Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-178"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20091007.18.3-178"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, like many other new MEPs here, I was struck by the attention given to human rights in the debates held in this House, and particularly in those of our President Buzek. I subscribe to this completely because, if I am here, if I headed a list during the European elections in France, it is above all because I am a campaigner for associations and, specifically, a human rights campaigner.
As such, I cannot be indifferent to the events in Guinea, as these were human rights campaigners, and more generally representatives of civil society, who were arrested, raped, in the case of women, and massacred on 28 September: more than 150 people were killed and more than 1 250 people were injured – as you said, Minister – in a single day. The repression continued in the days that followed and is still continuing, despite the fact that these people – as has also been said – came peacefully to remind Mr Camara of his own commitments. There is no doubt, according to the witness statements flooding in, that, contrary to the declarations made by the captain, these violent acts were carried out by forces close to the government.
The situation there is confused, but having regrouped within the Guinean National Council of Civil Society Organisations, civil society organisations are appealing to the international community for help. In the last few months, this National Council has set an example in these countries of Africa by organising a major process for the Guinean people on the basis of the commitments made by Mr Camara.
The news reaching us from Guinea is alarming. We cannot just make do with speeches here, in the European Parliament. This debate is taking place at our request, at the request of the Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left, but we must go further. We call for the explicit condemnation of the repression of the demonstration.
You have talked to us about targeted sanctions, Minister. Could you tell us more about this? On the matter of calling an immediate halt to persecution, of releasing all those arrested and of establishing an international commission of inquiry on these events, I believed, Minister, that we were moving in the right direction. However, could you give us some more information about this too?
You also told us that all aid had been frozen, except for humanitarian and food aid. To us, that seems a minimum, but in practical terms, how can we support the transition to democracy?
Mr President, we want a resolution to be voted on in the next Strasbourg part-session so that the European Parliament does not just limit itself to speeches, but acts by taking a decision, as it was able to do last January. I will say it once again: this is a matter of urgency. The organisations on the ground are warning us of the risk of ethnic conflict. We must not wait for a new Rwanda before we react; human rights must be defended in Africa just as they must be defended everywhere else in the world."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples