Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-09-Speech-3-529-000"
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"en.20110309.23.3-529-000"2
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"Mr President, I am pleased we also have the chance this afternoon to debate the work of the UN Human Rights Council and, in a sense, to look at how we can strengthen its overall impact.
The EU also supports the initiative to create a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, as proposed by several countries and regions. We are seriously concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. This was highlighted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navi Pillay. A particular concern is the dramatically increasing number of death penalty cases – more than 100 so far this year, as we discussed in our previous debate – and the repression of those exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
We feel the Council should address the situation in Egypt in an appropriate manner, taking into account the rapidly evolving situation in that country. The EU welcomes Egypt’s invitation to Ms Pillay to send members of her Office to the country. We hope this mission will be dispatched without delay.
The EU also is engaging with the Tunisian authorities to jointly present a draft resolution on the subject of boosting UN technical assistance on human rights in the context of ongoing transition.
Other key situations that need to be addressed by this session of the Human Rights Council are Belarus, where we are deeply concerned at the number of political prisoners, the Democratic Republic of Congo – where there are distressing reports of continuing human rights violations, in particular, widespread sexual violence – as well as Côte d’Ivoire.
Let me conclude by stressing once again the importance of the Human Rights Council for the EU: the debates, the resolutions and the rapporteurs. But in the end, these are only inputs. What truly matter are the outputs. The real test is whether we make a difference on the ground. For that reason, the EU will work hard to strengthen the Human Rights Council and especially its ability to address urgent situations. This is a key objective of the ongoing review process. We will continue to push for an ambitious result.
As honourable Members may know, I addressed the Council last week together with many Foreign Ministers from across the world. For obvious reasons on that occasion, the situation in Libya was at the heart of our discussions.
I am pleased that the international community sent a strong and united political signal regarding the ongoing human rights violations in Libya. Already before the High-Level Segment, the Council had called for an inquiry and recommended the suspension of Libya’s membership of the Council – which, as you know, has since been confirmed by the General Assembly in a unanimous decision.
All that is proof that multilateral institutions can live up to their mandate and can act in what we call real time. As I stressed in my remarks there, the UN Human Rights Council has a responsibility to ensure that stated intentions are translated into real action and real progress. I think that Ms Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, whom I met in Geneva, is giving exactly the right direction politically in order to make a difference on the ground. What matters in the end is not the number of resolutions that are passed, but results in the real world that make a difference to people who are in need.
I also emphasised that human rights are universal. I pointed out that we in Europe reject the accusation that somehow, the EU is trying to ‘export’ so-called European values to other countries. The rights to free speech, freedom of assembly, justice and equality are not European rights: they are universal rights. We must never fall into the trap of believing that people in other parts of the world – whether it is Africa, Asia or Latin America – should be any less passionate about their rights. That is why we speak out and we act against human rights violations wherever they occur.
We also recognise that Europe’s own path on human rights protection has not been a straight line and that constant efforts are also needed inside Europe. At the Human Rights Council, we are ready to discuss our own challenges, share experiences and offer support to those working to improve respect for human rights around the world.
We have several priorities for the 16th session of the Human Rights Council and we have discussed these actively with our partners.
The EU will present an initiative on freedom of religion or belief. Faced in recent months with an increasing number of acts of religious discrimination and violence in different parts of the world, we need to send a strong, collective message against religious intolerance and in favour of the freedom of religion or belief for all people everywhere.
We will also table resolutions on Burma/Myanmar and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We believe that in both cases, the severity and number of human rights violations justify the extension of the mandates of the respective UN Special Rapporteurs."@en1
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