Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in view of recent events, I should like first of all to express my joy that Amina Lawal, who had been condemned to be stoned to death in Nigeria for adultery, has won her appeal and is no longer facing this threat. I believe that the European Union also had a hand in this success, because it campaigned vigorously to ensure that this horrifying act did not happen. This gives me grounds for optimism about the willingness to debate and discuss this issue within the ACP partnership, because as you know it is one that we unfortunately have to deal with in these countries. It has, of course, been pointed out that there is no doubt that in Africa too torture is practised and that we need to address it. What has happened in Nigeria can be seen as a kind of victory for humanity, and our cooperation with the ACP countries, which is, of course, very important to us in this House, contributed to it, as did the European Parliament's resolve. This shows then that our policies can achieve real results. But to comment on the issue in general: the European Union's commitment to speak up for the respect of human rights and to guarantee the inviolability of human dignity is recognised the world over. We also spend considerable sums of money on this, but unfortunately it is never enough, given the misery prevailing in the world. That is why, on behalf of my group, I should like to speak in favour of ensuring in particular that reliable provision is made for both prevention and rehabilitation in the future. The world really is waiting for the European Union to continue to stand by what it has practised and to stick to its commitment, which cannot be expected from anywhere else. It is precisely the rehabilitation centres that have been mentioned here, both within the European Union, but also outside, that must be able to have confidence that their future is secure. They must not be allowed to get into a situation where they have as it were to live from hand to mouth and worry every year whether their work, which is tremendously important for the victims, will be able to be continued. I should like to stress here that it is not only about offering victims somewhere to stay, a shelter, but also quite specifically about giving them access to legal assistance and psychological treatment. This is particularly important for women, who are, as we know, subjected to particularly perfidious methods of torture. In Bosnia, but also in other countries, we really exposed to public attention how women are victims of rape, where rape is used as a political weapon, not only as an individual shameful act, but also as a political weapon. These women are completely broken both physically and emotionally and they need reliable support. We are called on here to offer these people real security and therefore not only to continue the European Union's policy, which must undoubtedly be welcomed, but also to develop it further. I will say it explicitly: this applies to both areas, to prevention and to rehabilitation. Some aspects clearly overlap. It is certainly right to check how cooperation is assured on an individual basis, but there should be no doubt about the European Union's commitment to providing victims of torture with a refuge here. (Applause)

Political group: PSE