Relato integral dos debates

Terça-feira, 12 de Junho de 2012 - Estrasburgo

10. Relatório anual sobre os direitos humanos (debate)

  La Présidente. - L'ordre du jour appelle le débat sur la déclaration de la vice-présidente de la Commission/haute représentante de l'Union pour les affaires étrangères et la politique de sécurité sur le rapport annuel sur les droits de l'homme.

Je souhaite d'ailleurs vous rappeler qu'il n'y aura pas d'interventions à la demande pour ce débat.

  Catherine Ashton, Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. − Madam President, our second topic today, as you said, concerns the Annual Report on Human Right and Democracy in the World in 2011. This report, which, I am pleased to say, is now on the Council website, is set to be adopted in two weeks’ time. I am very happy to present the outline of this report to the House – on time – this year.

The annual report shows how the EU really can make a difference when and where it matters most. The report covers 2011 but, if I might, I would like to give some up-to-date figures to illustrate what I mean. Since the beginning of this year, we have made 36 declarations or statements on behalf of human rights defenders or country situations of concern. Of course that does not include the countless number of démarches we conduct – for obvious reasons – behind closed doors.

Since January, we have also conducted 14 in-depth human rights discussions with countries around the globe, with another 22 still to come this year. From Jordan to Vietnam, from Ukraine to the United States, from Argentina to Pakistan, the European Union sits down in the spirit of partnership to see how we can, together, improve the human rights situation.

The annual report details all of this action in 2011. But it does more: in line with the wishes of Parliament, the report contains a section on freedom of religion or belief, which is so essential to the development of free societies. 2011 saw worrying developments in this connection, with intolerance spilling over from discrimination into violent attacks.

Also, for the first time, the report contains a section on international humanitarian law, which was the subject of various EU initiatives in 2011, culminating in the seven pledges made in November to the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

As in previous years, the annual report catalogues our work across the whole range of thematic issues, bilateral and multilateral. It encapsulates the tremendous challenges to human rights and democracy in 2011, and how we responded.

Madam President, just a few examples to show that we stay consistently active:

In Bahrain, we have been working since the events of February 2011 to encourage all sides to engage in national reconciliation. I personally expressed support for the independent commission of inquiry and the implementation of its recommendations when I met with his Majesty the King and with the Foreign Minister. We have kept a close eye on the case of Mr al-Khawaja and I have asked my officials to meet him in prison; this took place just before he ended his hunger strike. The EU is also following the fate of Mr Nabeel Rajab, who has just been arrested yet again.

In Mongolia, the EU has been following the situation since the arrest of former President Enkhbayar on corruption charges, his hunger strike and subsequent release. We are determined to support the democratic process in Mongolia ahead of the elections on 28 June.

In Pakistan, the EU intervened in the case of Mr Behram Khan, who has been on death row since 2003. Following the rejection of several appeals, he was due to be executed on 23 May, but after several EU appeals to the Pakistani authorities the execution was put off. During my visit last week to Pakistan, I raised the issues of the need to protect and promote the rights of women, to abolish the death penalty and to make good on the promise of legislative changes.

Madam President, the package concerns human rights and democracy. Our election observation missions remain an essential tool to support democracy and accompany political change, as in the case of the historic elections in Tunisia, the creation of a new state in South Sudan, the important parliamentary elections in Algeria – with the first ever EU election observation there – and Peru, where the observation mission contributed to strengthening our bilateral relations, and, of course, many other places across the world.

I want to thank Members of this House for their participation in these missions, adding visibility and enhancing the political commitment of the European Union. On a related note, I am happy to confirm that we are making good progress in preparing the draft statute for the European Endowment for Democracy, including on the basis of the Lambsdorff report.

I hope you will consider the annual report a useful resource. The recent Howitt report expresses expectations that the report should evolve, and I am certainly open to exploring that idea – in cooperation with this House – to make sure that the report continues to be as relevant in the future as it is now.

  László Tőkés, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, as the shadow rapporteur for the PPE Group, I would like to thank the Vice-President for her presence here today.

In the spirit of the guiding values of the UN Charter, we take this report very seriously, and it is our priority to cooperate with the EEAS for a comprehensive strategy.

