EU slammed for human rights record
Published: Mon, 12 Jan 2004
eupolitix.com
Amnesty International has urged the European Union to jolt its human rights record at home and abroad back into action.
As Ireland takes over the presidency of the EU, Amnesty has accused Brussels of “paying lip service to lofty goals” but interacting with some of the “worst human rights offenders.”
A report released on Monday criticises the EU for failing to put substance to its ambition of keeping human rights at the heart of its policies.
“In external relations, the EU’s political will to implement policies, to put human rights into practice, appears to be on the wane,” it says.
According to AI spokesman Dick Oosting, human rights in the EU is “all over the place and nowhere.”
Oosting told journalists that the EU was guilty of taking action where it was easy while missing the mark with the Chinas and Russias of the world.
“When the going gets tough, EU member states seek the lowest common denominator and are willing to sacrifice principle for political compromise,” the report charges.
While recognising the EU’s achievements to date and its “potential to be the most powerful global force for human rights” Amnesty believes it is “running out of steam.”
Human rights activists fear that many of Europe’s principles have been sacrificed to the global “war on terror” since the attacks of September 11.
The new European security strategy, agreed by European leaders in December, is also criticised for focussing on the military side of crisis management rather than addressing the underlying causes.
But the charge that human rights is neglected in EU policies is one which Brussels strongly denies.
“We will consider the report but we do not agree with it,” said Cristina Gallach, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
“The core of the security strategy is prevention and I don’t think that…NGOs could not consider this to be key in the field of human rights,” she said.
But not only does Amnesty point to the EU’s failings on the world stage, it also urges European leaders to put their own house in order.
The European Arrest Warrant and common asylum system do not have adequate human rights standards in place, it charges.
Work on a law to combat racism and xenophobia, due for completion in July 2003, has also had to be suspended due to the foot-dragging of one EU member state.
And the EU’s police forces come under fire for “persistence shortcomings in observance of fundamental rights.”
AI reports point to “a common and disturbing pattern of abuse by law enforcement officials including torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of force, regularly allowed to go unpunished…occurring in both old and new member states.”
“If we want to be serious about human rights on the world stage we have to do better at home,” urged Oosting. |
