Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-04-Speech-3-233"
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"en.20010704.5.3-233"2
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".
Mr President, when Europe’s leaders go on state visits, they take weighty political baggage with them. The focus is on economic relations, trade agreements, financial assistance, and so on. Ecological issues are seldom dealt with, while human rights are a peripheral issue. Yet human rights and the rule of law are the foundation of our society.
My experiences with Asia, from India via Nepal to Korea, show that our commitment to human rights awakens great hopes among citizens there, among the disadvantaged, the excluded, the persecuted, and families and children. They invest their hopes in our resolution and active involvement on the ground, although we must include the NHO, our competent partner in dialogue, at a much earlier stage in this process.
Their hopes are also awakened by our partnership agreements with the human rights clauses. These agreements are suspended if massive and systematic human rights violations take place. This is an effective way of bringing pressure to bear.
The more resolutely we address specific problems, the clearer it becomes that human rights are not a Western but a universal concept. Our approach does not constitute impermissible intervention in the internal affairs of states, but necessary action against racism, torture, exploitation and the death penalty.
Commissioner, the European Union must take on a far more pro-active and leading role on human rights issues at international level. Was enough achieved at the 57th Session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, for example? The EU Member States were united in their support for the United States’ initiative to put the ongoing human rights violations in China on the agenda. However, there was no support from Africa or South America in the overall vote, although we certainly have traditional alliance partners there. In advance of important decisions, the European Union therefore needs a far better coordinated strategy so that our commitment to human rights is much more successful in future."@en1
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