OSCE CiO urges parliamentarians to stand up for democracy

VIENNA, 20 February 2003 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Netherlands Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, urged parliamentarians on Thursday to use their influence to help reinforce democratic structures and institutions throughout the OSCE region.

Addressing the Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, he said members of national parliaments also had a key role to play in positioning the 55-nation security Organization in a constantly changing security landscape.

"Increasingly in this post-Cold War world, concerns about safety and security have been brought close to home for many citizens," the CiO said. "The threats that today face citizens across the OSCE region give renewed relevance to the OSCE: threats such as terrorism, human trafficking, illegal immigration, xenophobia. They create urgent and legitimate concerns about human security that affect all our citizens."

"I am convinced of the OSCE's added value in comparison with existing organisations such as NATO, the EU and the Council of Europe," he added. "None of those is capable of replacing the OSCE's key assets. But we still need to think about a clear definition of their respective roles."

Minister de Hoop Scheffer said a reinforcement of democratic structures and institutions was urgently needed in many regions of the OSCE. This would require action from parliaments as well as governments.

"You can exert effective behind-the-scenes pressure on governments that deny basic rights to opposition parties and their leaders," he told the parliamentarians. "The members of this Assembly should be effective defenders of such rights. By calling on governments to meet their responsibilities and by speaking on behalf of those who are denied their freedom of speech you can keep the international focus where it should be."

"This Parliamentary Assembly can influence new legislation. By making your voices heard, by providing your democratic expertise, you can push governments to strengthen their laws and democratic institutions or to make new ones."

This is especially relevant in the fight against trafficking in human beings because in many countries the appropriate legal framework is missing, the CiO added.

Describing human trafficking as one of the most pressing and complex human rights issues in the OSCE region, Minister de Hoop Scheffer stressed the importance of addressing the problem in all participating States, whether they were countries of origin, transit or destination.

"The OSCE is well equipped to deal with human trafficking. Because it involves human rights abuses, poor border controls, unlawful treatment of victims, ineffective police forces and other shortcomings of weak states, it touches upon everything the OSCE field missions are all about," he said. "What's more, the OSCE and its missions deal not only with the human dimension of human trafficking but with the economic one as well: the illegal money flows resulting from it."

Minister de Hoop Scheffer concluded his address by asking the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to "amplify the voice of the Chair."

"In this context, I should like to refer to Chechnya. I am presently exploring with my Russian colleague, Foreign Minister Ivanov, the possibility of a longer term constructive engagement of the OSCE in Chechnya," he said. "Given the need to normalise the situation in that region, I am sure that you would also welcome a role of the OSCE that could contribute to the re-establishment of the rule of law, democratic institutions and social reconstruction."