Africa-EU summit will sidestep human rights, analysts say

There is agreement that human rights needs to be an issue addressed at the Africa-EU summit being launched in Portugal this weekend, however, analysts and academics from both Europe and Africa doubt that any real progress will be made on the matter, AllAfrica.com reported Thursday, citing Inter Press Service.

“It is an unavoidable truth that human rights and democratic values are one level below strategic interests,” said researcher Manuela Franco at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations.

The summit, being held Saturday and Sunday in Lisbon, will include 52 government delegations from Africa and 27 from EU member states, as well as observers from the African Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

The official aim of the summit was summed up by Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Amado, who said that what is important is that “problems are tackled in a multilateral manner, since they are not limited to a single state.”

According to Angolan Ambassador Assunção Afonso de Sousa dos Anjos, cooperation between Africa and Europe “is essential for fomenting development,” but “we must be our own architects.”

The relationship between Europe and Africa is being promoted in large part due to the increasing influence of China in Africa, Franco said.

Pointing to China, political analyst Eugenio Costa Almeida argued that when economic interests are at stake, the EU forgets about human rights.

“It is China that most protects the African countries I mentioned, due to its interest in fossil fuels and minerals, while Europe continues to see Africa as a market for its products, rather than a partner on an equal footing,” he said.

The issue of human rights first came up when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would not attend the summit if Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe did.

For the full article, click here.

Viet Nam rejects moves by Western nations to place sanctions on Burma

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on Wednesday expressed opposition to efforts by Western countries to punish Burma through economic sanctions, saying Viet Nam remembered the pain economic sanctions brought, Agence France-Presse reported today.

“Vietnam experienced war and was slapped with economic sanctions,” Triet said.

“We fully understand the agony people that felt at the time,” he said. “Therefore, we will not support economic sanctions on Myanmar, which are merely a means of making people suffer.”

The United States and European Union have placed sanctions on Burma due to its crackdown on protestors and activists. Countries in Asia, however, have preferred to focus on engaging the military junta, although Japan has cancelled nearly 5 million dollars in aid to the country.

Both Ibrahim Gambari, United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda have asked Viet Nam to support U.N. efforts to resolve the crisis in Burma, with Gambari saying Viet Nam is among the states closest to Myanmar’s regime.

Triet explained that Viet Nam is concerned with the situation in Burma. “We want to try hard to resolve the issue smoothly through cooperation among Vietnam, ASEAN and the United Nations,” he said.

For the full story, click here.

Viet Nam leaders meet with EU about new bilateral pact

In a visit to Hanoi by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Union and Viet Nam today launched talks about a new cooperation pact, Agence France-Presse reported.

Barroso, the first head of the EU executive body to visit the communist country, has commended Viet Nam’s sharp economic growth and poverty reduction.

According to a joint statement made by Barroso and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, one of the aims of the discussion was to “facilitate deeper economic and commercial integration between the European Union and Vietnam preceding a future Free Trade Agreement between the EU and countries of ASEAN.”

The pact would cover areas such as trade, investment, education, culture, justice, security, the environment, and science and technology.

“The time has now come to establish a closer political partnership between the EU and Vietnam, enabling us to tackle more effectively some of the common global challenges we are faced with,” Barroso said.

EU-Vietnamese dialogue had broadened in recent years, Barroso added, “to include more political issues such as governance, human rights and anti-corruption.”

Barroso said he had discussed human rights with Dung, but did not elaborate on specific topics. A source also said members of the EU delegation raised concerns about the recent arrests of pro-democracy activists, including the November 17 detention of a U.S., French, and Thai citizen.

For the full article, click here.

EU expresses concern over freedom of expression in Iran

The European Union issued a press release Wednesday expressing concern over the repression of freedom of expression in Iran, Scoop Independent News reported.

“The EU condemns the closure of newspapers, magazines and of the Iranian Labour News Agency, as well as the arrest and persecution of journalists, web bloggers, and Human Rights Defenders for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and recalls UNGA Resolution 59/I,” the release says.

The statement calls for Iran to release Emmadin Baghi, a journalist and human rights defender, who was arrested and given successive prison sentences. It also addresses the imprisonment of three university students charged with a crime that, according to Ayatollah Sharoudi, they did not commit. Concern is expressed for others who have been punished for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The EU urges Iran to comply with international human rights conventions and covenants that it has ratified.

For the full press release, click here.

New human rights treaty means EU can be sued for rights violations

A new European Union treaty endorsed earlier today means that EU institutions can be sued for human rights violations, The Associated Press reported.

The EU Reform Treaty includes terms that hold the EU, as a legal entity, to the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the Council of Europe, the treaty allows EU institutions to be taken to court for civil liberty breaches.

The 27 members of the EU have joined the convention previously; however, the EU and its institutions cannot currently be taken to a human rights court.

Europe’s human rights court is open to citizens of the 47 member states in the Council of Europe, as well as any third country citizens who believe their rights have been violated by one of the European countries.

For the full article, click here.