Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-12-13-Speech-2-432-000"
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"en.20111213.30.2-432-000"2
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"Mr President, tomorrow, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will be awarded to representatives from the Arab Spring, from Tunisia to Egypt, from Libya and Syria. Unfortunately, not all of them will be with us tomorrow. Our Syrian friends are still fighting for their rights and therefore cannot be with us here in Strasbourg.
That is where the right to vote is accompanied by effective freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion or belief, underpinned by impartial justice, public security from accountable protection forces, and access to a competent and non-corrupt civil service.
We have also continued using our financial instruments to promote and protect human rights. In 2011, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights funded more than 1 200 operations in more than 130 countries. Even in the toughest environments, where basic rights and freedoms are the most repressed, we have been able to provide assistance to civil society. To give just a few examples: our funding has been used to fight media and cyber censorship to keep information flowing out of Syria or North Korea; in Uzbekistan, Belarus and Egypt, it provided legal defence for hundreds of political opponents arbitrarily imprisoned. It also supported their families and their lawyers, who risked imprisonment for taking up their case. It supported the rehabilitation victims, those having undergone torture in Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka, and those affected by the campaigns of mass rape in East Congo or Libya. And it supported democratic transition in Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Burma Myanmar and Libya, also helping in the support and observation of elections in Niger, Peru and Zambia.
We have also kept up its work to advance human rights on the multilateral stage in 2011. The UN Special Session on Libya, which made the historic recommendations to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council, was a turning point in allowing this to respond to emergencies.
Several times this year, the EU raised the human rights situation in Syria, in the HRC and in the General Assembly, building an alliance of countries from all regions, including the Arab world. Our role was instrumental in establishing the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria.
In June, we secured the adoption of a Human Rights Council resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus, with whom we have tried to engage to improve its human rights record.
I continue to highlight the human rights situations in North Korea and in Burma Myanmar, reflecting the developments on the ground. I expect the new civilian government in Burma Myanmar will push ahead with political reforms and re-engage with the international community. I hope Aung San Suu Kyi will finally be able to come to this Parliament to receive the Sakharov Prize that she was awarded 21 years ago.
We continue our efforts to build consensus on freedom of religion or belief. I have also maintained my focus on promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through the implementation of the EU’s toolbox.
Promoting and protecting the universal rights of freedom of religion, belief and sexual orientation are central to the EU’s approach.
We have also begun work on the campaign on forced marriages, which destroy the lives of so many young people, girls and boys. When I was engaged in taking legislation through on forced marriages in the country I know best and come from, I was surprised to learn that 15% of those who ring the helplines on forced marriages are boys. Either young boys forced into marriage with a girl they have never met, or young gay men forced into marriage for what reasons I do not know.
In Brussels, we have been working to put in place the arrangements foreseen by the Treaty of Lisbon to put human rights firmly at the centre of our policy. We are committed not only to guarantee but also to promote their universal respect by all.
But, honourable Members, the Arab Spring is a good example of the universality of human rights and of peoples’ aspiration to live in democratic systems.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights has contributed to promoting consistency between the EU’s internal and external policies, and the EU accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms will be a cornerstone for future developments.
With the creation of the EEAS, we have begun to work more closely with Parliament, with Member States and with civil society. The department created within the EEAS on human rights and democracy is currently being reviewed to make it more effective. We have established a network of focal points in all EU delegations that contribute to delivering our EU human-rights policy goals.
Ms Lochbihler gave us the privilege of meeting with all Heads of EU delegations recently, at the beginning of this month, and I hope that the honourable Member was able to see that human rights are at the core of the activities of the people on the ground.
Each of our Member States have played their own part in bringing their national legislation in line with EU standards of full compliance with all the relevant Treaties and conventions on human rights in the wider UN framework.
But the indivisibility and universality of human rights is increasingly being challenged globally. We will continue to counter this. The ongoing economic crisis should not be used as a pretext for those who want to dilute certain rights.
All that I have just said has helped me to inform the review of the EU human rights policy that was first announced before this House and I am pleased that my contribution will be tabled very shortly. I want to outline some main points from that now.
The text I will table this week is a contribution to an ongoing debate. It is necessarily concise, meaning that not every detail is reflected, but I hope that it offers a good basis for future work with this Parliament and with the Council.
A number of MEPs have been involved in the process from the beginning, as when the Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights attended the EU NGO forum in July, which produced a first set of recommendations for inclusion. Since then, there have been various informal meetings and contacts with Parliament, including, of course, with the Human Rights Subcommittee, which contributed greatly to the process, and I want to thank particularly Richard Howitt for the work that he has done.
Though much of the discussion about the review of our policy has centred on the process, I also want to say something about the substance.
Crucially, I want the outcome of the review to deliver a strong reaffirmation of what the EU stands for: the universality of human rights as binding international commitments and norms. The message must go out that human rights are not negotiable and are inviolable.
This year’s winners embody the dramatic changes that have defined the past 12 months, and I wish to pay tribute to them now. Whether through dramatic acts of self-sacrifice, endurance in prison, or daily confronting injustice, they remind us of the true meaning of courage. By drawing cartoons or organising online, they remind us that courage manifests itself in many different ways. It is about speaking the truth and refusing to be intimidated.
Against that backdrop, I have identified four main priority areas for action.
First, overhauling the EU’s delivery mechanisms. I want to make our policy more effective, adapting it better to the specific circumstances of each country, coupled with a global campaign-based approach. A key element here is the strengthening of relations with civil society, so that NGOs are better engaged as full partners with the European Union.
Second, achieving a joined-up approach in our policies. This is the idea I have spoken of often, to break down traditional silos, and have human rights running as a silver thread throughout a truly integrated range of external policies.
Third, building strong partnerships encompassing the whole world: multilaterally working through the UN and the ICC; regionally developing work, for example with the Arab League; and bilaterally through our dialogues.
Fourth, speaking as one, which does not mean with a single voice but rather a coordinated and consistent message from everyone, ensuring that the invaluable work of Parliament and the Member States is brought together for the benefit of the whole.
I propose to use thematic campaigns to deliver on specific cross-cutting themes. This has already been done to great effect in support of the ICC and the abolition of the death penalty. I believe that approach can be extended, for example, to promote the rights of women, by setting realistic, time limited, achievable, objectives.
I am keen to make the best possible use of tailor-made country strategies on human rights, which should be driven by recommendations made locally. Whilst they should stand firm on the universality of human rights and the global standards that apply to all, I believe this will allow us to deliver more across the board than a one-size-fits-all approach for 150 countries. It should allow us, too, to make the most effective use of the assorted tools we have, while engaging with due respect with the views of our partners on the ground. EU delegations are well placed to take this forward.
I want to work closely, too, with all my Commission colleagues, to bring human rights fully into the key Community policies, such as development and trade, building on recent communications on the future of development, budget support, corporate social responsibility and the neighbourhood policy.
I agree with Ms Lochbihler when she says that Parliament has a key role to monitor, assess and provide political accountability for the EU’s actions in the human rights field.
Our financial support for human rights must go beyond the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and should be reflected in other EU financial instruments. I will work to ensure that human rights are taken into account consistently in the programming of all EU external financial assistance.
This is the case, too, for this year’s Nobel Prize Winner from Yemen, Mrs Karman, whom I had the opportunity to meet with just a few days ago. She deserves all the recognition she is now receiving as a result of her struggle for women’s rights.
It is clear that in order to be credible when we raise human rights concerns with others, we have to make sure that our own house is in order too. So I am determined to instil a human rights culture in the EU’s emerging diplomatic structures. We already have an active EU training policy, but there is much more to be done in this direction and we are ready to take that forward.
And I am very open-minded on the idea of appointing an EU Special Representative for Human Rights, to act as a catalyst and to raise our profile internationally.
I look forward to discussing these proposals with Members of this House over the coming weeks and months and to getting their views as we take this issue further forward.
This Parliament, this House of democratically elected representatives from all over the European Union, is a champion of human rights, in the European Union and in the world. Your reports and your opinions inspire us and help to guide the work that we do. It is for this reason that being in front of you today on this topic is not merely my obligation, but it is also my privilege.
It is also the case of the group of Afghan women whom I met at the beginning of the International Afghanistan conference in Bonn and who are a real inspiration to us.
Speaking out fearlessly is something that has defined the careers of many in this House, and none more so than President Buzek. Under him, Parliament’s work on human rights has significantly increased and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his dedication.
2011 has been a particularly active year for human rights in Parliament. The Subcommittee on Human Rights, chaired first by Heidi Hautala, and now by Barbara Lochbihler, has developed a great number of activities, including the De Keyser report on democracy, which inspired me, in particular, on the idea of the global and coherent approach to human rights and to democratisation and civic participation.
The historic developments in our neighbourhood have significantly advanced human rights. The bringing down of longstanding repressive regimes has led to the formation of new governments and to free and fair elections. The continuing violent crackdowns in Syria, repression in Belarus, and protracted conflicts, including in the Middle East, require us to keep up the pressure.
The events of this year have served to highlight the vital links between human rights and democracy. It has led to a new approach for the European Union, which aims to provide greater support to partners engaged in building what I have termed ‘deep democracy’."@en1
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