kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
media freedoms are an essential part of any open democratic society. as a union that rests on the principles of democracy and freedom the eu must take a leading role in defending the independence and integrity of both traditional and online media.
this is unbelievable!
this is not the case today.
my question is to what extent have you been able to take action on this external and internal coherence?
our human rights policy will also gain from greater coherence between our external policies notably with regard to trade.
myanmar burma is a prime example of inconsistency between our trade and human rights policies.
could you please tell us what safeguards are taken to ensure that trade and investment agreements do not undermine our human rights objectives and values?
the lack of transparency and accountability of current policies has the potential to polarise the international community and to undermine the rule of law.
this would mean for example raising the case of liu xiaobo in your discussions with chinese officials supporting the adoption of an eu magnitsky list in relation to russia or speaking up against caste discrimination in new delhi.
could you please reassure us that human rights are indeed high on your agenda in your discussions with strategic partners?
mr president commissioner i am quite certain that everyone in this house fully supports media freedom as an essential condition of a properly functioning democracy.
what the report does not touch on though is what happens when the media do not use their power with full attention to the responsibility that goes with power;
the power to move public opinion for example and the power to act in a quasi judicial capacity.
there what the media do is vital in sustaining civil society and making public information that the rulers prefer to keep secret.
but the situation is much less straightforward in societies with a strong democratic infrastructure.
there the media must act with a markedly higher standard of responsibility precisely because they operate in a democratic environment.
yet journalism in democratic society has changed.
the media are less discerning less committed to original investigative journalism and are much less motivated to keep clear blue water between reporting and passing judgment. all in all there is every reason for the media to be subject to the same rules of democracy that all other political actors must observe.
i just wanted to put another point of view on the record because this house is supposed to be about debate it is supposed to be about difference.
the whole european project is supposed to be about unity in diversity but religion and people who have a view on life when it commences is also part of the diversity.
so please let us have a little bit of mutual respect in the house take off the blinkers and try to pursue truth on all parts.
it is therefore with growing concern that we witness increasing threats of a different nature against press freedom across the world. nothing not even the fight against terrorism can be used as a pretext for hampering press freedom and media pluralism. such measures will not achieve their objective in any case but they will definitely undermine democratic structures. we have seen the key role of the media in the democratic transition of the arab world.
but everybody must put their own house in order.
madam president press freedom is one of the most crucial elements of a free and democratic society. unfortunately we can still find countries all over the world where the level of press freedom is very low for example syria cuba russia and china.
although the states within the eu rank quite high in the statistics we must not get too comfortable and lose the necessary freedom and pluralism that have been established.
economic and political distress could lead to governments trying to portray things in a different more suitable way.
that was the case for example in turkey last week and now when during the riots the turkish state media were covering stories about history and nature rather than showing what was going on.
governments must not fear free media but rather support them and create equal and fair conditions for all.
i listened to you colleague and i have just one question would you think these are appropriate methods to put people out from one day to the next and to close down television stations just like that as if we were speaking about a coup d'tat?
i would say these are methods that are neither accepted by the social charter of the european union nor by a score of ilo conventions and i am amazed that you would just accept them like that.
i just want to pick up on three or four of the threads.
firstly it is very interesting how many members of this house have chosen to use this opportunity to talk about internal issues.
as we say in the report we understand the connection very well.
this is a fantastic institution where freedom to say what you believe and what you think is valued extremely highly.
i pay tribute to members who have been assiduous in wanting to ensure that human rights are a huge part of our work internally and externally. i want to make a couple of comments about specific things that have been raised.
i think we have already had an important discussion when we were talking about turkey about the role of journalists and bloggers and the importance of freedom of expression and media.
those who participated will know that it was an extremely valuable and important debate spanning the spectrum of opinion in this house.
human rights should not be put in the corner as the issue that you add at the end of the discussion when you have got to raise something difficult.
it should be part of all the discussions.
he spends time with our strategic partners.
this is something we need to build on and develop.
some of you focused in your debate on christians.
there are real challenges for some christian groups in parts of the world right now.
there are also challenges for groups from other faiths and religions in other parts of the world right now.
we have to stand up for the right to believe the right to express beliefs and the right to be able to see them as part of who you are. to go back to the point i made at the end of my first speech the only thing you need to have for human rights to apply to you is to be human.
nothing else not what colour you are what gender you are whether you are lesbian gay transsexual or bisexual whatever you are you just have to be human.
as long as we remember that and capture that in everything we do in our relations across the world i believe we will serve our public well.
i welcome too the work of special representative lambrinidis and repeat in this chamber what i said to him privately that his significant work in promoting the participation of civil society groups in russia's human rights dialogue and championing human rights in the transition in egypt are excellent examples that his role can make a difference.
i welcome the human rights contact group the eeas has established with this parliament the in camera debriefings to meps following human rights dialogues and the promise made to improve the follow up to our urgency resolutions all of which enable the european parliament to bring democratic support to europe's human rights efforts in the world.
it is not a criticism of the eeas or indeed the united nations to say that we must question the assumption that as the world develops so will respect for human rights.
i agree with the conclusion in the annual report that repression against independent civil society organisations and against free journalism and social media have got considerably worse not better in the last year.
i ask the high representative to pay particular attention to human rights impact assessments in relation to trade agreements and investment treaties where perhaps we have most to do but also most to gain.
finally in relation to the guidelines on freedom of religion and belief my group believes freedom of religion is a fundamental right and gives our fundamental support to the guidelines.
this parliament gives unhesitating support to the guidelines on religion and belief but you must give equal support to the guidelines due to be agreed on the human rights of lgbt people.
these guidelines are on religion and belief.
do not put rights to religion or indeed to some religions above other beliefs.
as sigmund freud wrote just as no one can be forced into belief so no one can be forced into unbelief'.
furthermore as protests go on four tv channels were fined today for promoting violence in gezi park solely by covering the events. in several european countries we have seen the adoption or attempted adoption of laws that limit freedom of expression including in the press on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
fines and imprisonment are provided for against individuals or organisations that support the fundamental rights of lgbt people.
yesterday in russia the duma adopted a homophobic federal law banning the so called propaganda of non traditional sexual relations.
this is part of a wider systematic crackdown on russian lgbt people and civil society movements in general and hate speech from putin and others has resulted in the barbaric killing of gay men.
shame on you putin!
shame on you!
this is unacceptable and uncivilised. so i ask the commission member states and the external action service to systematically express the eu's strongest opposition to laws that restrict freedom of expression which for instance target sexual orientation and gender identity.
a word on religion and belief religion and belief are intensely personal and private.
they should never be imposed upon others especially where such imposition diminishes the human rights and civil liberties of others.
the important thing is that we have two very good candidates as i said from sweden and from ireland but in particular i would like to draw your attention to the irish method which was an open public competition for the nomination.
i would like to make an oral amendment to this report. i shall read it calls on member states to pay attention to and if possible take inspiration from the open competition model used by ireland when selecting their nominees; '.
therefore my group and others insist that in all of our external association agreements and trade agreements there should be a non negotiable human rights clause and where appropriate a non discrimination based on caste clause.
dear commissioner i know you are committed i have listen to what you have said but i have to come to the conclusion that we are failing.
and when we trade on the backs of those who are being discriminated against we too discriminate against them and weaken them and we weaken every single international treaty we sign up to and undertake.
towards the end of our mandate i am proud that all of the groups have come together to say no this will not continue but can i say to the public can i say to our eu citizens this means looking at where we buy our goods where we buy our shirts our socks our ties and our suits.
girls women are subjected to slavery and abuse purely because someone says they are untouchable and they belong to a different caste.
because quite frankly when we buy those shirts from bangladesh when we buy from pakistan and india when we trade on the backs of the poorest we impoverish them.
mr president it is always good to see you in the chair when we are discussing fundamental values.
if we have undertaken all of this work if we have all of these instruments and two hundred and twenty million people are still discriminated against solely on the basis of their caste we are failing.
his name is robin he is an asian and he appealed to me to raise this issue because in parts of europe the trend continues. so i am really delighted that our committee chair has taken the initiative on this that she has put this issue firmly on the agenda and that there is strong cross party support for it.
