Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-10-Speech-1-010-000"
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"en.20120910.4.1-010-000"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, in two weeks’ time, there will be parliamentary elections in Belarus. Parliament has, for a long time, been following developments in that country closely and with great concern. It is with the same great concern that we are watching the continued violations of human rights, the rule of law and democratic values. There are a number of developments that I find particularly alarming, and these include the travel ban imposed on opposition politicians and human rights activists based on laws that expand the powers of the secret police, the KGB, while I am also worried by the recent expelling of the Swedish ambassador.
All of us in this House call on the dictator to implement reforms and political change. I want to clearly state at this juncture – and this is also a signal to Belarus – that the first step must be the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and their complete rehabilitation. The ongoing detention of Ales Bialiatski, Mikola Statkevich, Pavel Sevyarynets, Syarhey Kavalenka, Dmitry Dashkevich and numerous other political prisoners is unacceptable. I tell you this, because these people should know that we, in the European Parliament, have not forgotten them. There is an institution that is fighting for you, and this is it. We call on the government to ensure that international standards are met in the parliamentary elections, that all the candidates have a fair chance, and that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitors are able to carry out their work unhindered.
In addition, I would like to inform you that, on 30 August, I wrote a letter to the President of the Republic of The Gambia in response to the execution of nine people. There was a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in The Gambia for a quarter of a century. The cooperation between the European Union and The Gambia is based on the commitment to respect human rights. In my letter, I called, on behalf of the European Parliament, on the government of The Gambia to refrain from further executions and to reinstitute the moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
In a state that sets itself up as judge of life and death, there is no justice, but vengeance. That is our deep conviction and that is why we, the elected representatives of the European people, will continue to fight for the abolition of the death penalty around the globe.
On behalf of the House, I would like to congratulate our erstwhile fellow Member and Vice-President, Stavros Lambrinidis, on his appointment as the European Union’s first Special Representative for Human Rights, and indeed I have already done so in writing.
You all know Mr Lambrinidis as not just someone who ran votes efficiently in this House. With his experience, his training as a lawyer, his wide-ranging knowledge and his winning personality, he is the right man for the job. I would like to thank you all for expressing, through your applause, the fact that Mr Lambrinidis can count on the support of the Members of this House."@en1
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