Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2013-02-06-Speech-3-572-000"
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"en.20130206.36.3-572-000"2
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"Mr President, the 22
session of the UN Human Rights Council offers a comprehensive overview of the world’s major human rights trouble spots. Both my Group and I broadly support its conclusions, particularly regarding the Universal Periodic Review and the necessity of guarding and developing human rights in the Arab Spring countries.
Syria, of course, currently offers the bleakest outlook in this regard as the abuses perpetrated by the Assad regime and, sadly, some of the extremist factions within the rebels, show no signs of abating. We must also watch closely the situation in Egypt, Libya and, increasingly, Tunisia, where only yesterday an opposition secular leader was assassinated. The shock over the Egyptian police’s treatment of protestors last week also demonstrates how this country risks replacing one form of tyranny, a secular one, with another. The situation in Mali is also worrying at the moment.
Elsewhere the report has valuable things to say on the subject of religious rights. I am a longstanding supporter of Christian rights in countries where they form a minority. Governments in countries as diverse as China, Iran, Vietnam and Eritrea actively persecute Christian minorities. More broadly, people everywhere must peaceably worship as they choose. Linked in with the religious rights is freedom of speech, and the report highlights the need for journalists, NGOs and human rights defenders to play a full role in their societies.
I also welcome the section on LGBT rights. Clearly there is a long way to go in this regard, but we can all agree that imprisoning gay people, let alone sentencing them to death, as proposed recently in Uganda, is unacceptable. African leaders who claim that homosexuality is somehow a European import are simply mistaken.
One report element that I dislike is the overtly condemnatory tone towards Israel. But overall, nevertheless, the report is very welcome. The EU must harness all the tools at its disposal, from the European External Action Service and the Commission to Parliament delegations, to work with the United Nations to see changes implemented and success delivered for all of us."@en1
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