Looking back at the past year, however, in spite of all our commitment, we have to face reality. Regular and systematic human rights violations continue. People face repression around the world and innocent people die every day. Yet, there is reason for hope. In spite of the aforementioned violations, we also witness increasing demand for human rights coming from the people, from brave individuals, inspired to action by the principle of human dignity.

Millions poured out into the streets to demand justice and freedom in the Arab world; courageous people in China continue showing the world that they are not afraid. They want accountability, just as those Tibetans who choose to sacrifice themselves in peaceful protest against China’s communist rule.

Human rights defenders and lawyers continue protecting those who want to practice their freedom. We are witnessing increasing non-violent resistance, reflecting self-consciousness among people – just as Liu Xiaobo wrote in 2006 in his essay ‘Changing the regime by changing society’.

His words are still of great inspiration today. Our solidarity with entire communities that rise up in spite of intimidation is crucial. We cannot force change from the outside. It needs to come from the inside and we have to stay committed in order to catalyse this change now.

ΠΡΟΕΔΡΙΑ: ΑΝΝΥ ΠΟΔΗΜΑΤΑ
Αντιπρόεδρος

  Richard Howitt, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, I would like to thank the High Representative for her kind words about my own report as the previous annual rapporteur on human rights. I will be working, of course, with our next rapporteur on human rights, Mr Donskis, who will speak next. With him I know that the High Representative and her services have made a major effort to get the timetable back on track and to ensure that she herself is present to deliver this annual human rights report to our plenary. I would like to sincerely thank her and her services for restoring this important action.

I want to place on record that I agree with many of the conclusions of the report. This was indeed a momentous year for human rights and democracy building in which we have all – the EU included – had to step up to the task. I agree that this report, in a sense, will be the last of its kind, as next year we will be able to report and debate on implementation of the strategic review on human rights. In this context, I applaud, for example, the EU’s action to protest against the arrest of bloggers exercising their freedom of expression, the new consensus the EU has now forged in EU institutions on freedom of religion and belief, the unanimous support of EU members of the Human Rights Council for the groundbreaking resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity, the new common position on the international criminal court, and, as the High Representative has said herself, the successful EU observation missions. I would like to thank her for what she said this afternoon about Nabeel Rajab, who I know, thanks to this wonderful world of social media. I would be grateful if in her response she could comment about the four ICC staff who are currently detained in Libya.

Finally, although I have been proud to contribute personally to the work of the mandate holder leading to the guiding principles on business and human rights, I would like the High Representative to charge an identified person within her services to spearhead their implementation within the European Union and to follow up the recommendations of the Edinburgh Study detailed in her last annual report.

  Leonidas Donskis, ALDE frakcijos vardu. – Metinis žmogaus teisių pranešimas visada tampa unikalia galimybe Europos Sąjungai, jos politikams ir žmogaus teisių gynėjams išsakyti pasaulio viziją, už kurią liberaliosios demokratijos pasiryžusios kovoti idėjines kovas, kuri mus artintų į tikrovę, kurioje valstybių bendradarbiavimas ir partnerystė grindžiama ne vien ekonomikos pajėgumu, turtingais gamtos ištekliais, saugumo interesais ir išmintingais kompromisais tarp istorinių bei modernių išskirtybių, bet visų pirma visuotiniu pripažinimu, kad žmogaus gyvybės vertė, orumas ir teisės yra esminis ir pagrindinis valstybės civilizuotumo ir patikimumo kriterijus, kad žmogaus teisės nėra ir negali būti derybų objektas ar ekonomikos įkaitas.

Mes turėjome istorinę galimybę įsitikinti tuo, kad laisvės ir orumo siekimas nėra vien moderniojo Vakarų pasaulio išradimas, kad tai yra visuotinis žmonijos siekis, spontaniškai ir per akimirką, net ir be jokios rafinuotos politikos ir filosofijos, suartinantis žmoniją visame pasaulyje.

