Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-154"
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"en.20040114.3.3-154"2
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Mr President, as a former United Nations human rights fellow and indeed as a former chairman of the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace, I am particularly pleased that my first address to Parliament should be on the European Union's preparations for the forthcoming session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The General Affairs and External Relations Council conclusions of 10 December 2002 contain concrete recommendations as to how the Council and the European Parliament can work more closely to achieve openness and transparency in the European Union's human rights policy. The Council is committed to putting those recommendations into practice.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has played a pivotal role in the promotion and protection of human rights. It has been the standard-setter establishing monitoring mechanisms. The international community should rightly take pride in the Commission's unique contribution to this process and to the progress that has been achieved since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
While much has been achieved, more remains to be done. The European Union remains committed to cooperating with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations human rights mechanisms, special rapporteurs and representatives as well as with Treaty bodies. The European Union will reinforce its efforts towards achieving the United Nations Secretary-General's goal that the rights of all men, women and children must be 'at the heart of every aspect of UN work'.
Before addressing the preparations for this year's Commission on Human Rights, I would like briefly to address the outcome of last year's session, because it is indicative of the challenges that we face next March and April in Geneva.
The 2003 session of the Commission was challenging. The beginning of the session was overshadowed by the looming war in Iraq. The war started during the Commission's second week yet, and quite remarkably, the atmosphere, while occasionally fractious, was a significant improvement on the atmosphere of 2002. There was a more positive approach by all groups on a number of issues which had previously caused serious difficulties, most notably the follow-up to the Durban World Conference against Racism and on the rights of the child.
The return of the United States to the Human Rights Commission was another positive and welcome development. The European Union played a positive role at the Human Rights Commission. On individual country situations, the Union successfully tabled resolutions on the human rights situations in Burma (Myanmar), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Turkmenistan and North Korea. The Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution on Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab territories. The European Union also agreed a Chair's Statement on Colombia. However, initiatives from the European Union on Chechnya and Sudan were defeated and our resolution on Zimbabwe fell to a no-action motion.
A number of important EU initiatives fell in 2003. This was in significant part due to the composition of the Human Rights Commission. It also reflects the unwillingness of some regional groups to accept any condemnation of their members. It also reflects the very large number of proposals coming forward from the European Union.
Turning to thematic resolutions, the EU initiatives on the death penalty and the rights of the child were adopted by the Human Rights Commission. One of the more emotive issues addressed by the Commission, a Brazilian resolution on human rights and sexual orientation, co-sponsored by the Union, ran into vigorous objection, in particular from the Organisation of Islamic Conferences. This issue was remitted to the 60th session of the Commission and it is likely to be very sensitive in the upcoming session.
Before turning to the EU's preparations for the forthcoming Commission, I wish to mention the decision by the African Group in Geneva to challenge the nomination of Australia as Chair of the session. In line with the current system of geographical rotation, the Western Group has nominated Australia as its candidate for Chair of the next session of the Commission on Human Rights. The African Group in Geneva has indicated that it intends to call for a vote. We are very concerned about this development and its negative impact on the Commission on Human Rights. Australia enjoys the full support and the endorsement of the European Union and of all other members of the Western Group. Accordingly, the European Union has called on the African Group to reflect on its decision in advance of the election, due on 19 January 2004.
I hope that the African Group can be dissuaded from calling for a vote on the Chair of the Commission. In making this call, I am guided by the need to work constructively with the African Group at the forthcoming session of the Commission on Human Rights and to improve relations with the Group generally in that forum. The President of the Council has already made our anxiety clear to move Africa up the agenda of the EU, so there is no question as to our goodwill on this issue.
Against the background outlined above, I would like to give you as much information as I can about the current state of the Council's preparations for the Commission on Human Rights. Time does not permit me to touch on every aspect of the Commission's work. However, I wish to share with this Parliament the essence of our approach as a presidency.
Enhancing the dialogue between Parliament and the Council on human rights issues is an important focus for the Irish presidency. Today's debate is a valuable part of that discourse. This is an area where we can make real progress if we work together.
At a general level, the Human Rights Working Group, COHOM, has been working since last autumn on improving the Union's performance, based on our experience from last year's session. The first meeting of the Human Rights Working Group of the Irish presidency will take place on 21 January. In advance of that meeting, the various Common Foreign and Security Policy geographical working groups have been asked to present their priorities and their recommendations for action this year. With the help of this input, the Human Rights Working Group meeting on 21 January will identify countries which may have formed the subject of EU initiatives at this year's Commission. COHOM is also likely to request detailed reports from EU heads of mission on human rights situations in these countries.
