Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-19-Speech-4-254"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060119.31.4-254"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, the current political situation in Cambodia remains of serious concern. Since the lifting of parliamentary immunity for Mr Sam Rainsy, the leader of the Cambodian opposition Sam Rainsy Party, and two other members of the National Assembly in February last year, the political situation has deteriorated considerably. The recent arrest of Mr Kem Sokha, Director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, and other human rights defenders constitutes the latest chapter in this depressing story. It is sadly ironic that these latest arrests relate to events which took place on Human Rights Day, when a number of organisations were peacefully celebrating and trying to uphold the principles of human rights and democracy. The Commission strongly welcomes the recent release on bail of Mr Sokha and four other individuals but would have wished the Cambodian authorities to have gone a step further and dropped the charges altogether.
The Commission believes that the weakening of the opposition through the politicised use of the judiciary threatens to disrupt the still-developing democratic process in Cambodia. Moreover, the targeting of human rights organisations through a series of arrests on criminal – not civil – charges which are out of proportion with the alleged crimes is creating a climate of fear for human rights defenders in the country.
The Commission and EU Member States have agreed to a number of measures to respond to the situation. Following the issuing of a strong EU declaration on the subject, the EU intends to raise these issues directly with the Prime Minister at the first opportunity. At the same time, the Commission and Member States will work even more closely with the human rights organisations which have been targeted in order to support their work. As recommended by Parliament in its last resolution on Cambodia, the Commission is currently considering whether to propose the establishment of a working group on cooperation in the areas of institution-building, administrative reform, governance and human rights in order constructively to engage the Cambodian authorities on these issues.
Finally, in the forthcoming donor meeting in Phnom Penh in March, a strong message will be passed to the Cambodian authorities by the EU and the donor community as a whole that freedom of expression and other basic human rights must be upheld in the interest of all Cambodia’s citizens.
I would like to assure this House that the Commission, through its delegation in Phnom Penh, and together with the missions of EU Member States in Cambodia, will continue to monitor the situation very closely. The international community, especially the EU which had such a vital role in the establishment of the new Cambodia, should ensure that the political situation does not deteriorate further and should support the strengthening and deepening of Cambodia’s democracy.
I agree, of course, with the honourable Members of the European Parliament that the events in question are very serious and deserve our full attention. The Commission, together with the EU Member States, is exploring the possibility of undertaking further measures beyond the ones I have just mentioned. However, I do not believe that at this point the EC-Cambodia Cooperation Agreement should be suspended. This would put our political dialogue on hold and interrupt our development programmes to the detriment of the poor people in Cambodia."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples