Proposition 53K1887

Proposition de résolution relative à la protection des défenseurs des droits humains.

General information ¶

Authors

CD&V Roel Deseyn, Stefaan Vercamer
Ecolo Juliette Boulet, Zoé Genot
Groen Eva Brems, Wouter De Vriendt
MR François-Xavier de Donnea
PS | SP Patrick Moriau
Vooruit Bruno Tuybens, Dirk Van der Maelen

Submission date

Nov. 18, 2011

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

European Union foreign policy resolution of parliament human rights

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR VB

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

Feb. 16, 2012 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr Waterschoot, the rapporteur, is not present. He therefore refers to his written report.

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, our group fully supports this resolution. It is also inspired by a similar proposal adopted in the Council of Europe. It also adheres to the recent statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which wants to put an end to the defense of human rights.

Nevertheless, we would like to highlight three highlights from the proposal.

First, the Government is called upon to continue to prioritise the protection of human rights defenders in its foreign relations and human rights policies, including by increasing its support through systematic meetings with those human rights defenders during official visits.

The former Foreign Minister paid great attention to formal and informal meetings with human rights defenders during official visits. We hope that trend will continue. After all, the moral weight that such encounters can have cannot be underestimated.

Secondly, not only the minister but also the diplomatic missions maintain best contact with the human rights defenders in the various countries. They must also be prepared to catch these persons if they are in danger.

Third, the role conferred on the European Union in this resolution is to ensure that human rights clauses are included in those agreements when negotiating and signing trade and association agreements or cooperation agreements and to demand a minimum threshold for the protection of human rights. We believe that this is an important lever for progress in human rights in certain countries.

I would also like to point out that the text specifically refers to Colombia, which remains an extremely dangerous country for human rights defenders and trade union representatives. We write it literally so in the text.

It is important that we realize that the struggle for better wages, better working conditions and better social services is a struggle that many people still cost with their lives.

In this context, we support that a country such as Colombia is clearly mentioned in the resolution. In this regard, we share the concerns of the co-authors of the resolution.

Until then, some elements I would like to emphasize in the context of this resolution. However, we will fully support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, human rights defenders need our support around the world. These people are courageous and very often put themselves in danger to defend the rights of others. They deserve our full attention.

Support for human rights defenders, ⁇ NGOs, has long been an integral part of our human rights policy as well as that of the European Union. It is based on the 1999 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Nevertheless, as we have been able to say in the committee, it seems to me important to emphasize the need to find a good balance between the generous demands present in the resolution and the production of human rights defenders who demand a minimum of discretion.

I am convinced that our Minister of Foreign Affairs will find the right balance between dialogue and respect for their security.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to highlight two elements.

First, after reading this resolution, we are left behind with a double feeling. On the one hand, of course, we welcome the important signal that can be given here from Parliament on human rights. On the other hand, it is, of course, regrettable that in recent decades, however, ⁇ many persons have been endangered because of their nonviolent commitment to humanity and society. The importance of human rights defenders in it is crucial. I will give two examples.

There is the story of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights activist, who was in prison at the time he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was arrested and more than a year later sentenced to eleven years in prison for his involvement in drafting Charter 08, a manifesto for democratization in China.

The second example is David Cato, who was still in Parliament in 2010. He is an activist for holebi rights in his native country Uganda. He also had to pay his activism with his life.

Unfortunately, these are regrettable examples of human rights defenders that we should actually bear in our hands.

What I find important in the resolution we will vote on later is that much attention is effectively paid to the visits that our Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as our diplomatic representatives in various countries, could make to human rights defenders. This is not only about the defenders of political and civil rights, but also about defenders of socio-economic and cultural rights. This includes, for example, trade union leaders who fight nonviolently for the right to work and the right to good working conditions in various countries. It has also been mentioned that these people need to be given great attention and strong protection.

The second element that I find important in this resolution is that our country is called upon to ensure respect for human rights in all relations with third countries, such as in trade negotiations, and that this will have priority over all other topics. I have recently discussed this with people from the Open Vld group. We prioritize human rights over all other topics. It is therefore important that we further call on the European Union to implement human rights clauses, such as the right to freedom of trade unions, when speaking with third-world countries on cooperation, trade and association agreements.

This resolution, therefore, is ⁇ and ⁇ a very good step and I am very pleased with it. I hope that the Government will really take the text of the resolution to heart and will implement this resolution on the ground.

