Ihmisoikeudet ja terrorismi - puhe EU:n ja Yhdysvaltain delegaatiolle 19.4.2006
Statement at the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue
61st Meeting of Delegations from the European Parliament and the United States Congress, Vienna, 18-21 April 2006
Integration policies, terrorism, and international Human Rights issues
Thank you, Mr. (Madame) Chair,
Some of the most positive developments in the role of the international community in recent decades is the increasing attention given to human rights.
New institutions and mechanisms have been created by the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe, to mention only a few of the international organizations that are central from the European point of view.
The emphasis on human rights is one of the factors that clearly distinguishes today’s world community from the international politics of the 1930s, dominated by power politics that left little or no room for “secondary aspects” such as human rights.
We must not be deluded by self-complacency regarding our achievements in the field of human rights, however. Much remains to be done, or, to be frank, progress has not even started on some of the most heart-breaking violations of human rights in various parts of the world.
Some of the steps forward that have been taken have involved institutional and other organizational aspects, the creation of new bodies and the appointment of international civil servants with special mandates concerning human rights.
Some of these actions have not proven to be of lasting value. Take, for instance, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, which over the decades became widely discredited because of its inefficiency.
At least we can note with satisfaction that the international community is capable of corrective action when need be. The United Nations General Assembly approved by a large majority a new Human Rights Council to replace the Human Rights Commission.
We know that our American colleagues may have a different view on how beneficial a corrective action this was, given that the United States abstained on the resolution in question. We note with pleasure the United States announcement that it will work cooperatively to strengthen the new council, however.
Given the significance of freedom of expression in the Western philosophy of a well-functioning society, it is hardly unexpected that the high number of journalists worldwide being convicted for alleged defamation of public officials or politicians ranks high on the list of grievances reflected, for instance, in the latest EU Annual Report on Human Rights.
This has prompted members of the European Parliament to advocate a worldwide moratorium on such imprisonment of journalists as a first step.
With the sudden emergence of the so-called cartoon crisis last autumn, however, we Europeans have found it necessary to give some thinking to the nature of freedom of expression as a moral imperative.
Many of those who have been concerned about the continued worsening of the relations between the Western countries and the Muslim community have stressed that freedom of expression does not exclude mutual respect and understanding between different civilizations.
Just as it is our inalienable right to speak our minds on the grievances that we perceive, it is our privilege to show restraint in situations that we know may be experienced as offensive by the representatives of other civilizations holding different sacred values.
There are in today’s world humanitarian crises that involve such misery that they also become human rights issues. I have in mind, for instance, the case of Darfur in Sudan. In the European Parliament, we look forward to the results of an impact study commissioned by our Human Rights Subcommittee.
This study is due to be published in autumn 2006. We hope that it will provide clues as to the possibility of improving the human rights situation in this area inflicted with such suffering.
In a meeting with our colleagues from the United States, we do not hide our opinion concerning the problem of the detention centre in Guantánamo. As far as we know, most of the 500 prisoners in Guantánamo have been detained since 2002 without any charge.
According to the report by a group of United Nations human rights investigators in February this year, the treatment of prisoners in Guantánamo violates international law and in some cases constitutes a form of torture.
I believe it is our shared view that the United States should close the centre and bring all Guantánamo detainees to trial as soon as possible, or to release them without further delay.
Thank you, Mr. (Madame) Chair.
