A day focussed on human rights for the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg. Today, the 2008 Sacharov award to free thinking will be given to the Chinese dissident Hu Jia, who will not be there as he is in prison. Hu Jia’s absence will be emphasised by an empty chair on which the dissident’s picture will be placed: two official speeches will be given by president Hans-Gert Poettering and by Andrej Sacharov’s widow, Elena Bonner. In the afternoon, three debates will be held: in the first one, the EU Council and EU Commission will illustrate the tenth report on human rights across the world; the second one will be introduced by a declaration of the EU Commission on the initiative taken by France at the UN on the decriminalisation of homosexuality across the world; in the third debate, the MEPs will review a report on fundamental rights in Europe. The Council of Europe will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, promoted by the Pro-Life Movement and the Forum Européen des droit de l’homme et de la famille, with a speech by cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the Papal Council for the Family.