Mr. Speaker, I will begin by thanking all colleagues for supporting this resolution, as well as the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which made some amendments but did not question the substance of the resolution. You have received, like me, the vivid thanks from people who work daily for the protection of human rights defenders. This highlights the fact that this resolution responds well to expectations and is above all a tool that human rights defenders will use on the ground to defend themselves, to remind the order of governments or individuals who do not respect international law and human rights.

This resolution is also the assertion, by our Parliament, of an unwavering support for values that are dear to us, which we defend for the majority of us because they are obvious. We also know that in some parts of the world, they are constantly defiled. We must therefore remain vigilant.

This resolution reaffirms our unwavering support for all those workers for whom human rights are much less comfortable to defend than when we do this here in the homepage of this parliament. Every day, in the world, women and men are arrested, tortured, put to death, beaten, threatened, prevented from gathering, repressed when they peacefully denounce human rights violations in their country. Every day, despite the repression that falls upon them and their families, these women and men continue to gather together to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, driven by an unwavering force of conviction and admirable courage.

But who are those defenders? Amnesty International gives several examples. I quote them: journalists who denounce human rights violations, associative activists who dedicate themselves to human rights education, trade unionists who defend the rights of workers, women who work for the promotion of reproductive rights, environmentalists who denounce the consequences of this or that large project on the land rights of indigenous peoples.

These people work in the name of the law, in the name of the rights and duties that are now immersed in international treaties, because the law alone does not protect from crimes. Observers are needed for the proper observance of international law and, if necessary, to denounce the violations and abuses that occur.

On March 8, 1999, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which requires governments to protect the rights of fundamental importance for the work of human rights defenders which are: the right to freedom of expression, the right to freely and peacefully assemble, to undertake collective actions and to demand changes in a non-violent manner, as well as the right to receive and disseminate information, and to communicate with national and international organizations.

Human rights defenders often put themselves in danger when they criticize the state or other actors in power. Governments are therefore obliged to ensure that they can carry out their actions freely, without the risk of interference, discrimination, threat or retaliation.

The resolution to be reviewed today reaffirms these principles and the need to constantly put the haro on these shadow workers because they are often put in danger, so their daily work reveals practices that would like to remain hidden.

It is by non-violent means that human rights defenders act by collecting information on human rights violations, denouncing them, making every effort to ensure that these abuses do not remain unpunished, but also, in the longer term, by giving citizens the means to assert their fundamental rights.

I would like to speak directly to the Minister, but he is absent. I would, however, like to tell him that he is equipped with a roadmap that he will have to take with him to the capitals where he is called to surrender and on the basis of which he will be able to meet the defenders, during his official visits. It will have to ensure that diplomatic missions maintain regular contact with human rights defenders and that they will welcome them when they are in great danger. It will also require third countries, in the event of violations of human rights defenders, to comply with their international obligations in this regard. On the basis of this resolution, the Minister will further ask the European Union to implement the clauses on human rights contained in the cooperation, trade and association agreements signed with third countries. It will encourage the requirement of a minimum threshold of respect for human rights, before initiating or continuing trade negotiations.

In conclusion, the Parliament relies on the Minister so that this resolution is not made of empty words. Human rights defenders must be able to trust our commitment and rely on our support and determination.

Mr. Speaker, I will speak briefly in association with the colleagues who spoke and, in particular, with the last speaker, Mrs. Boulet. I congratulate them for taking this initiative. In fact, the protection of human rights defenders is a priority from a diplomatic standpoint. I would also like to encourage NGOs that act in this direction: International Protection – whose delegates have come to the Senate – or Amnesty International.

I must recall the situation of a few human rights defenders. by Mr. Thubbens cited some of them. I would like to mention others, so that we can remember them and help them when we maintain contacts with other governments. I think of Faustin Ndikumana, who has been imprisoned for a few days in Burundi for protesting against corruption in his country. I think of course of Floribert Chebeya, who paid his life for the defense of human rights in the Congo and whose authors were translated before a military court, but whose sponsors of the murder have not yet been tried. I also think of Filip Kostenko, a member of the NGO Mémorial, who was turned to tobacco in St. Petersburg a few days ago; he fights racism and discrimination against Roma. And I would like to finally quote Abdullah Al Khalil, who is detained in Damascus for founding an NGO defending the people who are now imprisoned by the regime in place.

This resolution comes well to remind that these individuals are somewhat the Jean Moulin of today. They defend our values, democracy and freedoms. They deserve all our support and all the protection we can give them.