Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-229"
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"en.20040331.8.3-229"2
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"Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, the trafficking of human organs is the new piracy of modern times, which is a particularly sordid and brutal form of piracy. It can lead to persecution, abduction and even murder. At its root is greed, and it knows no scruples. Combating this phenomenon must be firm, far-reaching and unflinching. Not all cases are the same. There are cases in which the authorities turn a blind eye to the trade in organs, whereby a person can sell, say, their own kidney for a fistful of dollars. Even in such cases, freedom is illusory and the reality is still a sordid form of piracy that exploits the helplessness of the poor, wretched donors.
Quite apart from the violence of this unholy trade, which violates human dignity and integrity, it also supports a gruesome market and stimulates highly dangerous criminal activity and the development of international mafia networks. As this gruesome market is allowed to operate, when insufficient numbers of organs appear for sale, the criminals then, in cold blood, bridge the gap in supply by abducting, or even killing people.
The principle of free organ donation for transplants is one of the fundamental principles of civilisation, and a fundamental requirement of people’s dignity and of our security and freedom. Where organ donation is not free, we are all, in theory, potential victims of this all-out assault on the human body. The EU must apply the principle of free donation across its territory, must make strenuous efforts to enshrine it in law and must ensure that it is complied with throughout the world. Where organ donation is not free, the threat of crime may rear its head or the criminals may already be operating. The EU must also take the lead in combating this modern scourge at international level, since it is one of the most gruesome manifestations of international crime in modern times. The framework decision proposed by the Greek Presidency must be approved without delay, in order to ensure that all Member States can eradicate this trafficking, as suppliers, as receivers or as a field of operation. We must react promptly and effectively whenever and wherever in the world such crime comes to light.
Recent attention has focused on certain regions of Mozambique, in East Africa. The facts of the case have yet to be clarified, yet we must, for this very reason, continue to take action until there is complete transparency and until people’s minds can be put at rest. We must respond in kind to the courage and tenacity of religious bodies and human rights activists in bringing attention to dozens of unexplained disappearances of children and young people, some of whom have since been found dead, their bodies mutilated. We must not allow ourselves to demur on action because of any misplaced concerns, or because of a lack of total transparency. It is possible that in Nampula there has been not one but many tragic events, possibly involving the trafficking of human beings and children, or the trafficking of organs for witchcraft or other non-medical uses and the trafficking of human organs to support international networks. We do not know, yet we cannot tire in our efforts merely because we are not in possession of the full facts. We must work ceaselessly to combat what is, in all its forms, a despicable crime.
Those authorities faced with such terrible crimes sometimes appear to be embarrassed; they begin to contradict themselves or appear hesitant when cases come to light. Nobody likes to see the name of their country associated internationally with this situation. We must understand this and must always treat any country involved with respect. This is precisely, however, why we must put across, with patience and perseverance, the notion that it is not the embarrassment that is the problem; the problem is the trafficking and the crime. Everyone, throughout the world, must collaborate in investigating and combating this perfidious piracy, which has no country of origin. The threat is international and affects every one of us.
Whether it be Israel or South Africa, on the Asian, European or American continents, whether it has its origins in Mozambique or in the poorer regions of Brazil, in Moldova or Albania, in the fragmented Balkans, in the vastness of Africa, in depressed Central Asia or in the poorest outskirts of Asian or Latin American cities, we know where this trafficking is going to attack. Like a vulture, this all-out assault on the human body seeks out regions of human poverty, and places where the State’s authority is weak. It preys on areas where people and communities are at their weakest; it senses the weakest and poorest members of society and attacks them. These are the areas where we must act, in cooperation with the competent authorities, in order to raise awareness, to offer encouragement and practical help, to process and exchange information, to prise out the whole truth, to put people’s minds at ease and to dismantle the networks, wherever they may appear. The Commission and the Council must work hard and I should like to see the Council act with the same level of diligence that the Commission has already shown here, whether cases appear in Mozambique or in any other part of the world."@en1
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