Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-098"
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"en.20060201.13.3-098"2
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".
Madam President, Mrs Malmström, the Council welcomes Parliament’s ongoing interest in the improvement of the situation in Cuba, and we will be unstinting in our joint efforts at bringing about peaceful change there.
The Council continues to demand of Cuba that it release all political detainees. The EU has intervened in respect of the situation of those detainees who have protested against the condition under which they are being held by going on hunger strike.
Furthermore, and in conclusion, let me remind the House of the active and ongoing part played by the EU, with the open assistance of your House, in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, where it was, last year, one of the co-signatories of a resolution tabled on the subject of Cuba.
Let me quote from the common position arrived at in December 1996, which is still applicable, and states, among other things, that ‘The objective of the European Union in its relations with Cuba is to encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people. A transition would most likely be peaceful if the present regime were itself to initiate or permit such a process. It is not European Union policy to try to bring about change by coercive measures with the effect of increasing the economic hardship of the Cuban people.’
With the aim of fostering peaceful change in Cuba, the European Union has entered into dialogue with the Cuban authorities and with all sections of Cuban society, in the course of which the Cuban authorities are regularly reminded of their fundamental responsibility as regards human rights, principally the free expression of opinion and the freedom of association.
Since there is no point in taking political action if it remains without any effect on people where they live, the Council has altered some practical details of its policy in order to make it really effective, particularly in stepping up dialogue with the peaceful opposition, which has given a very warm welcome to these close contacts.
Following on from the final conclusions of the Council of 31 January 2005, both the Luxembourg and British Presidencies and, above all, the European Union’s delegation in Havana have reinvigorated relations with the opposition and with independent elements and have, in so doing, focused on essential medium-term issues associated with transition, including, for example, the development of dialogue with important members of the peaceful opposition with particular reference to their practical plans for the future, and on other means whereby independent organisations and those belonging to civil society may be supported.
At the same time, the Council has forthrightly condemned unacceptable conduct on the part of Cuban officialdom not only in the country itself but also to European politicians and visitors. The presidency has raised the issue of access to ministries in Havana and made the Cuban Government aware of the fact that it can expect no dialogue if it refuses such access to embassies from the European Union and refuses to recognise or speak with representatives from the EU.
The Council has also underlined its willingness to continue with constructive dialogue with the Cuban authorities, on a reciprocal and non-discriminatory basis, concerning
the grant of visas for visits by representatives of the governments concerned.
The Presidency of the European Union has given voice, in an official statement, to its regret at the action taken by the Cuban Government to prevent the so-called
‘Ladies in white’ – from travelling to Strasbourg to receive the 2005 Sakharov Prize for intellectual freedom awarded to them by the European Parliament.
Such occurrences, like also the government’s refusal to allow Osvaldo Payá to travel to take part in an NGOs’ forum on the free expression of opinion in December, make it clear that the Cuban authorities disregard their own citizens’ right to freedom of movement, as set out in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Council also regrets the lack of further progress as regards the release of political detainees, and has denounced the detention, last summer, of more members of the peaceful opposition and the action taken by the Cuban authorities to restrict the free expression of opinion, freedom of assembly, and the freedom of the press."@en1
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"Damas de blanco –"1
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