I should stress that no final decision on any initiative has as yet been taken. The Human Rights Working Group will take a final decision at a further meeting to be held on 4 February. If there are any particularly controversial issues outstanding, these will be considered by the Political and Security Committee and, if necessary, be decided by the Council at Council level.
The expressions of the Union's concern in regard to the human rights situations in countries will not be confined to formal resolutions. In the traditional statement under agenda item 9 – human rights situations in various parts of the world – the EU will refer to a number of country situations in the context of the thematic approach. The presidency intends to keep this draft as concise and as targeted as possible. We believe that by doing so we will have the maximum impact. Another effective approach is the type of human rights dialogue that the Union has entered into, for example with China and in the EU-Iran dialogue.
As regards thematic resolutions, again no final decision has been taken. However, the European Union is again likely to table resolutions on the death penalty and on children's rights.
Preparations have also begun for a number of EU statements, including one on the follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights and others on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, the right to development, economic, social and cultural rights, civil and political rights, integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, the rights of the child, contemporary forms of slavery and human rights defenders. This list is by no means exhaustive. It does, however, give you some indication of the very thorough engagement which is envisaged by the European Union in this year's Commission on Human Rights.
The timing of this session for Parliament is very welcome because it means that the Human Rights Working Group will be in a position to take into account the deliberations of this Parliament in framing the Union's priorities for the Commission. The European Parliament's suggestions for initiatives are most welcome and I will be very attentive to any suggestions that come forward here today.
A major aim of our presidency is to achieve a fruitful and an effective session of the Commission. The climate of confrontation, which increasingly characterises debates in the Commission on Human Rights, is a problem which we will address with our partners. It is a problem that must be resolved, a distraction that the Commission on Human Rights does not need.
The actions of the European Union in the field of human rights are clearly perceived by part of the international community, for some reason, as being suspect. Unfortunately, the very principle of universality of human rights and the conviction that they cannot be constrained or limited by any social, economic or cultural exception are being called into question. Ireland will work very hard to counter this perception of the EU stance during our presidency.
I would like to conclude by reiterating the important and central position of the question of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Union's external relations policies. Peace, security and international stability are founded on full respect for human rights. This is not empty rhetoric; it reflects the objective recognition of a reality that should be clear to all. It is also a reality that is destined to have an ever more decisive influence on governments' external policy choices. It must also inform the strategies of international organisations.
In conclusion, I wish to thank Parliament for the opportunity to outline the Council's preparations for the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights and to look forward to further developing the dialogue between the Council and Parliament in this vital area, which is so close to the heart of all democrats.
The European Union has always been determined to assume its international responsibilities. The Union's size, wealth, history and geography all point to our Union playing a prominent role in the period ahead.
Human rights will remain at the heart of that role. A concern for human rights is at the core of European integration. We are much more than an economic area and an alliance of convenience. Ours is a Union which is based and built on values. Those values are essential conditions for membership. They are a compass that helps guide our external relations. We are committed to the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for universal and indivisible human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. There can be no compromise on or denial of these principles.
Europe has been at the fore in developing the concept of universal human rights. It was on our continent, Europe, that the idea of protecting human rights via written norms was first elaborated: the Magna Carta of 1215, the Bill of Rights of 1689 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1789 are all landmarks, but they are not the only landmarks.
The attachment of Europe to human rights is not an abstract one: it was forged in the bitter experiences of European history – our common history. We need only look back to our own history to understand why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers in the starkest language to: 'disregard and contempt for human rights that have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.' That sense of outrage has been used positively in the past half century to construct a new Europe that has learned from and not forgotten its history.
This presidency believes strongly that human rights have a strategic part to play in confronting the major challenges of our time. There is no need to emphasise the close relationship between peace, security and stability on the one hand, and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law, on the other. Our presidency will reflect the central importance of human rights in all our external actions.
Our Union can, rightly, be proud of the achievements of the last 50 years. We must never, however, become complacent. There is no part of the globe which is absolutely free from human rights abuses of one form or another. None of us in Europe, for example, is without fault: acts of racism, xenophobia and intolerance have not disappeared from our own societies. Believing in human rights means being ready to accept criticisms and working every day to strengthen respect for the freedoms that we all hold dear. We must remind ourselves, each and every day, that human rights are not for export only.
If human rights within the Union are respected absolutely, unquestionably and visibly, our foreign policy will be more effective and more persuasive. We will be in a position to demand respect for basic principles and values – upon which all individual integrity and human decency are founded – from the international community only when those principles and values apply without equivocation in our Union."@en1
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