Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-03-Speech-3-212"
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"en.20080903.23.3-212"2
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"Mr President, first I should like to thank Mrs Flautre and congratulate her on her excellent work. However, I must at the same time express my disappointment and that of our group that the report was significantly altered during the voting on amendments in the relevant committee.
Sanctions are a further means at our disposal for protecting human rights around the world. The crucial thing, however, is that these sanctions themselves should not constitute a violation of human rights: in trying to resolve an injustice, we should not respond with an even greater injustice.
We must also give attention to better-targeted economic measures that respect humanitarian international law. For this reason, I attach great importance to the provision made in the report for a mechanism allowing judicial review during the enforcement of sanctions, and also the rapporteur’s idea of creating a network of experts who will make proposals to the Council regarding the most appropriate restrictive measures.
Former practices, such as embargoes on medicines and other essentials, affect the population indiscriminately, especially children. They can only be condemned as unacceptable.
Similarly, the decisions of the competent judicial institutions must be enforced. The Council and the Commission must ultimately review the procedure for inclusion on the EU terrorism blacklist, so that the fundamental rights of blacklisted individuals or organisations are respected and the EU’s credibility as a champion of human rights around the world is protected.
It is particularly important that we guarantee the effectiveness of sanctions and arrive at a shared understanding of this issue within the Union, and also that we secure cooperation with other international organisations such as the African Union and ASEAN, which are often closer to the problem areas.
However, in addition to adopting and enforcing sanctions, there must be specific provisions concerning the lifting of sanctions. There is a need for ongoing monitoring and set terms, so that the aim of the sanctions can be better understood and can be ended when the aim is achieved. Such an approach enhances the effectiveness of sanctions and gives our policy credibility.
Lastly, I should like to point out that I originally felt there should be no reference to specific countries. However, since the choice has been made to mention some countries in the text, I think it is essential that we should not forget Palestine. Here there is a telling inconsistency in European policy. It supports the spread of democracy in the world, but has chosen to impose EU sanctions against the Palestinian Government, which came into being through demonstrably free and democratic elections.
Sanctions are not a means of changing the world, but they can be an important tool for compelling countries that violate international law and human rights to change their policy. It is sufficient that sanctions are targeted, justified and subject to constant review and assessment."@en1
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