| Series Title | European Voice |
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| Series Details | Vol.10, No.4, 5.2.04 |
| Publication Date | 05/02/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 05/02/04 WITH Colombia accounting for the highest reported abuses of human rights in the Western hemisphere, President Alvaro Uribe faces tough questions when he visits Brussels and Strasbourg next week (9-10 February). His trip comes amid renewed concerns that the country's genuine problems with terrorism are being used as a pretext for a clampdown on civil liberties. In December, for example, Colombia's congress passed legislation that will allow the military to arrest suspects, carry out searches and tap telephones without a warrant or judicial order. Nor have Uribe's colleagues gone on a charm offensive with Europe: Vice-President Francisco Santos accused critics of the regime of being too soft on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, after referring to it and other guerrilla groups as "armed opposition groups". This "undermines the struggle of those who have decided to side with democracy," Santos told a Madrid conference on terrorism. Chris Patten, the external relations commissioner, nevertheless praised Uribe for his willingness to listen to the Union's concerns about the estimated 30,000 annual deaths due to political violence, after meeting the president in Bogotá last month. Yet Patten also made clear last week that repressive laws are not the way forward - a lesson the commissioner said he had learned from his own experiences of handling the politics of Northern Ireland, where "internment without trial backfired badly". Uribe should have a reasonably genteel discussion with Patten, European Commission President Romano Prodi and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana in Brussels. Yet it is likely that the mood of some MEPs could be rather different when he addresses the Parliament in Strasbourg the following day, with left-leaning deputies split over whether Uribe should even be given a platform. The Colombian President will face tough questions over human rights in his country when he visits Brussels on 9-10 February 2004. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Values and Beliefs |
| Countries / Regions | South America |
