kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
km distance well within the military compound that surrounds camp liberty. there is no doubt the operation was ordered by the iranian regime and was carried out with the close cooperation of the iraqi government. it will not be the last attack. now although five weeks have passed since that brutal incidence the iraqi government has still not allowed body armour or even hard hats into camp liberty.
all of us in this chamber are responsible for those deaths and injuries.
we guaranteed their safety and we deceived them.
the three one hundred defenceless refugees are now crushed into a compound of only half a square kilometre in size forced to live in squalid and unsanitary conditions in flimsy caravans. they were seating ducks when forty five rockets were fired in a tight trajectory during the hours of darkness hitting the area where the maximum number of people was sleeping. this was no random terrorist attack. it was a professionally executed military operation. the rockets were fired from only three
mr president ten years after the allied military intervention the iraqi people sadly continue to be victims of violence and disorder on a depressingly regular basis.
the recent wave of terrorist attacks and outright executions in iraq has again killed hundreds of people.
while in this resolution there is no mention of camp liberty it is my moral duty to mention the more than three thousand people who live in inhuman conditions just kilometres away from the government of iraq and the diplomatic compounds of the rest of the world.
iranian refugees with no status and no security.
the state of iraq is not doing enough to protect these unarmed civilians.
last year iraq was rated as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for minorities.
we believe that the dialogue should continue and we very much hope for a positive outcome.
we have to avoid that because otherwise we get what we saw in hungary the situation may have been redressed by luxembourg but by then a lot of judges had already been dismissed and they never came back.
in a democracy within a country there is pluralism something that you have difficulty recognising.
since there are only a few weeks left we would also urge the commission to ask the court of justice for an interim measure to suspend the law until the case is resolved.
what this is about is your party creating an authoritarian regime in poland and the polish people deserve better than that.
the integrity and independence of the advertising and measurement markets are crucial in this context. poland has actually dropped from number eighteen to number fifty eight in the world press index out of one hundred and eighty countries. that should tell you something.
you all have the same agenda.
so this is essential.
i am going to quote the president of the european court of justice who in a speech said judicial independence is the bedrock of our democracies be it at national or european level.
first of all and this has been said here before we have no fight with the polish people because they are europeans like us.
we would therefore join all the people in poland ngos political parties civil society who have been calling for the commission to take this step before the european court of justice.
you have the power and the means to act and you have the support of the majority of this house.
everybody has already mentioned what the consequences will be.
all those instruments will not work not just in poland but in the whole european union because if you remove one part of the chain then the whole chain will fall.
it's all public knowledge.
i would go as far as to say that judicial independence is part of both our common heritage and of our very identity as europeans'.
so this is all one big network.
the effective protection of eu rights requires that the competent national court is isolated from any political pressure and if it's not it means that the whole european judicial fabric no longer works and that there are big holes in there.
so time is almost up and we would ask the commission to act now.
we are all one and we are just standing up for the principles that we have all signed up to.
this is an obligation that the polish nation went into with their eyes open after a popular vote i think there was a referendum if i'm not mistaken and this obligation was taken upon the shoulders of the polish people and government and they execute that obligation.
the polish people decided to join the european union.
that is in my opinion very important because i hope we can find a solution.
in that context the european commission absolutely does not dispute the right of the polish government to reform the judiciary and there might be very good arguments to reform the judiciary if it is slow for instance or if it is not delivering the results people expect from it. but in reforming the judiciary you still need to respect the independence of the judiciary.
you can't fault the commission for not trying to find a way out through dialogue.
i've been very specific that is why it took me some time and that is probably also why i made that mistake.
let me be clear we do not dispute the right of the polish government to reform its judiciary but in doing so it should not infringe upon the independence of the courts upon the independence of the judiciary.
but when we do this we do this in good faith. we want to have this dialogue that is why i am travelling on monday to warsaw.
i've listened very carefully to parliament today i've taken careful note of your remarks i will also inform the prime minister when i seen him on monday of your remarks and i hope we can then find a solution together but if we cannot find a solution the commission will have to stand firm on these issues.
we are not talking about you give a bit here' and then you give a bit there' we're talking about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law and the commission is just trying to maintain standards and wants to help poland avoid a systemic risk to the rule of law.
