Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-07-16-Speech-3-269-000"
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"en.20140716.19.3-269-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to begin by expressing my own deep concern at the escalation of violence and the deterioration in the situation in Iraq. According to the United Nations OCHA there are an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced people in central and northern Iraq and we should place on record our welcome for the additional EUR 7 million that the Commission has allocated in humanitarian assistance.
Individual stories such as the brutal killing of 18-year-old Mahmoud Redha and his 44-year-old uncle Zainal by Islamic state fighters whilst on their way to work must bring home the level of violence faced by civilians on a daily basis. I join the President-in-office in calling for respect for human rights and for international humanitarian law by all sides. According to a report by Human Rights Watch on 12 July, the Iraqi security forces themselves appear to have unlawfully executed at least 255 prisoners over the past month in apparent revenge killings. These deaths must stop.
Europe itself cannot advocate our agreement to promote democracy, human rights and good governance in Iraq and then fail to act when these objectives are put under grave threat, not least because of the real problems of foreign competence, as well as the threats posed by failed states within the region. Much time can be spent debating the cause of this crisis but what is certain is that the Sunni minority in Iraq have felt unrepresented. I hope today’s appointment of Salim al-Jabouri as the new Sunni Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament will help to address the disenfranchisement felt by Sunnis and to ease the tension.
On the Kurdish issue we cannot fail to also draw attention to the tension between Baghdad and Erbil which worsened on 11 July when Kurdish ministers announced a boycott of the Iraqi Government after Prime Minister al-Maliki made comments that Kurdistan was harbouring terrorists and suspended flights to Erbil.
The conflict in northern Iraq has led hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee to neighbouring Kurdish areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government, but recently the KRG has restricted access to the areas under its control to non-Kurdish Iraqis fleeing the violence.
Within Amnesty International and as someone who has consistently acknowledged Kurdish political and civil rights, I call on the KRG to allow access to those fleeing the conflict and to engage in dialogue with the Iraqi Government.
Moving forward, the Iraqi people in their millions chose their own leader in al-Maliki but the delay in forming a government has been a disaster and poses a real danger for the future of Iraq. It is right that Parliament now calls for the Iraqi Government to focus on unity and we urge all political leaders, especially the Prime Minister, to make sure that an inclusive government representing the diversity of the Iraqi population is formed as a factor of urgency.
Finally, noting the clear link between the rise of IS and the Syrian civil war, I call for the regional dialogue to address the problems facing the Middle East, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and in those discussions to make a reality the EU’s offer of assistance to help promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law."@en1
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