mr president i would like to begin by welcoming this parliament's involvement in un initiatives
in the autumn we lobbied in new york for the appointment of a new assistant secretary-general to raise the priority for human nights in the un and next month we will once again be at the human rights council itself not simply in dialogue with our eu representatives but also working with third countries as part of europe's common efforts to promote respect for human rights with the rest of the world
i am proud that in geneva we see that europe is a champion of human rights and with the work due to start in june this year our resolution today says that we should be a champion of further reform of the human rights council itself
the council remains too politicised and our text today justly criticises those delegates who cynically lined up in their cars outside the un in geneva at six a
m
in order that they could be first in to fill up the speakers list to help sri lanka in its no action motion to evade criticisms of violations in that country and to evade the spirit of the setting up of the human rights council that it should work throughout the year to deal with human rights abuses whenever and wherever they occur
in this parliament we agree with many of the principles enunciated by the spanish presidency in terms of further reform and i would like to join with my friend mrs <unk> to say that it will be a further death blow to the council if iran with its devastating human rights record is elected unopposed next time as some fear
the hardest test on human rights for any nation is when we stand accused of human rights abuse
that is why i am very pleased that at the organisational meeting in geneva on eighteen february both the european union and the united states spoke in favour of the joint study on secret detention being presented to the human rights council this time
we will not always agree with criticisms but we must always be open to them if we expect others to do the same
