Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-06-Speech-3-136"
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"en.20020206.7.3-136"2
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"In the past few years, Mrs Robinson, the High Commissioner, has tried her level best to turn the UN Human Rights Committee into the public conscience, and she deserves all credit for this, in my opinion. However, that does not detract from the fact that an increasing number of questions arise surrounding this annual high mass in Geneva. The human rights organisation summed the situation up as follows: it is the foxes that are having to watch over the chicken’s eggs. It is indeed suspicious that countries such as Kenya, Sudan, Togo and Congo, which do not have particularly good track records when it comes to respecting human rights, should chair this committee and help determine the standards.
In addition to the composition of the committee, the procedure – notably the system of majority voting – also raises questions. Governments that are the focus of investigation by NGOs often stick together in order to defend their own common interests, apparently under the motto: if we spare others, we do not run the risk of being condemned ourselves. That is why I support what Commissioner Nielson said a moment ago. Now that the US no longer forms part of this Committee, the European Union should take over the helm more than ever before. Europe must adopt a more assertive and consistent role when defending human rights. It must support more resolutions, also with regard to large countries, such as China and Russia. Some European Member States all too easily swallow their principles if economic interests are at stake.
In addition, the Union must insist on the committee’s recommendations actually being followed up. A great deal of money is being spent on early warning, but the experts’ reports on this matter are systematically overlooked. The credibility of the Human Rights Committee in Geneva, and of human rights policy full stop, is at stake today, and I believe that, in this connection, the European Union bears a very heavy responsibility."@en1
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