Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-14-Speech-3-414-000"
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"en.20110914.28.3-414-000"2
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"Madam President, today, as professional snipers explode bullets in the heads of demonstrators in Syria leaving horrifying mutilations, it is quite clear that this is nothing short of pure terrorism.
I have previously, when we debated Syria, wanted to concentrate on the role played by online activists and I want to explore that further. It is quite clear that, without normal media outlets in operation, online activists are the only lifeline that people in Syria have today to let the world know what is happening.
The Government there has taken a two-pronged approach so far. Firstly, it seeks to block sites including Facebook, and then it decides to rescind that ban in certain cases, not out of openness but in order to try and identify those activists. It then moves on to a second stage, which is to arrest those activists who persist and then force those activists to pass over their usernames and passwords. They do that through the use of torture, including food and sleep deprivation, fingernail extraction, electric shocks, stripping naked and flogging and sexual abuse of female detainees by male security officers.
On 6 July, I attended this plenary debate and I wanted concentration on these issues. The High Representative very kindly then wrote to me on 26 July. In the letter she states, and I quote: ‘Despite the constraints of an environment which is so controlled by the government, the EU is developing practical actions to support the civil society and human rights defenders in Syria and beyond’. I ask you, what exactly are those measures in relation to online activists? What are we doing? What more can we be doing?
Finally, I simply say this. I met Mr Bashar al-Assad not so long ago. I found him to be a most charming man who, directly to our delegation, promised reform. He has not delivered. He is not going to deliver. He must go immediately."@en1
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