that is our duty i am bound to that duty i will do my utmost and frankly i have been trying for two and half years.
it is true what you have said sir that with the new prime minister a new era started because this prime minister is willing to at least talk to us and discuss with us and look for ways out.
if you believe that through putting the judiciary under political control you can make it a better judiciary you are wrong and you are violating your own obligations under the eu treaties and that is the core element of our discussion with the polish government.
the fact of the matter is that the commission is the guardian of the treaties and if we believe that there is a problem with member states executing their obligations we have to speak up.
the polish government signed the treaty on european union it was ratified by the polish parliament elected by the polish people and that treaty comes with rights and obligations.
this is not an obligation that has been thrust from the outside on the polish people and polish nation.
the bulgarian presidency and indeed all of us agree that the protection of the rule of law democracy and fundamental rights in our union cannot be taken for granted. the commission triggered on twenty december two thousand and seventeen the procedure foreseen by article seven of the treaty on european union.
common values such as human dignity freedom democracy equality the rule of law and human rights are the cornerstone of the european union.
at this stage i cannot prejudge and draw conclusions as regards the next step.
the presidency has acted and will continue to act as an honest broker considering all circumstances and positions.
this procedure is designed to assess if there is a clear risk of serious breach by poland of the values referred to in article two of the treaty.
now what about the concrete measures taken by the polish authorities? three laws were adopted in april amending the law on the supreme court the law on ordinary courts organisation and the law on the national council for the judiciary.
the president of the republic has wide discretion to decide on the prolongation of supreme court judges' mandates. there are no specific criteria and there is no judicial review of his decision.
whilst the transfer of the power to decide on the prolongation of ordinary courts judges to the national council for the judiciary is a step in the right direction this is undermined by the politicisation of the national council for the judiciary.
last week the commission therefore asked the council to organise a formal hearing of poland in the context of the article seven teu procedure.
some judges submitted a formal declaration requesting prolongation of their mandate whilst other judges made a general statement that they are fit and ready to continue to occupy their posts without making a formal declaration requesting prolongation due to the unconstitutionality of such a procedure and its humiliating character.
the current judges still have no right to serve their full term as originally established.
i am referring to the court presidents dismissed by the minister of justice.
they have been published now but with a disclaimer that they are and i quote findings delivered in breach of
this meeting was followed by further technical exchanges on the new amendments by the polish parliament.
i welcome the change of the law which provides now for a uniform retirement age for female and male judges now fixed at. sixty five also the amendment on the assistant judges goes in the right direction.
also no remedy is foreseen to address the premature termination of the mandates of the former judges' members established in the constitution. the politicisation of this body that has occurred undermines its role as an effective safeguard of judicial independence.
as to the disciplinary regime new provisions render it in practice highly possible for current supreme court judges to participate from the start as judges in the disciplinary chamber.
that is our
so might it take a bit longer and i do apologise for that.
the situation of the first president of the supreme court is also very worrying.
first despite the new amendments the discretionary power given to the authorities in charge of deciding on the prolongation of the judicial mandates of supreme court judges and of ordinary court judges remains a key concern from the point of view of upholding the principles of the separation of powers and judicial
i am also referring to judges' members of the former national council for the judiciary whose constitutional mandate was prematurely terminated. fifth recent changes do not eliminate the broadness of the criteria governing extraordinary appeal.
concerns and are not sufficient to eliminate the clear risk of a serious breach of the rule
however i regret to inform you that overall and despite all of these legislative changes key concerns which the commission identified in the reasoned proposal remain unaddressed.
the commission is at present examining this issue.
this condition lacks real impact as such repeal is nevertheless possible if justified by principles or rights established in the polish constitution. this could even justify for example the repeal of final judgments by polish courts applying eu law as interpreted by the case law of the court of justice of the
sphere. i continue to believe that it is through dialogue that we need to solve these problems.
let me now give you an update on the current situation and developments which took place during the last months.
second the risk of creating irreparable damage fully remains.
it is the commission's sincere hope that poland will now urgently address the key concerns identified
in particular they still refer to social justice albeit in a different wording.
do so. after the constitutional tribunal and the national council for the judiciary it is now the polish supreme court which is at risk of coming under political control.
as you may know the current supreme court judges were asked to declare their intention to remain in the court by four may.
final. i will travel to moscow on monday to continue the dialogue with the polish government in an attempt to find solutions for the issues
on three july twenty seven out of seventy two supreme court judges will face the risk of being forced to retire.
by us. in particular it is indispensable that urgent action be taken by the polish government to address the situation of the supreme court judges before three july because that is when the decisions about the retirements become
they remain almost the same.
of law. the measures the polish authorities have continued to implement over the past six months have already created damage and are continuing to
thirteen judges reacted in one way or another to the new prolongation regime.
i've. just
i can summarise the situation as follows.
i am referring to ordinary court judges already forced to retire by the lowering of the retirement age including female judges subject to the provisions that are in violation of eu anti discrimination law and by the way now they have announced they will change that no misunderstanding on that.
law'. no legislative changes were made to address the concerns expressed in the recent proposal in order to restore the independence and legitimacy of the constitutional tribunal. sadly the commission can only conclude that the four new laws adopted in april and may are not by themselves sufficient to remove the existing
first a number of exchanges between the commission and the polish authorities took place at different levels.
i also welcome the fact that there has been a willingness on the side of the polish authorities to amend the laws on a number of other issues.
a forced retirement of these supreme court judges would constitute an irreversible violation of the rule of law.
the venice commission explicitly criticised such references. also the twenty year reach of the extraordinary appeal has not been eliminated which means that the extraordinary appeal could result in the repeal of final judgments dating back to october. one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven a new condition was introduced which aims at avoiding the extraordinary appeal resulting in the repeal of judgments infringing international obligations.
role. but we do this in a cooperative
the last time we discussed the issue was on twelve february and i thank the parliament for the wide support for the commission's actions expressed in the resolution adopted on one march.
independence.
fourth i would like to recall that the new legislation offers no solution for those judges who have already been concretely affected by the reform measures contested by the commission.
the three constitutional tribunal judgments of two thousand and sixteen remained to be published as such without any additional qualifications about their legality from the legislative or executive powers.
third the reforms brought forward have only served to underline the crucial role of the new national council for the judiciary yet there has been no corresponding increase in the judicial influence over the election regime of the judges' members of the council so it still does not comply with european standards.
eu. sixth also other key issues underlined in the recent proposal and the fourth rule of law recommendation have not been addressed.
she is affected by the new lowered retirement age and her mandate of a six year term of office would be prematurely terminated two years early despite the fact that it is the polish constitution itself which sets the period of her term of office.
judges affected by the lowered retirement age cannot simply notify their intention to continue to adjudicate together with a health certificate and continue to work.
in addition there is a very wide discretion and again sadly no judicial review.
finding a solution urgently is a matter of common interest for all member states and all eu institutions.
in its opinion the supreme court explicitly stated that the lack of declarations of the other fourteen judges cannot be identified with the lack of their will to further adjudicate.
with his liberation he liberated a country sent apartheid to the dustbin of history and led south africa to a multiracial democracy.
he founded a modern new south africa.
the world watched as he took the final stretch on his road to freedom.
that he did it with no anger resentment or bitterness displays that he is a statesman head and shoulders above so many others. he is i believe a living example in that we are either imprisoned by our history or liberated by it.
it was a day that changed south africa and arguably changed the world.
we salute him.
as you rightly said twenty years ago nelson mandela was released from prison after serving twenty seven years of political imprisonment.
these clashes have already proven to be extremely brutal.
this spread of violence highlights an urgent need to supply humanitarian aid to those affected by the violence. it further highlights a need to establish as soon as possible negotiations between the fighting sides to ensure peace and stability.
as a member of this house i appeal to both sides to cease hostilities by stopping all acts of violence.
a political settlement is now absolutely vital for the country therefore it must be insisted upon.
mr president amnesty international's senior crisis response adviser donatella rovera has been quoted as saying the sudanese government is literally getting away with murder and trying to keep the outside world from finding out. the international community and particularly the un security council must stop looking the other way and act to address the situation.