i commend the messages in the report in particular the need for the eu to recognise caste based discrimination as a distinct form of discrimination which must be tackled with other forms of discrimination such as discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity disability race religion gender and sexuality.
we really do have to be much more proactive in ensuring that we take boycott action against those countries that continue to treat people in this way.
it is an extraordinary thing.
mr president i am pleased to see this issue being addressed and i condemn the human rights violations committed against the estimated two hundred and sixty million people worldwide suffering from caste based discrimination.
while it is illegal in most countries it does not stop human rights violations exclusion torture rape slavery and murder being a daily reality for many. but the growing number of brave oppressed caste activists raising their voices shows a way forward.
or the heart breaking stories of young children who cannot understand why other children refuse to play with them.
the stories that you hear are horrific the countless rapes of young women to which police turn a blind eye;
i think they sum up the problem facing two hundred and sixty million people affected by caste based discrimination.
linked with the struggles of other workers and the poor an alternative society based on equality and solidarity can be built and this barbaric feudal remnant can be consigned to the dustbin of history.
but of course caste discrimination as has been mentioned is not confined to asia. in britain the disgraceful attempts of the government to block or delay the extension of equality legislation to include caste based discrimination should be condemned.
among these victims of social exclusion women and girls are particularly vulnerable and face multiple forms of discrimination and violence including sexual abuse.
specific guidelines have been published by the un on the effective elimination of discrimination related to work and descent. i would like to hear from the eeas how the eu can effectively push for that implementation. i would also like to underline that this is not only a matter for south asian countries.
it is one of the most widespread violations of fundamental human rights.
caste based discrimination is systematically included in our regular human rights dialogue and in our regular contacts with human rights defenders.
consequently humanitarian work funded by the european commission in south asia explicitly addresses caste based discrimination and refers to the lowest castes as among the most vulnerable when taking funding decisions.
in this regard the commission is devoting eur thirty million to projects in bangladesh and pakistan that aim to improve access to and the functioning of local justice and police systems.
it enables me on behalf of the high commissioner to discuss the very important matter of caste based discrimination in several world societies. we are strongly committed to fighting all forms of discrimination.
eidhr strategy documents for two thousand and eleven to two thousand and thirteen contain an explicit reference to caste based discrimination.
we are also funding projects that aim to improve access to justice for victims of caste based discrimination.
at the multilateral level we have been very active in the un context and have contributed to the work of the former un sub commission for promotion and protection of human rights.
caste based discrimination is an essential part of it. the eeas the commission and member states make use of a number of tools and instruments such as bilateral dialogue and eu financial support to civil society organisations.
we want to combat it and we do so in the most comprehensive and effective way as part of our overall strategy to wipe out all kinds of discrimination.
this concerns our partner countries in which this human rights issue is particularly relevant such as india nepal bangladesh and pakistan but also mauritania.
for example in india the government has established a regime providing for affirmative action quotas for these castes to ensure their political representation as well as quotas for access to higher education and employment in public service.
we must do everything we can not only to raise awareness but to fight against this.
it takes time and that is why it is so important to raise awareness not only in those countries of course but also here in europe.
let me say that deep rooted discrimination and attitudes of course do not change in a couple of weeks.
we are also publishing as you know an annual report on the implementation of the eu strategic framework and action plan on human rights and democracy and caste based discrimination is fully part of it.
we will keep on pushing for change with the different instruments that we have.
i fully agree with you that in two thousand and thirteen to have millions of people considered as untouchable and discriminated in the horrendous ways that you have borne witness to and that we all know is of course not acceptable.
over many years.
although i understand that we will not be able to change the situation overnight i think we have to admit that the level of progress is really insufficient.
we owe it to all these overlooked people hundreds of millions of people who suffer from discrimination every day.
in pakistan dalits have limited access to equal and meaningful political participation.
i think that is absolutely unacceptable and many of these people of course are also religious minorities at the same time so they are doubly discriminated against.
mr president i am speaking also as a trustee of solidarity network in the uk and chair of the delegation for south asia which covers a number of the countries concerned. i obviously want to support what my colleagues have said about the need to oppose
caste based descent based discrimination and that no one should have to change their faith to be accepted in society no one should be refused water in a disaster because of their caste and everyone should be able to benefit from education and use their talents.
we have seen recent legislation in nepal which has challenged discrimination.
we have seen eu projects there which have made an enormous difference but as people have said unless this is taken up and becomes part of a real cultural shift all we are doing is supporting some people.
this is extremely valuable and shows what it is we are trying to do but we need to have these rights entrenched not just in the constitution but in implementation in the law.
we also need to look at our own member states.
the uk has recently brought caste discrimination into its anti discrimination legislation but we are seeing deliberate moves by a particular home office minister to prevent the implementation of that change.
so this is something we need to be aware of in our own countries as well as in the values that we promote internationally.
it also shows that the commission should also be given more resources to investigate quality control and inspection of these dangerous sites.
the problem in europe is not about having a proper legislative framework but about the proper implementation of these laws by the member states.
this case also demonstrates that the commission should be given more means to ensure correct implementation of environmental law especially in central and eastern europe.
we already have a full environmental in the european mining waste directive.
beyond this initial emergency response the commission stands ready to deploy the civil protection mechanism to assist further with expertise as well as equipment if the hungarian authorities so require.
protection dikes have been built to prevent the risk of a second spill and are being reinforced.
concerning this last point i would like to mention that next week the commission will adopt the communication on the reinforcement of eu disaster response capacity which will address the response to various types of disasters including industrial accidents and will strengthen our capacity to respond collectively.
the hungarian authorities have deployed massive human resources and equipment.
the measures needed to make sure that the affected population and industry at risk are covered by appropriate insurance schemes;
machinery and staff continue to work on the removal of the red sludge and its disposal in appropriate sites.
at a first analysis the existing eu waste legislation the directive on waste from extractive industries the upcoming industrial emissions directive replacing the integrated pollution prevention and control directive the directive on the control of major accident hazards the so called seveso directive and the waste framework directive provide a sufficient framework for regulating potentially dangerous industrial activities and managing waste in a way that does not pose risks to human health and the environment.
we also have environmental legislation that deals with post accident damage namely the environmental liability directive.
steps to assess the risk to human health and mitigate them;
environmental monitoring;
i have just come back from the site of the accident where i witnessed both the catastrophic impact of the red sludge on people homes land and the ecology of the region and the significant efforts of the hungarian response teams. while the causes of the disaster and its full impact are still under investigation
the decisive and effective actions of the hungarian authorities to contain the impact of the spill and its spread from the rivers torna and marcal downstream into the danube and into neighbouring countries and also to prevent the risks of new spills by building additional protection walls.
nonetheless dust from the sludge presents a health risk and therefore precautionary measures are necessary for the population and the emergency personnel in the area.
nine people died and one hundred and thirty have been injured about thirty five of them first responders.
it is clear that the most severe damage is in the immediate vicinity of the accident and the directly affected human settlements agricultural land and ecological systems.
it applies to the installation and consequently the necessary remedial measures that have to be undertaken by the liable operator who should bear the full cost of remediation.
houses and structures beyond repair are being demolished;
the commission is of the view that the focus must not be on new legislation but on ensuring the proper implementation and enforcement of existing legislation by all member states.
steps are now being taken towards the next phase of decontamination and rehabilitation.
the commission is also looking into the question of environmental legislation.
secondly the structural funds could be mobilised to address the consequences of the disaster and that was made clear.
the day i was there yesterday there were around one two hundred rescuers from the civil protection environment health and police departments working tirelessly on the ground.
and the way forward to strengthen european disaster monitoring and response capacity and enhance our instruments to express solidarity with our members and our citizens in moments of need.
many other pieces of paper' when we know that the critical issue is implementation.
here. one is that i agree that it is the responsibility of the polluter to pay but at the same time when communities are hit by a disaster of this nature it is a matter of european solidarity and compassion to
this is a question to be looked into to see whether indeed with the increase in disasters both at home and abroad we should have in our hands an instrument that allows us to show compassion to our citizens.
job. there have been questions relating to the recycling of red
clear. the inspections and the monitoring are a member state responsibility.
then we can have a feedback into preparedness prevention and response in the case of any future disaster. so i take the comments that have been made here in this chamber in this respect very seriously.
first on the question of legislation and the role of the commission.