Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-29-Speech-3-112"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030129.5.3-112"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, the situation in the Congo is tragic. Millions of citizens are living in appalling conditions. Famine and AIDS are the daily lot of men and women in the grip of an interminable conflict, stirred up by the presence of so-called elite networks who are taking advantage of a chaotic situation in order to make a profit. The top political leaders, regional and foreign companies and the armed forces have established what appears to be a real war economy. They are stirring up, under the cover of political or ethnic opposition, a conflict whose only goal has become to simply plunder the natural resources of the DRC, to the detriment of the local populations.
The United Nations report that we presented to the Committee on Development and Cooperation is, in our opinion, a significant opportunity to put an end to this human tragedy. The list of people involved in this damaging trafficking should be the spearhead for us to launch genuine and forceful action.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now need to put pressure on our own companies to stop taking advantage of confused situations or even creating them in order to make a fraudulent profit. We should not delude ourselves any longer. The responsibility of companies is now closely linked to that of our governments. If we do not promptly give a strong political signal by taking restrictive action against them and stressing our support for the principles of the OECD, they will continue to violate the law and human rights without batting an eyelid. We can no longer turn a blind eye to what is nothing more and nothing less than neo-colonial plundering in disguise.
By forcing European companies in foreign countries to make their accounts public, we will enable greater transparency and will also limit the illegal misappropriation of which the Congolese people are the prime victims. It is clear that establishing the rule of law and democratic institutions will be essential. But prior coordinated action among Member States aimed at putting an end to their own companies' activities has become essential. It is high time that the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo benefited fully and directly from their land’s resources and achieved the level of development that their mining resources would allow if they were not constantly being illegally exploited by foreign powers."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples