Rapporti verbatim tad-dibattiti

L-Erbgħa, 20 ta' Frar 2008 - Strasburgu

10. Is-Seba' Kunsill tad-Drittijiet tal-Bniedem tan-Nazzjonijiet Uniti (dibattitu)

  Przewodniczący. − Kolejnym punktem porządku dziennego są oświadczenia Rady i Komisji w sprawie siódmej Rady Praw Człowieka ONZ.

  Janez Lenarčič, predsedujoči Svetu. − Veseli me, da imam možnost pred vami spregovoriti tudi o Svetu za človekove pravice.

Evropski parlament z uvrstitvijo te točke na svoje plenarno zasedanje potrjuje pomen, ki ga Evropska unija kot celota pripisuje Svetu za človekove pravice. Gre namreč za osrednji, globalni organ za zaščito in promocijo človekovih pravic. Evropska unija je odločna zagovornica učinkovitega Sveta za človekove pravice. Močno smo si prizadevali, da bi njegova končna podoba nudila trdno osnovo za hitro in učinkovito odzivanje na hujše kršitve človekovih pravic.

Decembra lani, kot je znano, je bil končno sprejet institucionalni paket Sveta za človekove pravice in zdaj je napočil čas, da Svet dejansko začne polno delovati. Šesto zasedanje Sveta, ki je potekalo septembra in decembra lani, je prineslo številne pomembne rezultate, ki jih tu ne bi našteval. Naša ambicija je, da se takšno delo nadaljuje tudi na sedmem in osmem delovnem zasedanju.

Sedmo zasedanje bo potekalo prihodnji mesec in bo izjemno delovno. Skupaj z osmim, ki bo potekalo prva dva tedna v juniju, bo moralo obravnavati podaljšanje kar 25-ih mandatov posebnih poročevalcev, obravnavalo bo redna poročila posebnih poročevalcev in posamezna zaskrbljujoča stanja človekovih pravic v nekaterih državah in po nekaterih tematikah.

Z vidika Evropske unije so za sedmo zasedanje Sveta za človekove pravice ključnega pomena obnova mandatov posebnih poročevalcev za Burmo oziroma Mjanmar, za Demokratično republiko Kongo, za Demokratično ljudsko republiko Korejo in za Somalijo.

Evropska unija bo izkoristila vse možnosti, ki jih nudi Svet, tudi za opozarjanje na zaskrbljujoče stanje človekovih pravic drugod po svetu. V tem smislu se bo vključevala v interaktivne dialoge s posameznimi posebnimi poročevalci ter z visoko komisarko za človekove pravice.

Interaktivni dialogi so pomemben nov instrument Sveta in Evropska unija si bo še naprej prizadevala za njegovo utrditev kot enega ključnih sredstev, ki jih nudijo redna zasedanja Sveta za naslavljanje posameznih problematik.

Spoštovane poslanke in poslanci, kot vam je znano, je Slovenija med svoje prioritete v okviru predsedovanja Svetu Evropske unije uvrstila tudi medkulturni dialog. Zato nas veseli, da bo tej tematiki posvečena ustrezna pozornost tudi na sedmem zasedanju Sveta za človekove pravice.

Povabilo posebnemu predstavniku Zavezništva civilizacij gospodu Sampaiu na srečanje pomeni krepitev zavedanja, da aktivnosti Zavezništva civilizacij prispevajo h krepitvi verske strpnosti, ki je prav tako ena od prioritet Evropske unije na področju človekovih pravic.

Dovolite mi, da izpostavim še eno zelo pomembno dogajanje v okviru Sveta za človekove pravice. Gre za začetek splošnega periodičnega pregleda. Temu Evropska unija pripisuje velik pomen, saj naj bi ta instrument nudil možnost pregleda stanj človekovih pravic po vseh državah članicah Združenih narodov in pod enakimi pogoji. Članice Evropske unije, ki bodo podvržene temu mehanizmu že to pomlad, v aprilu in maju, se na omenjeni pregled že temeljito pripravljajo. Zavzemali se bomo za maksimalno transparentnost in učinkovitost tega procesa. Način, kako se bo ta periodični pregled izvajal, bo namreč zelo pomembno vplival na kredibilnost Sveta za človekove pravice v celoti.

  Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I welcome this opportunity to address Parliament on the subject of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council. Let me start by putting the Human Rights Council in what I believe to be the appropriate context.

I have said this before, but it is important to keep it in mind: the Council is a work in progress. This becomes clear when one looks at the past year and a half of its activities. Despite a rocky start, with deep divisions over the Lebanon crisis and a negotiating environment which continues to be difficult for the European Union, important results have been achieved. I am thinking here, particularly, of the innovation of human rights pledges submitted by candidates for election; the ability to hold special sessions on urgent human rights situations, a far cry from the annual ritual of its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights; the development of ‘interactive dialogues’ with UN special procedures, a very public means of focusing attention on human rights violations; and, finally, the adoption of the all-important institution-building package by consensus.

The President of the Council, Ambasador Costea, was in Brussels last week to brief the Council and Parliament on preparations for the Seventh Session. He described the Council as being ‘better than expected and worse than hoped for’. This may sound cynical, perhaps reflecting the reality of day-to-day UN work, but I think it also sets the tone accurately. There is both good and bad in the Council, but it is making progress and is, therefore, on the right path.

Priorities for the Seventh Session fall between addressing urgent human rights situations effectively – increasingly, the standard by which the Council should be judged – and continuing to implement the institution-building reforms. On the human rights situation, effective follow-up to the special session on Burma/Myanmar is paramount. Amongst other priorities, the human rights violations in Sri Lanka and Kenya should also be addressed in this session. Implementing the institutional reforms is, arguably, just as important, given their impact on the future success of the Council. Here, agreeing criteria for the election of members of the Advisory Committee and the transparent appointment of suitably qualified candidates for the special procedure mandates to be renewed are key concerns of the Seventh Session.

Finally, let me make a couple of comments on the universal periodic review, or the UPR, as it is known. The President reported this week that the states under review in the April and May sessions are taking their responsibilities seriously. I hope so. The early sessions of the UPR are likely to set the tone for the remainder. It is, therefore, vital that the EU Member States being reviewed lead the way with frank critiques of their human rights records. This should be no beauty pageant.

Furthermore, I see an important role for the European Union in the ‘outcome sessions’ of the UPR. The UPR is, more than anything else, about the international community cooperating with states under review to achieve concrete human rights improvements after a genuine self-analysis of failings and needs. The European Commission and the Member States should not be slow in offering technical assistance where it is merited in these outcome sessions. To do so would show our genuine commitment to the promotion of human rights in an important public setting.

  Laima Liucija Andrikienė (PPE-DE). – Mr President, Parliament is sending a delegation to the Seventh Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The delegation will be mandated to voice Parliament’s concerns on the HRC’s work and will report to the Subcommittee on Human Rights during its visit.

We see the Seventh Session of the HRC as a crucial one, because it will be the first to examine a large range of substantial issues under the new working methods stemming from the institution-building reforms package adopted in 2006 and 2007.

The credibility of the HRC rests on the implementation of these reforms and mechanisms, and our goal is to strengthen the Council’s ability to address human rights violations around the world, especially the most urgent ones.

We pay tribute to the positive results of the HRC, in particular the developments in the implementation of the universal periodic review, and the review of special procedures, as well as to the positive achievements of the Human Rights Council Presidency.

We welcome the participation of civil society and human rights defenders, as well as the special procedures, which are at the core of the UN human rights machinery, and play a critical role, especially in the Human Rights Council.

At the same time, we condemn certain decisions of the Human Rights Council, such as that not to renew the mandates of the special rapporteurs on Belarus and Cuba.

Taking into account the lessons of the past, we stress the importance of competitive elections being held in all regions, in order to provide real choice among UN members. The reason is that, to our regret, some countries with problematic human rights records have so far been elected.

Once again, I call on the Council, Commission and Member States to continue to press for the establishment of membership criteria for election to the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the issuing of permanent invitations for special procedures.

Speaking about EU involvement, we recognise the active role of the EU and its Member States in the first year of work of the HRC. It is very important for the EU to speak with one voice when addressing human rights issues, and we call on the Commission and Council to adopt a common position so as to ensure EU Member States automatically sign and ratify all international human rights instruments.

Last but not least, the EU should make more effective use of aid and political support to the countries in question so as to give them incentives to cooperate with the Human Rights Council.

  Józef Pinior, on behalf of the PSE Group. – Mr President, the United Nations Human Rights Council is one of the most interesting areas in the field of human rights for the European Parliament. We closely monitor the activities of that Council, and the European Parliament sends its missions to Geneva twice a year.

I would like to make three remarks. First, I would like to pay tribute to the positive achievements of the Council Presidency and, at the same time, I would like to stress the importance of support from the European Union and, equally, of candidates with high standards of integrity for the elections of the new President of the Council, to be held on 23 June 2008.

