Az ülések szó szerinti jegyzőkönyve

2024. október 9., Szerda - Strasbourg

16.2. A Kínában igazságtalanul bebörtönzött ujgurok, nevezetesen Ilham Tohti és Gulshan Abbas ügye

  President. – The next item is the debate on six motions for resolutions on the cases of unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs in China, notably Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas (2024/2857(RSP)).

  Miriam Lexmann, author. – Madam President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, during these days, the People's Republic of China is commemorating 75 years since its establishment. But despite all the regime propaganda, its track record is clear: 75 years of terror, oppression and suffering similar as we observed in the Soviet Union.

Dear colleagues, this House as a first EU institution recognised our naivety towards this regime, and has been fundamental in shifting the European Union's attitude towards the totalitarian regime. This is why I sincerely welcome tonight's debate and resolution, and I want to thank colleagues all across the parties for their cooperation.

The totalitarian regime is committing crimes against humanity against Uyghurs, Tibetans and other ethnic groups, and sowing its terror and oppression across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. This is why we must continue to call for the release of Ilham Tohti, Gulshan Abbas and all those countless names imprisoned by the regime, and hold the regime accountable for it.

As the regime continues to commit these crimes at home, it is no surprise that it is also behaving increasingly aggressively towards its neighbours, against Taiwan, and acting against our own democracies and freedom. History teaches us that these regimes always turn their domestic terror into later aiming towards external aggression.

This is why speaking out for Ilham Tohti, Gulshan Abbas and the countless others is not only morally right, but it is also fundamental to defending our own freedom, peace and security.

In this context, let me also come back to one matter we are currently observing in Parliament, namely when PRC officials are trying to access our meeting rooms and our meetings. This is absolutely not allowed and absolutely not possible – especially when Members of this House are still sanctioned, we can no longer allow PRC representatives to interfere with and humiliate our Members. On the contrary, we must stand united in defence of human rights.

  Raphaël Glucksmann, auteur. – Madame la Présidente, chers collègues, Monsieur le Commissaire, il y a dix ans, Ilham Tohti était arrêté par les autorités et condamné à la prison à perpétuité. Gulshan Abbas a elle aussi été arrêtée et condamnée à 20 ans d'emprisonnement. Ilham Tohti et Gulshan Abbas sont les visages de ces millions de Ouïgours persécutés, enlevés à leur famille, enfermés dans des camps, transférés de force pour travailler dans des usines et soumis à des programmes de rééducation et à des stérilisations forcées. Quel crime ont-ils commis? Aucun, sinon le crime d'être nés Ouïgours.

Chers collègues, la violence de Xi Jinping et du Parti communiste chinois ne s'arrête pas aux frontières de la Chine. Ceux qui échappent à la répression et élèvent la voix pour dénoncer ces crimes sont traqués, intimidés et pourchassés jusque dans nos villes, jusque dans nos rues, par les agents du régime chinois, comme Gulbahar Jalilova, récemment dans les rues de Paris.

J'appelle les dirigeants européens qui courtisent si souvent le tyran de Pékin à sortir de leur complaisance et de leur indolence. Les agents du régime chinois qui agissent sur notre sol doivent être punis. Les produits fabriqués par des esclaves doivent être bannis. Les architectes de l'oppression des Ouïgours doivent être sanctionnés. Ilham Tohti et Gulshan Abbas incarnent la dignité humaine. Le moment est venu de montrer que l'Europe se tient à leurs côtés.

  Lara Magoni, autrice. – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, umanamente vorrei esprimere la mia totale indignazione e vergogna per quello che sta subendo, ormai da troppi anni, il popolo uiguro in Cina. Più di un milione di uiguri sono rinchiusi in veri e propri campi di concentramento, dove sono sottoposti a torture e lavoro forzato. Essi subiscono una costante violazione dei diritti umani attraverso un forte controllo delle nascite e persecuzione religiosa. La Cina sta compiendo un vero e proprio genocidio, che ha come fine ultimo l'estinzione, non solo culturale, del popolo uiguro.

Questa mattina, in plenaria, il Presidente ungherese Orbán, eletto democraticamente dai propri cittadini, è stato vittima di attacchi strumentali di una parte politica di questo Parlamento, che lo definisce fascista. La stessa Europa che svende interi settori della nostra economia a un regime comunista, che costantemente calpesta i diritti umani delle persone che non si allineano al pensiero unico. E tutto questo viene fatto nel silenzio più totale, un silenzio non più sostenibile, fatto di dolore e sofferenza di esseri umani che muoiono nell'indifferenza.

