Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-353"
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"en.20081021.40.2-353"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Cappato, I am pleased to be back here among you today.
We are following the human rights situation in Vietnam very closely, and the Presidency has just recently had the opportunity to express concern once again following the sentences handed down in particular to two journalists who had written reports on corruption cases. The Council and the Commission maintain regular dialogue with Vietnam on the subject of human rights, in talks held twice a year. The last meeting, held in Hanoi on 10 June 2008, allowed us to address, on the one hand, the general human rights situation in Vietnam, and, in particular, freedom of expression, the situation of minorities and the application of the death penalty, as well as a number of individual cases.
In addition to this dialogue, a number of more selective measures are taken with regard to individual cases, where arrests or sentences appear to us to undermine respect for civil liberties and international commitments and, in particular, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has been ratified by Vietnam.
Moreover, on the occasion of the European Day against the death penalty, on 10 October, we once again explained our very clear position on this subject to the Vietnamese authorities. They seemed receptive to our message, and brought up the reform of the penal code currently under way, a reform that is expected to reduce the number of crimes subject to the death penalty. That is the very least they could do.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can clearly see, the human rights issue is an important element of our relations with Vietnam. It is a sensitive issue. Mr Cappato, you mentioned the situation of Christians in Central Vietnam, a matter to which we are particularly attentive, and I thank you for having mentioned it. I would like to point out that the European Union is the only power to pursue such a global and purposeful policy on this matter, and this at times makes us a target for criticism by our partner. I wish to be clear about this, however: we will pursue this policy with determination.
I wish to turn now to the future Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the debate on which is under way. A new session of talks is currently under way in Hanoi, and will continue until 22 October. Like any agreement concluded by the European Union with a third country, this agreement must contain a very important clause on human rights. This clause will constitute an essential element of the future agreement, which may be suspended or even revoked if one of the parties fails to respect it – I want to insist on this point. At this stage in the negotiations, Vietnam has not challenged the principle of such a clause. Once again, that is the least it can do. This is a positive sign by Vietnam and a practical commitment on its part to respect human rights. The European Union will thus have at its disposal a powerful legal instrument to guarantee respect for human rights as soon as the agreement has been ratified.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Cappato, we agree with you that the human rights situation in Vietnam needs to be improved. We consider that the actions we have been taking for several years now are helping to improve it, but, beyond that, it is in our view the signing of a future Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that will enable us, in this case as in others, to use the human rights clause to provide the best possible framework for addressing this issue with Vietnam. Naturally, this House will be kept fully informed of the development of the negotiations which, I would remind you, are under way."@en1
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