Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-20-Speech-4-128"
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"en.20000120.9.4-128"2
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"Mr President, I should like to use today’s vote to register the Socialist Group’s concern on the extent of violence and bloody conflict between sectarian groups. In Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Chechnya and Kosovo, religious hatred and fanaticism are jeopardising peace, stability and development.
The advent of the new millennium was accompanied not only by parties and celebrations but also, unfortunately, by sacrifices of blood, the worst in recent years, on the altar of the blind hatred born of religious fanaticism. We do, of course, acknowledge the efforts made by the Egyptian Government to deal with the extremists and to compensate the victims of the massacres. However, these efforts must be stepped up, an in-depth investigation must be carried out, the guilty must be punished and, most importantly, measures must be taken to strengthen democracy, respect for human rights and tolerance towards people of a different religious persuasion.
Of course, one measure which could be taken as a mark of respect for human rights would be to repeal the mediaeval punishment which continues to be applied in Egypt. I refer to the death penalty. As the new year gets under way, we know that the Egyptian police had difficulty suppressing clashes between Christians and Muslims in the south of the country which cost 25 lives and during which dozens of homes and shops were looted. These violent episodes in Egypt followed on from earlier episodes of bloody attacks by Islamic fundamentalists on Christians in 1992 and 1997, which seriously affected tourism in Egypt, with adverse repercussions on the economic and social development of the country.
Finally, I should like to use this vote to call on the Council and the Commission to plan action to increase public awareness of respect for human rights and religious tolerance within the framework of the MEDA programme."@en1
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