Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-26-Speech-5-145-000"
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"en.20121026.7.5-145-000"2
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".
Mr President, on behalf of the High Representative, Vice-President Catherine Ashton, I would like to thank the European Parliament for organising this debate. It is timely, given developments in the human rights situation which have been replicated in the past two years in Cambodia. Intimidation of journalists, human rights activists and peaceful demonstrators is on the rise, and court trials seem to fall short of basic judicial standards. The latest example has been the sentencing of human rights activist Mam Sonando on 1 October to a twenty-year jail term. This was criticised by the High Representative’s spokesperson in a statement underlining the lack of independence of the judicial system.
The report on the human rights situation in Cambodia issued in July 2012 by UN Special rapporteur Professor Surya Subedi and his complementary report on the economic land concessions published on 24 September confirmed the seriousness of the situation. There is a narrowing space for people from civil society, including those belonging to different political parties, to express their views peacefully and without fear. This is particularly relevant in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in July 2013.
Land disputes and forced evictions lead to violence and social instability and are becoming a major political problem. The EU has raised its concerns in relation to the allocation of economic land concessions with the Cambodian authorities in a number of high-level meetings, most recently the EU-Cambodia Joint Committee in June. In April this year, Commissioner De Gucht also discussed the issue at length with his Cambodian counterpart Cham Prasidh. President Van Rompuy’s visit to Cambodia from 2 to 4 November will be an opportunity to take up these issues. He will meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen and the President of the National Assembly.
Cambodia is still recovering from its dark and violent past; positive steps are being taken towards democratisation and the economy has been growing well, but the Kingdom has still a long way to go on its path to democracy and a fair sharing of the economic growth dividend. The EU has supported, and will continue to support, Cambodia’s democratic transition, and through the EU-Cambodia Cooperation Facility for Governance and Human Rights it has committed EUR 7.5 million to support the extraordinary chambers of the courts of Cambodia and strengthen the Cambodian Human Rights Committee. 60 other projects have been funded since 2003 for a total of EUR 15.5 million under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, primarily supporting land rights and indigenous peoples’ rights, freedom of expression and prison conditions.
The EU is exploring the possibility of an election experts’ mission to follow the preparation of the parliamentary elections next July. It will continue to call on the authorities to create an environment conducive to free and fair elections where the voter, the candidate and the commentator can exert their basic political rights. The EU will continue to pay particular attention to the human rights situation linked to economic land concessions."@en1
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