' at least we are doing that here today.
the repetition of such a large scale humanitarian crisis must and should be prevented.
two five million people mostly civilians lost their lives primarily due to starvation and drought.
mr president the fighting between the sudanese armed forces and the sudan people's liberation movement in blue nile state has by now led to the displacement of an estimated two hundred zero people.
president bashir and his regime should without delay now declare a unilateral two week ceasefire to prevent further bloodshed.
two thousand and five the eu has been taking a leading role in the current crisis.
these festering unresolved territorial disputes and tribal conflicts risk undoing all the good work of the international community and risk a return to all out war between the north and the south.
the high representative has joined the un secretary general and the president of this house in condemning the downward spiral of violence.
khartoum must also honour its legal obligations by adhering to all the provisions set out in the cpa of.
the security situation in southern kordofan and blue nile state has deteriorated alarmingly in recent weeks and there is targeting of the ethnic nuba group which is pro south sudan. the ecr group condemns without reserve the saf cross border invasion into southern kordofan and blue nile state. the international criminal court indicted war criminal
those in the international community namely in the us the african union and the european union who turn a blind eye to the crimes for which president omar hassan al bashir has been indicted by the icc and contribute to his impunity by failing to work to render him to the hague must accept some responsibility for these developments including the horrific loss of life and the outrageous denial of access for all those in need to humanitarian agencies.
a few weeks ago commissioner georgieva called for increased humanitarian access and for the united nations to be able to carry out its work in south kordofan.
despite the constraints that we have had some assistance is being provided in particular due to prior pre positioning of relief items in both areas to which the eu has largely contributed. the humanitarian budget for both sudan and south sudan is eur one hundred million and it has been topped up with an additional eur forty million
the situation is generally characterised as a disproportionate use of force and a lack of distinction between civilian and military targets.
we are also coordinating with key partners such as the african union the united nations and the united states to ensure a common approach. we support mediation efforts carried out by president mbeki and prime minister
this reinforcement will help to maintain relief efforts in both sudans while humanitarian needs are increasing including in south kordofan and blue nile state. severe human rights violations are taking place.
the eu has made a statement and declaration on the ongoing violence and urged the parties to work out a peaceful solution.
the eu special representative to sudan dame rosalind marsden is calling on numerous interlocutors in khartoum to pass on the same message.
in many instances people are targeted because of their ethnic affiliation. we are trying to defuse the situation.
we should also pay attention to the fact that the african union has started contingency planning for troop deployments because that is what now seems to be very necessary to calm down and pacify the situation.
indeed in his speech made on twenty three october this year president pierre nkurunziza reminded the community in exile that they should not consider themselves superior to their fellow citizens still inside the country especially since most of them left their families inside the country.
the burundian authorities must swiftly act here if they want to stop the spiralling of violence and i believe it is a very appropriate move that the eu like the us has introduced personal targeted sanctions against those who are known to be perpetrators of violence.
impunity indeed is a huge problem in burundi as perpetrators of violence often do not have to face the consequences of their acts.
one final thing is that there needs to be a national dialogue between all parties.
so i very much agree with the united nations' intention to consider all possible options against those in burundi whose acts and statements contribute to the ongoing violence and hamper a peaceful solution. we must indeed avoid a second rwanda.
so what is the eu doing in order to put pressure on the current government to comply with the un security resolution?
now it is our duty to act so that a full blown civil war in the country is prevented.
i welcome the un security council resolution finally adopted on twelve november calling upon the government of burundi and all parties to reject any kind of violence and to immediately convene an inclusive and genuine dialogue with the ruling party and the opposition both inside and outside of the country.
two hundred and fifteen zero burundians have fled the country and many people are internally displaced. public executions and silent killings continue.
we saw that also during the last three weeks.
since president nkurunziza insisted on continuing with his third term as president and the politically motivated killings started in april at least two hundred and forty citizens have been killed.
but the sad thing today is that we could see this coming for years and so it could have been prevented but the international community chose to look away for way too long even deciding to close the united nations office in burundi six months before crucial elections.
the latest elections that were held in burundi are not recognised by the international community and the violence continues.
i may therefore recommend this regulation to the parliament and call for your strong support.
mr president i have listened carefully to your exchanges and your comments and i would like to thank you for your contributions to this important debate. the proposal that is now on the table takes into account most of the concerns expressed by members at the different stages
in setting out harmonised rules for the european markets and aligning with international standards it will promote competitiveness and clear red tape. replacing the directive by a regulation will make life less burdensome for engine and machine manufacturers.
of this legislative process.
thank you very much for your attention and even more for your work.