Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-15-Speech-3-329"
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"en.20060315.25.3-329"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today’s approval by the United Nations represents a hugely important step forward. Up until now, a system of double standards has been in force. It is unacceptable that Russia has never been condemned for the odious conduct of its special forces in Chechnya. It is unacceptable that China has never been condemned for its tragic repression of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people. It is unacceptable that the United States does not have to answer for its conduct in Iraq, where an occupation that is illegal in terms of international law has led to over 100 000 civilian victims. Furthermore, what can one say of Israel, which is taking illegal measures of collective punishment against the Palestinian people that are expressly forbidden by international conventions? Reason of state cannot be a justification for the negation of the rights of millions of men, women and children all over the world.
The European Union must show greater courage on this issue: at stake are our credibility and our policy of promoting human rights. It is not enough to protest against countries that are unprotected by often dubious international alliances. Human rights are enshrined in codes: legal treaties apply to everyone, especially to the powerful.
The
for the credibility of the now defunct Commission on Human Rights in Geneva was dealt by the presence in that institution of governments that represent dictatorships and that have used their institutional position before the UN as a means of avoiding criticism of their policies and conduct. What right, for example, does the Sudanese Government have to participate in the Commission in Geneva, as is happening today? I therefore welcome all the reforms that have been announced to transform the Commission in Geneva into a restricted council on human rights.
I applaud the news that has just reached us that the UN has approved the resolution of radical reforms to that institution despite opposition from the United States. I agree with the suggestions of the resolution we will approve tomorrow, especially when it states that only countries that demonstrate respect for fundamental rights may participate in the future council. We must also grant a more important role to international non-governmental organisations, which are truly democratic and independent, through the creation of a UN committee on NGOs, which needs to able to provide both encouragement and criticism for the UN system of human rights."@en1
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