Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-163"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040114.3.3-163"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, I am grateful for the information, but I should like to ask a question, make a comment and lastly, perhaps, make a proposal. The question is this: do we agree that, when we speak of ‘human rights’, we also mean civil and political rights? In other words, do we agree with the position of Kofi Annan, who recently declared that democracy is a human right in itself, as can be inferred from Article 21 and others of the Universal Declaration? The question I am asking is a very important one, and one that also arose from a conference on democracy and human rights held in Yemen a few days ago, organised by
at which fifty countries from the Arab world released a statement that very clearly affirms this.
The second point is a comment: the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva is, of course, not only a recent instrument – it was founded in 1993 – but also a very weak one, and precisely because of its weakness it has become extremely politicised. It is a body that never has sufficient, clearly defined financial means, not to mention institutional powers or human resources. In short, it is at best a whistle-blowing body, but one which even in these terms has never done its job properly, precisely because it is composed of opposing blocs in which everyone protects the members of their own regional group.
Commissioner, while it is quite right to be concerned about the African Group’s questioning of Australia’s nomination as Chair, it must be added that it is also true that last year Europe abstained on a call for a vote against the nomination of Libya as Chair on regional grounds. Perhaps it is worth remembering this, Commissioner and Minister, because if we had adopted a clearer position last year – not as regards the Chair’s country of origin but as regards the standard of application of human rights in that country – perhaps today we might have some extra cards in our hand with which to support the Australian candidate.
Lastly a proposal: I do not believe we can make any further progress with simple, albeit necessary, criticisms towards various countries, from Tunisia to Vietnam, and we could add a whole list of names. I believe the problem is to strengthen the institutions responsible and thus the policies. For instance, I still do not understand – and I have been asking this since 1995 – why the European Commission does not have a Commissioner for human rights. It is a complete mystery to me, and nobody has ever given me an answer.
Finally, I believe that the episode of the Australian candidacy itself reinforces the need to create a community of democracy and of democracies within the United Nations. Only a strengthening of the institutions can make a policy progress from words to deeds; so far there have been plenty of words but certainly very few deeds."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples