Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-16-Speech-4-217"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060316.25.4-217"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, today’s debate on human rights violations relates to the impunity of various former heads of African states accused of dictatorship and of barbaric methods of rule.
The matter raised in Parliament’s resolution relates specifically to the former President of the Republic of Chad, Hissène Habré, who is responsible for 40 000 political murders and 200 000 cases of torture. However, the resolution also names other dictators from Libya and Ethiopia, and examples cited include the conflicts in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where three million people have died during the six-year conflict.
An analysis of the political situation in Africa leads one to ask questions about the causes of the conflicts between African ruling elites and the masses of their compatriots who are subjected to such inhuman treatment. It should be remembered that the composition and role of the African elites were largely determined by the colonial powers, as were any changes to these elites. As in the majority of colonised societies, in Africa too the elites were formed under the influence of European models and Communist interference, which was decisive in shaping the administrative and intellectual character of the elites who came to power. The colonial powers, focusing on the exploitation of manpower and the export of raw materials, deliberately restricted political activity together with the development of these countries’ economies. At the same time, the elites who were given access to education at European and American universities adopted a style of rule in which vast budgetary resources were allocated not only to the military, to swelling the ranks of the administration, to trips abroad and to delegations, but also to civil servants’ salaries, ostentatious lifestyles, luxury houses and cars, or in other words to models of life that were far removed from the conditions in which the majority of starving Africans lived. Economic dependence was aggravated by the fact that key industries were run by foreign capital, and that these were also environmentally harmful. The ongoing economic drain of Africa has been perpetuated by unequal economic exchange, and instead of development opportunities, the policy pursued has been one of systematically indebting the poor countries.
We support a resolution which calls for criminal rulers to be made accountable, but it is a matter of greater urgency to improve the overall situation of the African population in such a way as to secure sustainable development, which the aforementioned conditions make difficult to implement."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples