European Parliament
Frank Vanhecke,
on behalf of the EFD Group.
(NL)
Mr President, the resolution which is now before us is fairly balanced and it is very easy for me to go along with most of the recommendations. What I regret, however, is the fact that this Parliament is shying away from facing up to a fundamental and structural problem in the UN Human Rights Council. That structural and fundamental problem consists of the fact that some of the biggest human rights abusers in the world – for example, China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia, to name but a few – are all allowed to remain members of the Human Rights Council unchallenged. That is actually unacceptable.
Only countries with a spotless reputation are in a position to, and have any right to, lecture other countries. Granting that right to the aforementioned dictatorships pretty much equates to turning it into a piece of absurd theatre. That is a structural defect that must be addressed, otherwise the compliance procedures will never function as they should. I therefore hope that Parliament will tomorrow adopt the amendments which I have submitted to this effect.

