Brussels, 01/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - Before the start of the Dutch Presidency, Amnesty International presented the press in The Hague on 29 June with a document on cutting the gap between rhetoric and practice, with recommendations for the Dutch Presidency of the EU.
Human rights are being abused everywhere in the world these days (particularly revelations about the torture of prisoner in Iraq), and Amnesty International urges Europe to make itself heard internationally and take positive action to defend human rights in the world. Of all the important players on the world stage, the EU is probably the best placed to lead a movement to deal with the crisis facing human rights round the world, said Dick Oosting, Director of Amnesty International's European Office. He added, however, that this means more than simply reaffirming values and making brief references to human rights. Amnesty is calling for the appointment of an EU Special Representative for Human Rights, commenting that in relations with third countries, the EU finds it difficult to apply human rights and the guidelines it has adopted on human rights in recent years. The pledge to root human rights in other policies is no more than wishful thinking.
The main recommendations outlined in the 18 page document include an appeal for the European Human Rights Agency (proposed by the Council in December 2003) to focus on monitoring the respect of human rights within the EU. Amnesty International says that in the last five years, things have moved backwards, with the commitments to protect human rights (in the 1999 Tampere agenda) vanishing into thin air, the anti-terror campaign failing to incorporate vital guarantees of human rights, and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights encouraging smugness. In other words, said Dick Oosting, we have noted a growing gap between the declared urgent need to combat terrorism and illegal immigration and the commitment to human rights and it is time that the EU rectifies the imbalance. (Le document can be accessed at http://www.amnesty-eu.org ).