Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-15-Speech-3-432-000"
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"en.20120215.22.3-432-000"2
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"Madam President, I actually think that we are no longer talking here of repression or of an oppressed people, but of an intolerable terror, perpetrated by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
We only need to see how public hospitals have now been transformed into centres of torture, execution and kidnapping. Given that, I will not list the considerable number of people injured, the number of people who have disappeared, the number of detainees or the number of deaths.
The UN Human Rights Council got it right when it said that we are dealing here with crimes against humanity. Ms De Keyser is right: Assad will have to account for his crimes before the International Criminal Court.
In the face of this terror, I sincerely wish to salute the courage, determination and the incredible capacity for resistance shown by organised civil society in Syria as, despite everything, the food arrives, despite everything, information is exchanged, despite everything, protection is provided for those who demonstrate. Despite everything, medical care is provided in living rooms that have been transformed into emergency hospitals. I believe that the channels that are in place are precarious and dangerous. We should discuss and work to see how we might now intensify the movement of goods, care, food and protection via these informal channels, how we can make it secure, stronger and broader, how we can protect those who are risking their lives to move these goods.
This, I feel, is the first way to give practical help, which is what we are calling for. Obviously, sanctions must be strengthened and it is necessary, above all, to ensure that they are implemented appropriately. I really do believe that the European Commission and the Council have to ask themselves how a boat laden with arms was able to sail to Syria from a Cypriot port to supply Bashar al-Assad with weapons that he is using against his own people.
There is the Arab League initiative. Of course, it has to be supported, but vigilance is required too. We are well aware that the Arab League represents a set of extremely diverse interests. We are well aware that the initiatives there are proliferating before the Presidency of the Arab League is taken over by Iraq. All this is well known but, given the situation, the European Union must very clearly define its strategy and be able to deliver it on the 24th in Tunis. It is right that this meeting should take place in Tunis, because it is important. It shows that this story is, first and foremost, the story of a people at the mercy of its oppressor.
We are looking at Syria as a piece on a complicated chessboard and, if we move that piece, we are wondering what the next moves might be. We have to come back to the base of the conflict, of this battle, to support the population. The story unfolding today in Syria is truly that of a society that is struggling for democracy and for rights. Without being naïve, we should see that as the main goal, towards which we should turn all of our efforts.
As a result, the meeting on 24 February must allow us to isolate or bring on board those countries that currently support the Syrian regime. Of course, there is China and Russia, but there is also Algeria. We must apply maximum pressure to isolate Assad. That is one way to give practical help. We must also recognise the National Council. It has its faults, but we must maintain a political dialogue with it to help it to become the political interlocutor for the future Syria."@en1
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