prevails there? Can you help us understand the reasoning behind Mr Chikane’s decision to give the green light, when it seems that some of the notes in his dossiers have been seized by secret service agents?
The European Union is the main contributor of humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe. Its attitude in this matter must therefore be exemplary. It must maintain its positions. Can you tell us what the position of the European Union will be in St Petersburg?"@en1
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