Law on blasphemy in Pakistan: meeting in BrusselsHaving entered into force in 1986, the law on blasphemy in Pakistan is claiming numerous victims, increasing the forms of discrimination towards religious minorities in the country and privileging the Islamic majority. This law contemplates the death sentence in extreme cases. According to the data furnished by the National Commission of Justice and Peace (NCJP), an agency of the Pakistan Catholic Church, at least 964 individuals were incriminated between 1986 and August 2009. Of these, 479 were Muslims, 119 Christians, 340 Ahmadi, and 14 Hindu. Joseph Francis, a Pakistani Christian who lives in the UK and heads the NGO Center for Legal Aid Assistance & Settlement, during a visit to the European Parliament on 7 March, confirmed the dramatic situation that exists in Pakistan. Francis particularly recalled the case of Asia Bibi, the first woman condemned to death in 2010 under the provisions of the law. The meeting with Francis occurred almost exactly a year after the murder of the Pakistani government minister Shahbaz Bhatti (2 March 2011). A Catholic, Bhatti had been committed to defending the rights of religious minorities in his country and opposing the law on blasphemy. The main victims of the law are in fact women: according to the NCJP, one woman out of ten is approached in the attempt to persuade her, often with violence, to abandon her professed religion and embrace Islam. Penal processes against new converts to Christianity, moreover, are constantly increasing. The result is that Pakistan according to the European Parliament is a country not only economically compromised, but also "paralyzed at the level of the democratic institutions and the structures of civil society". Joseph Francis concluded his visit to the EP by pointing out that "religious minorities in Pakistan are victims of constitutional discrimination: religious freedom and rights exist only on paper, not in reality".Schulz (EU Parliament): safety in nuclear power stationsThe EU27 "depends for 30% of its energy requirement" on atomic energy", but "the positions on nuclear power in Europe are widely different". A year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster "the debate must continue and above all greater initiatives need to be taken to ensure the safety of citizens". Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, opened the plenary session of the Assembly on 12 March with a statement on the "triple catastrophe that struck Japan a year ago", 11 March: first a massive earthquake, then the 20-metre high tsunami and lastly, a day later, the explosion of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Schulz paid homage to the 19,000 who lost their lives in the tragedy, the tens of thousands of people left injured, and the 340,000 left homeless. "We admired the dignity and courage with which the Japanese people came to terms with these events". He especially praised "the courage of the anonymous heroes who risked their lives to get the damaged reactor under control". The President of the EP then focused on the "controversial debate" that has developed in Europe on nuclear energy; he recalled that stress tests have been carried out on 143 nuclear power plants in the territory of the Union and that "the Commission will present a final report to the European Council in June". "Those power plants that fail the tests added Martin Schulz should be immediately shut down". He then dwelt on the vexed question of the treatment of radioactive wastes and the need for the 27 member states to pursue the commitments they have signed up to in terms of energy savings, efficiency and the differentiation of energy sources.Trade in cocoa: accord against child exploitationAn international agreement on cocoa production and trade that would oblige signatories to improve working conditions in this sector, especially in order to prevent the exploitation of children: the question was placed on the agenda of the plenary session of the EP now underway in Strasbourg (12-15 March). A resolution presented to the scrutiny of the Assembly states that the EU, "as the main world consumer of cacao, must ensure that there is no exploitation of child labour during the harvesting of cocoa beans". A statement put out by the EP points out that "according to the International Labour Organization over 215 million children throughout the world are used as manpower" and some studies indicate in particular that "children could be compelled to work in the cocoa factories in Ghana and in Ivory Coast". In the text of the international cocoa agreement article 42 establishes that signatory countries "shall strive to improve the standard of life and working conditions of persons who work in the cocoa sector, consistent with their stage of development, bearing in mind internationally recognized principles and applicable ILO standards".