Tai Arabų pavasaris, su didžiule jėga prasiveržęs laisvės ir demokratijos siekis, kurį pagrįstai galima lyginti su tokiais didžiaisiais mūsų artimos istorijos įvykiais, kaip Rytų Europos tautų laisvės kova ir didieji žmogaus teisių sąjūdžiai nuo Andrejaus Sacharovo ir jo bendražygių Rusijoje iki solidarumo Lenkijoje. Kaip būsimam pranešėjui, man teks nelengva užduotis pabandyti įvertinti Arabų pavasario dėka Europos išmoktas pamokas ir analizuoti šių pamokų pasekmes bendrajai Europos Sąjungos žmogaus teisių politikai ateityje.

Tiek Arabų pavasaris, tiek kiti praėjusių metų įvykiai vis labiau atskleidžia informacinės technologijos galias ir žodžio, žiniasklaidos, socialinių medijų svarbą demokratinėms revoliucijoms ir demokratijos pažangai.

Todėl savo pranešime negaliu nepaminėti praėjusių metų svarbių įvykių Baltarusijoje bei labai prastos žmogaus teisių situacijos Tibete, kuri tiek mano frakcijai, tiek, manau, ir visam Parlamentui kelia nerimą ir kurią reikia kelti Europos Sąjungos lygmeniu.

Pone Pirmininke, ponia Įgaliotine, metinis žmogaus teisių pranešimas ir Europos Parlamento bendradarbiavimas su Jumis turi tapti galimybe drąsiai pažvelgti į Europos ir pasaulio ateitį, nes, būkime atviri ir neslėpkime šito, retrospektyvus kalbėjimas pranešime apžvelgiant 2011 m. padėtį pasaulyje bus ne kas kita, o kalbėjimas apie pasaulio ateitį ir žmoniškumo strategijas.

  Rui Tavares, em nome do Grupo Verts/ALE. – Senhora Presidente, Senhora Alta Representante, quero começar por dizer que não fiquei muito satisfeito com a resposta que a Senhora Alta Representante deu em relação às perguntas no nosso último debate sobre o Representante Especial. O Representante Especial para os Direitos Humanos tem, no título do seu cargo, Representante Especial da União Europeia, não é um representante especial do Serviço de Ação Externa, não é um representante especial do Conselho e não é o representante especial ou representante pessoal da Senhora Alta Representante. Se é um Representante Especial da União Europeia tem que ter obrigações perante as instituições comunitárias, é um representante especial comunitário, é esta a minha leitura constitucional a partir dos tratados e se, como a Senhora Alta Representante diz, nos Tratados já está que ele tem obrigações perante as instituições comunitárias, incluindo perante esta Casa que é uma delas, não se compreende de forma nenhuma que no seu mandato não tenha a obrigação de vir falar perante o Parlamento.

Em relação aos relatórios anuais, eu defiro perante os meus colegas, tanto o Senhor Howitt como o Senhor Donskis, o trabalho que eles têm feito e o trabalho muito meritório de acompanhamento da situação anual. Gostaria só de acrescentar uma coisa como matéria de reflexão para nós: o ano passado não foi só um ano momentoso em termos de direitos humanos, foi um ano também muito importante para a União Europeia, foi o ano em que a União Europeia ficou mais fraca em termos de poder económico e político, foi o ano em que muitos dos nossos Estados-Membros receberam representantes da China ou de Angola ou de outros países que têm problemas de direitos humanos e lhes pediram dinheiro para pagar as suas dívidas.

É muito importante que, no aspeto estratégico da reflexão sobre qual será a nossa ação de direitos humanos, a União Europeia comece por pôr a sua casa em ordem e pense que é preciso não só imaginar um mundo melhor, mas também imaginar uma maneira mais ágil de agir em termos de ação política externa. Uma das coisas mais importantes, evidentemente, e aqui regresso ao início da minha intervenção, tem a ver com a cooperação entre as nossas instituições que deve ser feita de uma forma fidedigna, documentada e estruturada.

  Konrad Szymański, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Wysoka Przedstawiciel! Roczny raport Rady w sprawie praw człowieka na świecie można uznać za krok we właściwym kierunku tylko na tle poprzednich podobnych dokumentów. W końcu po wielu latach nacisków ze strony posłów tej Izby, a także wielu państw członkowskich udało się zwrócić uwagę Rady na palący problem naruszania wolności religijnej niemal w każdej części świata. Bardzo doceniam rolę wysokiej przedstawiciel w tej sprawie.