  Petras Auštrevičius, author. – Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, today we pay tribute to Sakharov Prize laureate Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur human rights defender, who has been in Chinese prison for ten years with a life sentence, and Gulshan Abbas, who was sentenced for 20 years for her sister's criticism of the Chinese regime's oppression of the Uyghurs.

This is a very grim reality of communist China, where Beijing is in a quest for global hegemony and uses the harshest methods against human rights defenders, dissidents, and ethnic minorities. Beijing's systematic actions to destroy the historical and cultural identity of the Uyghurs, the uprooting of Tibetans from their historical lands and indoctrination of Tibetan children and the destruction of the democratic institutions in Hong Kong demand a very strong response from the European Union and the West in general.

I call on the EU Member States and the European Union to take action in response to those deplorable crimes.

  Erik Marquardt, Verfasser. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar! Wir wissen ja seit Jahren – eigentlich Jahrzehnten – um die Menschenrechtsverletzungen in China. Es ist wirklich traurig, dass wir da nicht vorankommen, dass Menschen wie Ilham Tohti, Menschen wie Gulshan Abbas immer noch in Gefangenschaft sitzen. Sie sind nur zwei Beispiele von hunderten, man möchte sagen tausenden Menschen, die zu Unrecht in Gefangenschaft sitzen, und Millionen, die unter den Menschenrechtsverletzungen leiden. Deswegen ist es wichtig, dass wir weiter Druck machen, dass wir Forderungen an China aufstellen, die sofortige Schließung der Internierungslager, Zugang für Menschenrechtsbeobachter der Vereinten Nationen, auch die sofortige Freilassung der politischen Gefangenen fordern. All das ist richtig.

Aber natürlich können wir uns nicht nur an die chinesische Regierung wenden, denn wir wissen, dass wir als Parlament da alleine nicht genug Druck erzeugen können. Deswegen ist es auch richtig, dass wir in der Entschließung auf die Kommission Druck machen, dass sie den Druck weiter erhöht, dass sie Menschenrechte, Demokratie und die Rechtsstaatlichkeit ins Zentrum der chinesischen Beziehungen rückt und auch die Mitgliedstaaten das Gleiche tun. Es ist aber genauso wichtig, dass wir Druck machen auf die Wirtschaft. Ich als – muss ich sagen – auch deutscher Staatsbürger finde es beschämend, dass Unternehmen wie VW nicht einmal in der Lage sind, solche Menschenrechtsverletzungen anzuerkennen und darüber offen zu reden.

  La Présidente. – J'appelle maintenant Madame Rima Hassan, auteure, pour une minute. Madame Hassan, je pense que vous étiez censée adapter votre tenue à cette séance. Merci.

  Rima Hassan, auteur. – Madame la Présidente, avant de m'exprimer sur la situation des prisonniers politiques ouïghours, je tiens à rappeler que ce Parlement refuse systématiquement de mettre à l'ordre du jour la situation à Gaza et au Liban. Alors qu'un génocide est en cours depuis un an, l'Union européenne statue sur toutes les violations des droits humains dans le monde, à l'exception de celles commises par le régime israélien. La raison est simple: l'Union européenne est aujourd'hui complice du génocide et des crimes de guerre en Palestine et au Liban. Parenthèse fermée.

Ilham Tohti et Gulshan Abbas sont tous deux des exemples criants de la persécution toujours actuelle des Ouïgours, arrêtés de façon arbitraire respectivement pour séparatisme et terrorisme. Des rapports onusiens ont documenté l'existence de camps d'internement sous prétexte de lutte contre le terrorisme, prisme légal dévoyé donnant lieu à des violations des droits humains ciblant en particulier les populations musulmanes. Bien que les produits issus du travail forcé des Ouïghours aient déjà fait l'objet d'une position claire du Parlement européen, il reste tant à faire. Près d'un million de Ouïghours seraient encore internés, ne les oublions pas. Dans le même temps, ne soyons pas dupes face à l'indignation sélective de l'Union européenne sur la nécessaire défense des droits humains.

