Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-03-Speech-3-161"
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"en.20030903.7.3-161"2
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"Mr President, I should like to congratulate Mr van den Bos on his report, but may I state quite categorically that, in addition to freedom of religion, we must be equally committed to freedom of conscience and the freedom, as Mr Gahler said, not to follow any religion. We must remember that over the centuries and, indeed, even now many atrocities are carried out in the name of religion.
Fundamentalism and intolerance are growing threats. That is why the role of human rights defenders in the world is vital. We must do all we can to protect them and humanitarian aid workers around the world. That is why we must remind ourselves of the appalling attack in Baghdad on the UN mission, express our deep condolences to the families of those who have been killed and injured and note the appalling, tragic and untimely death of Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, an outstanding human rights defender.
We must defend freedom of thought and freedom of conscience. And what of our relations with third countries? We should say yes to dialogue, but action must follow from that dialogue. We have increasing numbers of death sentences in countries with which we have close relations. That is why we need an end to the death sentence. With our association agreements – Egypt and Israel spring to mind – if we do nothing, we condone human rights abuses. What use are our agreements, in particular the human rights clauses, if we do not enforce them? In Egypt homosexuals are being entrapped on the Internet and incarcerated for no other reason but that they are homosexual: this is appalling.
We must defend freedom of the press, the rights and freedoms of the child, the rights and freedoms of homosexuals, of minorities, the rights of women, ethnic minorities, the rights of refugees, and, yes, unfashionably, those seeking asylum.
Let me make a special reference to Aung San Suu Kyi, now on hunger strike in Burma. We must do all we can to release from detention this brave and honourable woman. We must respect also the human rights of disabled people, included in our report for the first time.
I shall finish by saying that the Council, Commission and Parliament must speak with one voice. Our message is clear: these are our values. If you support them we will engage with you. If you do not, we will pursue this agenda until human rights are totally and finally respected."@en1
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