Wolność religijna jest dziś najczęściej i najpoważniej naruszanym prawem człowieka na świecie. 75% takich przypadków – od ograniczeń w dostępie do szkół aż po dramatyczne przypadki mordowania za wiarę – dotyczą chrześcijan. Mimo to raport Rady unika nazywania ofiar po imieniu, ulegając fałszywej poprawności politycznej. Odebranie imienia ofiarom jest w efekcie kolejnym ciosem, kolejną dyskryminacją tych ludzi, którzy i tak cierpią. Zamilczenie faktu, że to chrześcijanie są dziś najczęściej atakowaną grupą religijną osłabia naszą pozycję, jest kontynuacją dawnej doktryny przymykania oczu na podważanie wolności religijnej.

Raport przywołuje – słusznie – konkluzje Rady do spraw zagranicznych z lutego 2011 r. Dlaczego jednak czyni krok wstecz w sprawie chrześcijan? Czyży ktoś zapomniał, że już wtedy część państw członkowskich nie zgadzała się na tę haniebną praktykę zamazywania imienia ofiar? Przyjęty wtedy język, wskazujący na – tutaj cytat – „rosnącą liczbę aktów religijnej nietolerancji i dyskryminacji, których szczytem były niedawne akty terroru w różnych krajach przeciwko chrześcijanom i ich miejscom modlitwy, pielgrzymom muzułmańskim i innym wspólnotom religijnym” – ten język był dobrym kompromisem. Dlaczego dziś ten kompromis się porzuca? Konkluzje Rady były przyjęte bezpośrednio po ataku bombowym na koptyjski kościół w Aleksandrii, gdzie zginęły 23 osoby, a 97 zostało rannych. Czy nasza solidarność z prześladowanymi chrześcijanami trwa tylko kilka tygodni od dnia tragedii?

  Marie-Christine Vergiat, au nom du groupe GUE/NGL. – Madame la Présidente, d'abord un regret, Madame la Haute représentante. Je déplore l'absence d'une version linguistique autre qu'anglaise pour un document de plus de 300 pages envoyé à la dernière minute. Ce ne sont pas de bonnes conditions de travail.

Ce rapport reste encore un long catalogue, c'est sans doute un exercice imposé. Il y a des choses positives, un certain nombre d'améliorations mais encore beaucoup d'efforts à faire.

Quelques exemples: encore beaucoup de "deux poids, deux mesures" dans les exemples cités, des prismes un peu déformants.

Pourquoi ne pas parler des violations des droits de l'homme dans tous les pays d'Amérique du Sud?

Pourquoi ne pas dénoncer les assassinats de syndicalistes au Mexique et en Colombie et l'impunité dont jouissent leurs assassins?

Pourquoi ne pas dénoncer les discriminations à l'égard des Kurdes en Turquie? Leyla Zana, prix Sakharov, vient d'être rudement condamnée.

Pourquoi ne pas accorder autant d'attention à la liberté de ne pas croire qu'à celle de croire? Les non-croyants sont souvent les premières victimes des intégrismes religieux mais ils ne sont pas dans les statistiques.

Enfin, les printemps arabes et l'exemple de la Tunisie. Une aide supplémentaire de 150 millions, c'est dérisoire au regard des enjeux quand on sait que la Tunisie a une dette colossale de 17 milliards d'euros – dont une grande partie de dette odieuse – et qu'elle rembourse plus de 300 millions chaque année, dont une grande partie à l'Union européenne. Des millions d'avoirs "benalistes" sont toujours gelés parce qu'ils ont été prélevés sur des fonds publics.

Et deux petits millions sont destinés au développement local, alors que c'est le cœur du problème et là où les besoins tunisiens sont les plus colossaux et que c'est la cause principale de la révolution tunisienne. Les droits économiques et sociaux sont tout aussi importants que les droits civils et politiques.

  Philip Claeys (NI). - Voorzitter, er komt een speciale vertegenwoordiger van de EU voor mensenrechten, alweer een nieuwe functie met eigen personeel, een eigen budget, enzovoort. Alweer een nieuwe figuur die namens de Europese Unie spreekt in het buitenland. Wat de Europese Unie nodig heeft, is geloofwaardigheid, geloofwaardigheid die verkregen kan worden door consequent te zijn.

