Human Rights in the World in 2005 and EU policy

Speech by Liz Lynne on Wed 17th May 2006

Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for all his hard work on this report. I am pleased that we have moved away from just a list of countries where human rights abuses are a problem and I welcome the new measures we are taking in this report. I hope we continue in this way.

Having said that, I am pleased that the situation in Kashmir has been included. I hope we will eventually find a just solution involving the Kashmiri people that will end human rights abuses from all sides. I am also glad that we call in this report for the Americans to close down Guantanamo Bay. I think it is very important that we do this and that detainees have a fair trial. Again, that is included in this report. I am sorry, however, that my amendment on CIA flights was not accepted by the committee, but I note Amendment 5, which seeks to rectify this situation. It is very important that we include CIA flights in this report.

I would have liked a stronger statement on people with mental health problems, as the rapporteur knows, but I am pleased that they have been included. I am equally pleased that disabled people have been included generally, with a particular emphasis on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. As many of you know, I was Parliament's rapporteur on that issue.

I am glad that there is a strong mention of trafficking in human beings. I, along with Mr Coveney and various other Members, have been campaigning on this subject for quite some time.

I am sorry, however, that we are told repeatedly in our committee that we cannot mention human rights abuses within the European Union. That, I believe, takes away from the strength of our argument when we are talking about human rights abuses in other parts of the world.