MEP calls for consistency on human rights

Date: 12/06/03

A LONG-TERM human rights programme is needed to avoid the "inconsistency" caused by the "diverging political agendas" of countries holding the EU presidency, according to a new European Parliament report.

Drawn up by Dutch Liberal MEP Bob van den Bos, the Parliament's annual report urges that human rights and democracy should be reserved as a permanent item on the agenda for meetings of EU foreign ministers. It also advocates that a 'human rights impact assessment' should be undertaken on all the Union's foreign aid schemes, similar to the 'sustainable development impact assessments' conducted on the Union's trade policies.

The report, discussed by the Parliament's foreign affairs committee this week (10-11 June), recommends that EU governments set long-term objectives for human rights.

Van den Bos claims the clause on respect for human rights which is included in the EU's 'cooperation and association' accords with outside countries since 1995 appears "more a 'dead letter' than an 'essential element' of the agreements".

The MEP contends the only "clear implementation mechanism" is provided for by the Cotonou Agreement, which underpins the EU's relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc.

Most of the countries against which the EU has imposed sanctions are in the ACP regions - these include Liberia, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Congo.

Meanwhile, van den Bos deplores how alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya were not key topics at EU-Russia summits last year or the EU-Russia Cooperation Council meeting in March 2003.

His report demands that an international inquiry commission on Chechnya should be established if Vladimir Putin's government fails to ensure that allegations of heinous crimes are investigated.

MEP Bob van den Bos has called on the EU to develop a long term programme on human rights to prevent the inconsistency caused by the different political agendas of the rotating Presidency system.