Activities of Laima Liucija ANDRIKIENĖ related to 2008/2336(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Human rights in the world 2008 and the EU's policy on the matter (debate)
Amendments (19)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Reiterates its request to the Commission to encourage European Union Member States, and third countries with which there are ongoing negotiations for future accession, to sign up to, and ratify, all core United Nations and Council of Europe human rights conventions and the optional protocols thereto; draws the attention of European Union Member States to, in particular, the need to ratify the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which none of the Member States has ratified to date1;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Notes once again with satisfaction the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which creates a framework in which States can protect and promote the rights of indigenous people without exclusion or discrimination; urges the Commission, therefore, to follow up on the implementation of the declaration, in particular through the EIDHR, while in particular enjoining all the Member States to ratify as a matter of urgency International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which backs up the principles set out in the declaration in question with a legally binding instrument; however, welcomes the Commission's activities targeting indigenous peoples and welcomes the project entitled "Promotion of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples' Rights through Legal Advice, Capacity-Building and Dialogue", initiated as a joint management project between the European Commission and the ILO; notes that, almost twenty years after its entry into force, only three Member States have ratified the ILO Convention; consequently, encourages initiatives to increase awareness of this important legislative instrument and to enhance its effectiveness worldwide by ensuring that it is ratified by all the Member States;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Is concerned that, according to the statements of UNHRC insiders (as confirmed in the Annual Report itself), the EU is in a minority in the UNHRC; calls on the Union institutions and the Member States to take concerted action to remedy this, developing appropriate alliances with those countries and non-state actors that are continuing defend the universal and indivisible nature of human rights;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls for enhanced cooperacoordinated action between the Council of Europe and the European Union in the field of promoting minority rights and protecting regional and minority languages, using the legal tools of non- discrimination to advocate diversity and tolerance;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Calls on the Presidency to encourage Italy, Latvia, Poland and Spain,countries which have signed but not yet ratified Protocol No 13 to the ECHR concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, to do so; recognises in that regard that the Guidelines on the Death Penalty could be implemented more coherently if Member States were to sign up to and ratify such protocols and conventions;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Welcomes the fact that death penalty is in retreat, having been abolished for all crimes in 2008 by Rwanda and Uzbekistan; welcomes the draft penal code in Iran, which prohibits stoning sentences, and urges the Iranian parliament to conclude the penal code so as to provide for the absolute prohibition of stoning; condemns the fact that the Iranian regime still sentences to death, and executes, defendants under the age of 18; stresses that Iran is the only country to have executed juvenile offenders in 2008; is deeply concerned that at least 130 other juvenile offenders are on death row in Iran; once again condemns the Iranian regime's increasing use of death penalty, which places Iran in second position, just after China, in the league table of countries having highest number of executions; notes that there has not been any death sentence passed in Guatemala; however, expresses its disquiet at the possibility that the death penalty might once again start to be enforced; urges the Guatemalan Government, on the contrary, to genuinely commit itself to the universal moratorium on the death penalty; however, welcomes the decisions taken by President Colom in March 2008 which may lead to the abolition of the death penalty in Guatemala; expresses its concern at the retention of the death penalty in domestic legislation in Peru; notes that since 2007 all death penalty cases in China have been reviewed by the Supreme Court; however, remains concerned that China still carries out the greatest number of executions worldwide; condemns the practice of the death penalty in Belarus, which is the only country in Europe that continues to use the death penalty and therefore runs counter to European values;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Notes with concern that Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have so far neUrges all European Union Member States which have not hitherto signed nand/or ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT); notes that Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania have so far signed but not ratified it; urges all European Union Member States which have not hitherto signed and/or ratified OPCAT to do so without delay;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Refers to the Council Conclusions on Belarus of 13 October 2008 and the statement issued by the Presidency on 30 September 2008 concerning the parliamentary elections held that month in Belarus; regrets that the elections fell short of the international standards and failed to meet the democratic criteria of the OSCE; welcomes the release of the last internationally recognised political prisoner, Alyaksandr Kazulin, before the elections;, however, remains concerned that at least 10 activists continue to serve "restricted freedom" sentences that permit them only to be at home or at work; remains greatly concerned about the human rights situation in Belarus;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71 a (new)
Paragraph 71 a (new)
71a. Condemns the strengthening of restrictions imposed by the Chinese government on human rights defenders before the Olympic Games which prohibited them from engaging in telephone and internet communications, tracked their movements and subjected them to varying degrees of house arrest and unprecedented surveillance and monitoring, as a result of which many activists chose to postpone or suspend their work until the Games were over;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
73. Expresses its concern at the human rights situation in Nicaragua and Venezuela and at the attacks against and harassment of a number of human rights organisations in thatose countryies; calls on the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan governments and authorities to act to protect democratic freedomsrights and freedoms and the rule of law;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73 a (new)
Paragraph 73 a (new)
73a. Reiterates its position with regard to the Cuban Sakharov Prize winners Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and the group known as "Damas de Blanco" ("Ladies in White"); strongly rejects the systematic violence and the recurrent acts of harassment suffered by the Sakharov Prize laureates;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76
Paragraph 76
