Échos bataves

L’intervention, jeudi soir à Bruxelles, du Néerlandais Gijs de Vries, coordinateur antiterroriste de l’UE, a évidemment un rapport avec la situation aux Pays-Bas, où l’on débat de la participation à la force de l’OTAN en Afghanistan. Gijs de Vries a parlé de la question de la torture dans la lutte antiterroriste, en condamnant son emploi avec une extrême virulence. Cette prise de position contraste avec la prudence des déclarations européennes habituelles, ainsi qu’avec l’attitude de l’Europe lors du voyage d’ “explication” (sur les transports de prisonniers illégaux de la CIA) de Rice en décembre dernier. Elle exprime sans aucun doute une attitude néerlandaise d’un poids non négligeable.

Voici ce qu’écrit le Financial Times à propos de cette intervention: « European governments must take a principled stand on the issue of human rights as a key part of the global strategy for combating terrorism, Gijs de Vries, the European Union’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator, said on Thursday. He told a seminar organised by the Centre for European Reform that, while he had “no doubt” violent extremists and terrorist recruiters could be beaten, an essential tool of the strategy had to be “winning the battle for hearts and minds”, and engaging the support of moderate Muslim opinion worldwide.

»  “We need to engage with them [Muslims] on the basis of the values we share: respect for human life, respect for democratic standards, respect for individual liberty and dignity.” He went on: “This means that our policies to combat terrorism must respect the rights and values we have pledged to defend, including the rights of prisoners.”

» While he used his speech to refer also to the improved co-operation on intelligence and law enforcement between European governments and the US, Mr de Vries’s central comments underlined the extent to which alleged mistreatment of prisoners and the US strategy of rendition has provoked tension between the EU and the US. Mr de Vries was pressed by delegates to comment specifically on the US strategy. He said: “If you look at the affect Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and the policy of [extraordinary] rendition [has had] on public opinion, it is quite clear that it has been negative.”  »

Mis en ligne le 21 janvier 2006 à 10H07