U.S., EU Issue Joint Statement on
Human Rights in Iran
"The United States and the European Union condemn the continuing
human rights violations in Iran since the June 12 election,"
says a
joint statement issued by the United States and the
European Union on February 8. "The large scale detentions and
mass trials, the threatened execution of protestors, the
intimidation of family members of those detained and the
continuing denial to its citizens of the right to peaceful
expression are contrary to human rights norms. Our concerns are
based on our commitment to universal respect for human rights.
We are particularly concerned by the potential for further
violence and repression during the coming days, especially
around the anniversary of the Islamic Republic's founding on 11
February. We call on the Government of Iran to live up to its
international human rights obligations, to end its abuses
against its own people, to hold accountable those who have
committed the abuses and to release those who are exercising
their rights."
Loss of Terrorist Finance Tracking
Program Would be Tragic Mistake
"Before the European Parliament is a historic EU-U.S.
agreement to continue the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP),"
writes Stuart Levey, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism
and Financial Intelligence, in an oped published February 3 in
Europolitics (Full
text of oped). "This nine-month interim agreement creates a
legally binding international framework, for the first time, to
enable the United States and the European Union to share
critical financial information needed to investigate and prevent
terrorism. The agreement on the table would also provide an
opportunity to negotiate a longer-term agreement, under the EU’s
new Lisbon Treaty structure. A veto of this interim agreement
would jeopardize a valuable and carefully constructed program
that has helped make our citizens safer. (...) The United States is deeply committed to safeguarding the
privacy of data, and we are confident that objective reviewers
will find the TFTP to be consistent with the strongest
traditions of European civil liberties while providing
tremendous value to Europe as well as to the United States."
Clinton
Praises Diligence, Diplomacy of Northern Ireland Leaders
The agreement by Northern Ireland’s two biggest political
parties to have the Northern Ireland Assembly assume control
over policing and justice powers is “another
important step toward a full and lasting peace,” says
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (Video).
Clinton added that she has invited Northern Ireland leaders to
Washington to discuss ways to build upon the agreement and
promote peace through private sector investment. “This latest
success in Northern Ireland points the way forward — and not
only for this one conflict. Northern Ireland gives us hope that,
despite entrenched opposition and innumerable setbacks, diligent
diplomacy and committed leadership can overcome generations of
suspicion and hostility,” Clinton said in a February 5
statement. The February 5 accord between the Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein resolves a long-standing
dispute between the two parties on the timetable for the
transfer of policing and justice powers, known as devolution,
from the British Parliament to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The two parties agreed to a March 9 vote in the assembly to
devolve those powers beginning April 12. (Briefing)
Afghan
Agriculture and Security Interrelated, U.S. Officials Say
Obama administration officials describe
efforts to revitalize
Afghanistan’s agricultural sector as the “Number 1 nonsecurity
priority” in the country. But given that Afghanistan is 80
percent agricultural, they acknowledge that security and
agriculture are “integrally related,” as farmers replace opium
poppies with legitimate crops, and increased profitability and
job creation act as a counterincentive to joining the Taliban.
“Our goal is nothing less than to help Afghanistan restore its
agricultural sector to the vibrant export economy that it once
had,” Richard Holbrooke, the State Department’s special
representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters
during a
briefing February 3. (More)
U.S.-EU Agreements on
Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition Enter into Force
New agreements
regarding extradition and mutual legal assistance between the
European Union (EU) and the United States entered into force
February 1, the Department of Justice announced. The
agreements represent a milestone in cooperation on criminal
matters between the EU, along with its Member States, and
the United States. They will further strengthen common efforts
in the fight against terrorism and transnational crime by
enabling the use of modern tools of cooperation between U.S. and
EU Member State authorities. (More)
Ambassador
Kennard: U.S., EU Have Unique Moment to Advance Common Interests
"if you think about many of the President’s top diplomatic
priorities for his Administration,
there is a meaningful alignment between many of his top
priorities and those of the European Union – climate change,
nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, an engaged Middle East
policy, more focus on development," U.S. Ambassador to the EU William E.
Kennard told an audience at the European Policy Centre on
January 13 (Video:
.wmv file) . "So we are at a unique moment
in time for the Transatlantic relationship. Because we have a
unique opportunity to reframe and reinvigorate the Transatlantic
partnership and accomplish much together." (Ambassador
Kennard on Mapping the Future of the EU-U.S. Strategic
Partnership;
More)