76. Regrets China's postponement of the nieleventh China-EU summit on the grounds of the Dalai Lama's visit to Europe; emphasises the need for a radical intensification and re-thinking of the European Union- China human rights dialogue; expresses its disquiet at the serious human rights violations in China and stresses that, despite promises made by the regime before the Olympic Games in August 2008, the situation on the ground regarding human rights has not improved; points out, moreover, that restrictions on freedom of association, expression and religion have been further tightened; strongly condemns the crackdown against Tibetans following the wave of protests that swept across Tibet beginning on 10 March 2008 and the repression by the Chinese government that has increased in Tibet since then, and calls for the restart of a sincere and results-oriented dialogue between both parties based on the "Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People"; notes that, despite repeated assurances by the Chinese government of its intention to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratification is still pending; refers to its resolution of 17 January 2008 on the arrest of the Chinese dissident Hu Jia1, who has been awarded 1 Texts adopted, P6_TA(2008)0021. the 2008 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought; calls on the Chinese government to release Hu Jia immediately; remainexpresses concerned about many aspects of Chinese legislation that the legal system remains vulnerable to arbitrary and often politically-motivated interference, including the State Secrets system, preventing the transparency necessary for the development of good governance and a system in which the rule of law prevails; in this context, deplores the systematic punishment of lawyers who try to make the Chinese legal system function in accordance with China's own laws and the rights of its citizens;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78
Paragraph 78
78. Regrets the lack of results from the European Union-Russia consultations on human rights; regrets that the Russian authorities declined to participate in any of the round-table meetings held to prepare for the consultations which involved domestic and international NGOs; notes that during the consultations the European Union raised human rights concerns with a particular focus on freedom of expression and assembly, the functioning of civil society, minority rights, combating racism and xenophobia and the rights of children and women, as well as the international human rights obligations of both the EU and Russia; however, regrets that the European Union has not succeeded in bringing about any change of policy in Russia, particularly with regard to impunity and the independence of the judiciary, the treatment of human rights defenders and political prisoners including Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the independence of the media and freedom of expression, the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, respect for the rule of law and human rights protection in the armed forces, discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as other issues; refers to its resolution of 19 June 2008 on the EU- Russia Summit of 26-27 June 2008 in Khanty-Mansiysk 1; expresses once again its concerns at the deteriorating situation of human rights defenders and the difficulties faced by NGOs with regard to their registration and in carrying out their activities; reiterates its concerns about the Anti-Extremism Law, which could affect the free flow of information and could lead the Russian authorities to further restrict the right to free expression of independent journalists and political opponents; expresses further concern, in line with the Amnesty International Report of 2008, as to the ongoing failure of the Office of the Prosecutor to respect the right of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his associate Platon Lebedev to a fair trial in accordance with international standards and deeply regrets the treatment of former Yukos vice- president Vasily Aleksanian, whose refusal to provide false testimony against Mikhail Khodorkovsky led the Russian authorities to allow his medical condition to deteriorate to a terminal state, and joins the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in calling on the Russian authorities to "use all available legal means" to secure the release of Igor Sutiagin and Valentin Danilov; welcomes the release of Mikhail Trepashkin; deeply regrets that the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election monitoring mission covering the Russian presidential election of March 2008 had to be cancelled due to the restrictions and limitations imposed by the Russian authorities on the election monitoring mission;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 80
Paragraph 80
80. Recognises the second round of the EU-Uzbekistan human rights dialogue, which took place on 5 June 2008; notes the seminar on media freedom, held in Tashkent on 2 and 3 October 2008; however, considers that the seminar failed to achieve its aim of providing an open discussion on the human rights violations and freedom of the media in Uzbekistan, as was originally intended; notes the continuing absence of an independent international inquiry into the Andijan massacre and the lack of any improvement in the human rights situation in Uzbekistan; welcomes the release of two human rights defenders, Dilmurod Mukhiddinov and Mamarajab Nazarov; condemns the holding of at least 11 human rights defenders and independent journalists in prison on politically motivated charges and urges the Uzbek authorities to release all human rights defenders and other political prisoners; reiterates its deep concern at the imprisonment of Salijon Abdurakhmanov, an independent journalist, and Agzam Turgunov, a human rights activist; welcomes the Council's Conclusions of 13 October 2008 on Uzbekistan; urges the Uzbek authorities to accept the accreditation of the new Country Director of Human Rights Watch and to allow that organisation and other international organisations and NGOs to operate without hindrance; asks Uzbekistan to cooperate fully and effectively with the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on freedom of expression and to revoke restrictions on the registration and operation of NGOs in Uzbekistan; notes that the Council has decided not to renew the travel restrictions applying to certain individuals referred to in Common Position 2007/734/CFSP 1, which had been suspended in accordance with the Council's conclusions of 15-16 October 2007 and 29 April 2008; welcomes the fact that the Council has however decided to renew, for a period of 12 months, the arms embargo imposed in Common Position 2007/734/CFSP; invites the Council and the Commission to review the overall human rights situation in Uzbekistan; reiterates its call for the immediate release of political prisoners ;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85
Paragraph 85
85. Welcomes the Council's proposals for launching human rights dialogues with a number of Latin American countries; stresses the desirability of including the countries of Central America; notes the signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) by the Cuban government in February 2008; calls for those Covenants to be ratified without any reservations; asks the Cuban government to release all political prisoners and to honour the rights protected in the signed treaties; notes the Council's decision of 20 June 2008 to lift the informal sanctions with regard to Cuba; notes that the Council will decide in 2009 whether to pursue the political dialogue with Cuba depending on whether or not there have been significant improvements as regards human rights;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 31 a (new)
Citation 31 a (new)