Second, I would like to stress that special procedures are at the core of the United Nations human rights machinery, playing a critical role, especially in the Human Rights Council, civil society and democratic states. In particular, the EU States need to monitor and pressure Council members to fulfil their responsibilities to promote human rights.

The European Parliament has to condemn the Council decisions not to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteurs on Belarus and Cuba. We should welcome the renewal of the country mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Sudan and of the independent experts on Liberia, Haiti and Burundi.

Third, much legitimate criticism of the Council centres on its disappointing treatment of specific country situations. Particularly one-sided international sympathy for the Palestinian cause and the agonised efforts of Islamic states led the Council to address the Middle East conflict, but there was repeated criticism of only one state – Israel – ignoring violations by Hezbollah and some Palestinian factions. The challenge is to build the political will for the Council members to effectively address such a situation in a just manner.

  Hélène Flautre, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Monsieur le Président, à la veille de la septième session du Conseil des droits de l'homme, le Parlement souhaite vous envoyer un message de soutien, de vigilance et de mobilisation.

C'est la seule instance internationale effectivement à combattre les violations des droits de l'homme, et notamment à réagir aux urgences, aux crises des droits de l'homme, mais aussi à travailler sur le long terme avec les rapporteurs spéciaux et dans un dialogue interactif avec les ONG. Le Conseil est unique et il se trouve à un tournant délicat de son histoire. Un an ne suffira pas pour établir son efficacité. Par contre, cela peut suffire pour le décrédibiliser et nous savons que les tentatives d'affaiblissement et d'instrumentalisation sont nombreuses.

Je voudrais d'abord parler de la situation de Mme Sigma Huda, rapporteure spéciale sur la traite des êtres humains. Elle est emprisonnée dans des conditions déplorables au Bangladesh. Ensuite, concernant ces mêmes rapporteurs spéciaux, les propositions du Comité consultatif seront finalement tranchées par le président en dernier ressort. C'est dire toute l'importance de son rôle, et je voudrais saluer l'excellence du travail du président Costea, en même temps que je tiens à attirer votre attention: en juin il sera remplacé.

C'est pourquoi l'Union doit rester attentive et doit rester proactive. Son action est décisive. On l'a vu à Gaza. L'abstention de l'Union affaiblit considérablement le message, elle affaiblit le Conseil lui-même.

Pourtant, lorsque l'Union prend l'initiative d'une session spéciale et qu'elle met alors tout son poids dans la balance, le Conseil grandit, il parvient à des résultats. Et, pour ce faire, nos États membres doivent renforcer leurs alliances transrégionales pour convaincre et éviter toute réaction en bloc qui renverrait le Conseil dans les affres des contingences politiques.

Nous interpellons donc nos États pour qu'ils intensifient leurs efforts et qu'ils se montrent exemplaires. Exemplaires, en nommant un expert indépendant, lorsqu'ils participent à l'examen d'un autre État dans le cadre de l'UPR, ouverts eux-mêmes à la critique et à l'autocritique, exemplaires aussi pour l'élection des nouveaux membres. L'invitation permanente faite aux procédures spéciales devrait être un critère primordial pour les États de l'Union européenne.

  Richard Howitt (PSE). – Mr President, I commend this resolution to you. Indeed, I commend the work of the Parliament’s delegation to Geneva where, as well as holding our own EU representatives to account, we work with them to engage in dialogue with countries in other regions of the world, demonstrating Europe’s strength and solidarity in upholding human rights and international humanitarian law.

I am grateful for the inclusion of my amendments in the text supporting the call for a special session on violence against women and for the signature and ratification by all our countries of all international human rights instruments. I call for Europe’s support, in particular, for the renewal of the mandate of the Special Representative on Business and Human Rights. But having just returned from Gaza, I would like to commend to you paragraph 34 in particular. This is a state of siege, with mediaeval conditions being imposed on the people of Gaza. Today we will identify it as a clear breach of human rights. If even Tony Blair cannot get Israel to allow the import of equipment to stop 40 000 litres of untreated human waste poisoning the water supply, it is time for Europe to act. European troops under a new mandate could help supervise the reopening of the borders and, as I now ask for your support, European countries can achieve agreement on all sides in the UN Human Rights Council to seek enforcement of international humanitarian law. We, as Europe, can take the initiative, as was suggested by the Slovenian Presidency at our Human Rights Subcommittee in Brussels only last week. We can propose a balanced text that recognises that both terrorist rocket attacks as well as the collective punishment of the blockade both break the fourth Geneva Convention. In doing so, we can achieve a consensus in Geneva which can make a real difference to the humanitarian crisis suffered by the people of Gaza.

  Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE). – Arvoisa puhemies, vanhojen mekanismien ja työtapojen kriittinen tarkastelu ja uusien luominen ovat herättäneet paljon toiveita ihmisoikeusneuvoston kyvystä toimia tehokkaana elimenä, joka keskittyy ihmisoikeusloukkausten käsittelyyn ja jättää yleiset poliittiset tilanteet selkeästi muiden YK:n elinten toimivaltaan.

Ihmisoikeusneuvoston uskottavuus riippuu myös maaliskuussa nimitettävien erityismenettelyihin liittyvien mandaattien uusista haltijoista. On valtavan tärkeää, että asiantuntemus, puolueettomuus, itsenäisyys ja objektiivisuus ratkaisevat.

Kuten monet muut täällä, minäkin toivoisin nykytilanteessa uudelleenharkintaa ihmisoikeusneuvoston päätökselle olla uusimatta Valko-Venäjää ja Kuubaa käsittelevien erityisedustajien mandaattia. EU:n jäsenvaltioiden tulisi myös pyrkiä takaamaan, että Kongon demokraattista tasavaltaa käsittelevän riippumattoman asiantuntijan mandaattia pidennetään.

  Janez Lenarčič, predsedujoči Svetu. − Rad bi se samo zahvalil vsem poslankam in poslancem, ki so sodelovali v tej razpravi in predstavili svoja stališča, ki bodo predsedstvu Sveta nedvomno v pomoč v pripravah na sedmo zasedanje Sveta za človekove pravice.

Naj posebej poudarim, kako zelo se strinjam s tem, kar je povedala spoštovana poslanka gospa Andrikienė glede potrebnosti, da Evropska unija nastopa v Svetu za človekove pravice enotno, z enim glasom.

Prav tako bi želel opozoriti na dejstvo, da se predsedstvo nadeja dobrega sodelovanja tudi z delegacijo Evropskega parlamenta, kajti neizpodbitno je, da je vloga Evropskega parlamenta pri promociji in zaščiti človekovih pravic izjemnega pomena in zato si želimo čim boljšega sodelovanja s tem visokim zborom.

Naj končam s podatkom, da se bo sedmo zasedanje Sveta za človekove pravice začelo z ministrskim zasedanjem, na katerem bo spregovoril v imenu predsedstva Sveta Evropske unije tudi predsednik Sveta za splošne zadeve in zunanje odnose minister dr. Dimitrij Rupel. Sodelovala pa bo tudi vrsta drugih visokih predstavnikov, morda tudi generalni sekretar Združenih narodov.

  Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, the European Union is a very important body that has to go in the right direction and lead the Human Rights Council in that direction.

The Council has yet to prove itself as an effective human rights organ within the United Nations; that much is clear. However, as I said before, it is too early to pass a final judgment. Indeed, to do that at this stage might even hinder its future progress. That is why it is important that the human rights community continues to support the Human Rights Council, albeit with a critical eye. In that vein, I am pleased that a delegation of the European Parliament will be attending part of the Seventh Session to assess its work at first hand.

Like Ms Andrikienė, I think that the European Union will have to strive to speak with one voice on this issue. Voting patterns of EU members on the Council are very harmonised, and the more harmonised they are, the more important our voice will be.

Concerning the criteria for membership, so far it has proved impossible to draw up such criteria. However, the pledges on human rights commitments will be important steps towards more responsibility for the candidate countries and, as I have said before, this is an important step.

Concerning the special procedures, the EU is fighting actively to extend existing mandates and establish the new ones we deem necessary.

Finally, let me say a word on Belarus and Cuba. The Council can be criticised for not continuing the mandates for those countries, but this was a compromise made necessary to save many of the other country and thematic mandates that are currently being reviewed. Similarly, for instance on Sudan. It is regrettable to lose the mandate of the Expert Group on Darfur, but this was unfortunately unavoidable in order to save that of the Special Representative on Sudan.

Therefore, in order to achieve consensus, the European Union sometimes has to be prepared to make difficult compromises. But, again, on the whole, we are a very strong motor and body in this area, and we have to go on working to ensure that the Human Rights Council really works and goes in the right direction. The European Parliament is a very, very strong tool to help us on that path.

  Przewodniczący. − Zamykam debatę.

Głosowanie odbędzie się w czwartek, 21 lutego 2008 r.

IN THE CHAIR: Diana WALLIS
Vice-President