(La Présidente retire la parole à l'oratrice)

  Sebastião Bugalho, em nome do Grupo PPE. – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Comissário, em agosto de 2022, Michelle Bachelet apresentou um relatório na Organização das Nações Unidas. O relatório é claro: Xinjiang é uma zona de práticas atentatórias aos direitos dos uigures, onde «as restrições e a privação mais geral de direitos fundamentais podem constituir crimes internacionais, em particular crimes contra a humanidade». Sublinho «crimes contra a humanidade».

A Comissão Europeia deu um sinal importante há cinco anos, quando reconheceu a China como rival sistémico. Durante esta legislatura, temos de fazer mais. O idealismo que nos fez tratar um inimigo como um parceiro – que foi aquilo que fizemos com Vladimir Putin durante uma década – não pode nem deve ser repetido.

Quando ouvimos a ONU falar em restrições arbitrárias e discriminatórias de direitos humanos e liberdades fundamentais, temos de reconhecer uma evidência: a China não é apenas um rival sistémico; é um adversário comercial, é um adversário político e é um adversário moral. Ilham Tohti e Gulshan Abbas são dois nomes que nos obrigam a que não o esqueçamos. Cumprimento todos os grupos políticos que contribuíram com esta resolução para que assim não seja.

  Francisco Assis, em nome do Grupo S&D. – Senhora Presidente, Ilham Tohti, Prémio Sakharov em 2019: condenado a prisão perpétua apenas por advogar o diálogo entre os uigures e os chineses han. Gulshan Abbas: condenado a 20 anos apenas por ter como irmã uma ativista que, nos Estados Unidos, denunciou a perseguição dos uigures pelo regime chinês. Isto é a outra expressão da China – não a China que suscita tanta admiração pelo seu desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico, mas esta China que é uma das últimas encarnações daquela que foi uma das maiores tragédias que marcou a história da humanidade no século XX e que se perpetua aqui pelo século XXI: a tragédia do comunismo de inspiração marxista-leninista.

A China é ainda uma expressão que se vai prolongando no tempo dessa mesma tragédia. Mas essa tragédia depois manifesta-se concretamente nestas situações absolutamente dramáticas. Estas duas pessoas estão isoladas, estão presas, têm dificuldade em ter qualquer contacto com as suas famílias, provavelmente carecem de ajuda médica e estão num estado de total isolamento.

A Europa não pode ignorar isto. É nosso dever absoluto a partir daqui, do Parlamento Europeu, dizermos «nós estamos atentos à sistemática violação dos direitos humanos que se pratica na China».

  Hermann Tertsch, en nombre del Grupo PfE. – Señora presidenta, un millón de uigures, un pueblo musulmán en la China occidental, está siendo aplastado por el régimen criminal comunista, en unos confinamientos y campos de concentración en los que suceden auténticas monstruosidades.

Ilham Tohti y Gulshan Abbas son los símbolos del dolor uigur y de la brutalidad del régimen comunista. China es un peligro para toda sociedad libre, y los negocios no deben encubrir esta colosal amenaza. Pero la República Popular China es un socio de negocios muy solvente.

Aquí hay entusiastas de Huawei, la mayor compañía de espionaje del mundo, y los propios Von der Leyen, Merkel y Macron querían llevarse a China mucha producción europea. Lo frustró el COVID; gracias a Dios, lo interrumpió. Y ya después hubo aquí un giro muy importante en Europa para saber a quién nos enfrentamos.

  Engin Eroglu, im Namen der Renew-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrter Herr Kommissar! Seit zehn Jahren ist jetzt Ilham Tohti verhaftet, unser Sacharow‑Preisträger. Weder seine Familie, Herr Kommissar Hahn, noch wir wissen, ob er noch lebt oder nicht. Das ist, was nicht sein kann. Ständig reisen Vertreter der Kommission nach China, und ich verstehe nicht, wie man nicht mal das vernünftig ansprechen kann, um mal diese Information herauszufinden. Ich halte das für sehr naiv.

Ich bin froh, dass das Parlament wahrscheinlich morgen wieder mit großer Mehrheit einer Entschließung zustimmen wird. Wir direkten Volksvertreter wissen, welches Elend der Kommunismus in Europa angerichtet hat. Wir wissen auch: Wenn der Kommunismus nach innen nicht mehr funktioniert – diese sozialistische Politik –, dass der Kommunismus expandiert und andere Völker angreift. Deswegen: Bitte aufhören mit dieser naiven Haltung in der Kommission und sich jetzt für Menschenrechte einsetzen, ganz konkret für Ilham Tohti und Gulshan Abbas.

