Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-064"
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"en.20050223.6.3-064"2
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"Mr President, as we prepare for the Geneva meeting, it must be said that it has been a tough year for human rights around the world. At the same time as focusing our attention on various details, we should still make very specific mention of the leading violators of human rights, China and Russia.
It is only right that Parliament should not be silent on the Chechnya question, for example. Regarding China, I would like to mention a small detail: two words that cause immense suffering. These two words of accusation can destroy the innocent lives of peace-loving citizens. Using the concept of the ‘Evil Cult’ as a pretext, the authorities in China arrest and imprison countless numbers of people. Their only crime is belonging to a religious community. These people are not responsible for civil disorder and do not pose a threat to others. They are simply asserting their basic human rights: in this case the right to assemble and practise a religion. The ‘Evil Cult’ is, as a concept, much too vague to be regarded in any way as reasonable grounds for arrest or imprisonment.
As is often stated, our policy on China and Russia is closely tied to factors connected with policy on trade and energy. Sometimes I cannot help wondering what the future will bring in this regard. What will growing dependence on, and the need for, energy, which is already the norm in the EU, mean for European human rights policy? At the moment we are 50% dependent on energy imported from outside the EU, and, according to the Commission’s calculations, that will rise to 70% by 2030.
It has already been mentioned here that expressions of concern by Parliament and in particular the Member States have in certain cases come up against the passivity of the Member States of the Union and the commercial interests operating in the background. If that is what the situation is like now, how far will we go when our dependence increases and we are competing more and more alongside China and India for Russia’s energy resources? Unless we realise this and identify the risk inherent in the situation we are in, the result may be an inadvertent weakening of our human rights policy. It could close mouths when they should be open. We need a pre-emptive strategy which takes our weaknesses and inclinations into account in our desire for a diplomatically comfortable existence."@en1
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