Want hoe is het bijvoorbeeld mogelijk te onderhandelen over de toetreding van een land als Turkije, dat op een grootschalige manier de mensenrechten schendt? Hoe komt het dat er een partnerschaps- en samenwerkingsovereenkomst wordt gesloten met een land als Vietnam, een communistisch land waar de situatie van de mensenrechten precair is en waar men niet op een serieuze manier spreekt over de mensenrechten. Idem dito wat onze verhoudingen met China betreft. En wat doet de Europese Unie voor de boeren in Zuid-Afrika? Ik heb de kwalijke indruk dat de Europese Unie aan één oog blind is.

  Catherine Ashton, Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. − Madam President, I will be brief, as I know we have many debates to complete this evening.

Can I first of all thank all honourable Members for their comments. All of them are important.

Secondly, can I say that I was clear, I thought, in my response that the European Union Special Representative (EU SR) will report to the institutions as defined in the Treaty. I made the point because – exactly as honourable Members are right to point out – it is important that we stick to the obligations that we have. In addition, I pointed out that the political accountability statements I have made also give the opportunity for Parliament to engage.

Far from running away from it, I was making the point that we need to stick to the obligations that have been made, and I know that any Special Representative on human rights will wish to ensure that they have a strong relationship with the European Parliament, as indeed they will wish to have with the Council and of course the Commission and across the services. But I do draw honourable Members’ attention to Article 33 of the Treaty.

Thirdly, on the specific point on what is happening in regard to the ICC (International Criminal Court), you will not be surprised to know, Mr Howitt, that we are in touch with them on the ground through our delegation and for the moment we are working with them closely.

In terms of the representations that honourable Members have made about the issues and countries of greatest concern; I have taken note of all of them.

It is important that we are consistent. It is important that we speak up seriously and properly on the issue of human rights. I have said many times that the only criteria for human rights to apply to any one of us is for us to be human and here. We have to make sure that that is the principle that we carry forward in all of the work that we do.

I thank honourable Members again. We will improve again on the work that we have done on this report. The translation will be ready within the next couple of weeks but I do apologise that it is not available as it should be.

  Πρόεδρος. - Η συζήτηση έληξε.

Γραπτές δηλώσεις (άρθρο 149)

  Joanna Senyszyn (S&D), na piśmie. – Doroczne sprawozdanie w sprawie praw człowieka jest imponujące. Unia Europejska/wysoka przedstawiciel podejmuje bardzo liczne inicjatywy w zakresie ochrony i promocji praw człowieka. Nie da się jednak ukryć, że przepaść między uznaniem praw człowieka, a ich skutecznym realizowaniem nadal istnieje. Prawa milionów osób są łamane w wyniku biedy, wojen, okupacji, rządów autokratycznych. Wielokrotnie apelowaliśmy o bardziej spójną, przejrzystą i efektywną politykę Unii w dziedzinie praw człowieka. Nowy impuls może w tym zakresie przynieść powołanie specjalnego przedstawiciela UE ds. praw człowieka. Efektywność jego działań będzie uzależniona m.in.: od mandatu, jaki dostanie, od jego doświadczenia, od chęci współpracy instytucji unijnych.

Aby Unia mówiła jednym głosem w kwestiach praw człowieka, potrzebujemy synergii pomiędzy instytucjami unijnymi w zakresie opracowywania wspólnych koncepcji i podejmowania określonych działań. Powinniśmy wspierać także instytucje i mechanizmy międzynarodowe, których przedmiotem działania są prawa człowieka na poziomie krajowym i regionalnym. Musimy budować światowe sojusze, aby skuteczniej przeciwdziałać łamaniu praw człowieka. Ważna jest weryfikacja naszych sprawozdań i wyciąganie z nich wniosków na kolejne lata. Pamiętajmy, że na całym świecie kobiety są w dalszym ciągu głównymi ofiarami dyskryminacji i braku równości oraz poniżania i przemocy. Dlatego ich prawa należy uznać za priorytetowe.