  Catarina Vieira, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, while the whole world is holding its breath about the horrible developments in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, we cannot forget about the ever-continuing genocide of the Uyghurs. Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs face systematic surveillance, persecution, mass imprisonment, torture and forced sterilisation. Brave activists like Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas are being harassed, detained and silenced. The list of detained activists is getting longer by the day.

Yet, exports from Xinjiang into the EU have risen by 140 % this year. From the cotton in our clothes to the electronic components in our gadgets, we are sponsoring the continuation of state-imposed forced labour. This is simply unacceptable. We must strictly enforce the forced labour ban. We must hold the Chinese regime accountable. We must prevent our complicity to this genocide.

  Thijs Reuten (S&D). – Madam President, Commission colleagues, in China's prison camps, about 1 million Uyghurs are currently detained, many without trial, among them Ilham Tohti, the 2019 Sakharov Prize laureate, imprisoned for his peaceful advocacy for Uyghur rights. The Chinese regime deems his freedom of speech – simply asking for basic rights – to be separatism, resulting in a life sentence.

Uyghur families often face sudden disappearance of loved ones, with detainees forced to abandon their identities in a process that the Chinese authorities call 're-education'. Even Uyghurs in the EU face repression of Beijing's long arm, extreme intimidation, threats to family members there when you speak out here.

This transnational repression within the case of China, even police stations throughout Europe, must end. It's our duty to protect our citizens. Stop the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and the human rights violations by the Chinese authorities and protect our citizens here.

Catch-the-eye procedure

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – A Uachtaráin, (níor phioc an micreafón suas tús na hóráide) ... agus má théim níos faide ná sin, múch an micreafón. Ba mhaith liom tacú le mo chomhghleacaithe, go háirithe Miriam Lexmann anseo agus na húdair eile, Petras a léirigh go cruinn cad atá ag tarlú sa tSín maidir leis na hUigiúraigh. Dar ndóigh, ní hé seo an chéad uair go bhfuilimid ag caint faoi chás na nUigiúrach sa Pharlaimint seo, agus an ceart againn a bheith ag caint faoi arís anocht, go háirithe cás Ilham Tohti agus Gulshan Abbas. Tá siad i bpríosún gan chúis agus ba cheart dúinn brú a chur orthu iad a ligean saor. Freisin, tá gaol gairid idir an tSín agus an tAontas ó thaobh cúrsaí trádála, agus ba cheart dúinn an trádáil sin a úsáid chun brú a chur ar an tSín cearta sibhialta a thabhairt do na hUigiúraigh agus fiú amháin a bheith níos féaráilte linne ó thaobh cúrsaí trádála chomh maith.

(End of catch-the-eye procedure)

  Johannes Hahn, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, the human rights situation in China remains very dire. Just two weeks ago, High Representative Borrell issued a statement on the 10th anniversary of the sentencing of Ilham Tohti. For over two decades, Professor Tohti worked tirelessly to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. Still, he was sentenced to life on alleged separatism‑related charges.

Dr Gulshan Abbas was sentenced for 20 years in prison, reportedly only because of her sister's work on human rights. The Union has raised her case many times with the Chinese authorities. Reports about the deteriorating health conditions of both Professor Tohti and Dr Abbas are very worrying. The harsh sentencing illustrates China's ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, academics and Uyghur intellectuals at large, who face harassment, intimidation and surveillance.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Treaty Bodies, special rapporteurs and civil society organisations continue to report human rights abuses in China, particularly in Xinjiang. This includes political re-education camps, mass arbitrary detentions, widespread surveillance, tracking and control measures, systemic and severe restrictions on the exercise of fundamental freedoms, the use of forced labour and labour transfer schemes.

Let me reassure you that the Union will continue to follow China's human rights situation very closely. The European Parliament's support in addressing China's human rights violations remains crucial. We reiterate our calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Professor Tohti and Dr Abbas, among others, and I want to reassure you that we will continue to convey our concerns directly to the Chinese leadership.

  President. – The debate is closed.

The vote will be held tomorrow.