Human Rights

Jean regularly takes action where human rights are being violated, both in Europe and the rest of the world.

Jean has and continues to work with many London and Brussels based groups to keep the issue of human rights in Turkey on the agenda, and has been drawing attention for example to the hunger strikers campaigning against the F-Type Prisons.

2005: At the begining of 2005 Jean introduced proposals to the European Parliament, through the Green Refugee Plan, making radical improvements to the way refugees are treated.  More recently Jean suported the ‘Brides Withouit Borders’ campaign a group of 20 couples being denied their Human Rights and were facing seperation due to immigration laws

2004: Jean gave a speech when she joined demonstrators outside Belmarsh Prison where 14 terrorism suspects were being held without charge or trial. Campaigners argued that the 2001 act was an unlawful breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.  Jean believes that the Belmarsh is Britain’s Guantanamo and that the UK Government could and should do more regarding Guantanamo Bay.  She was co-Author of Parliament’s resolution on the matter.

“Belmarsh has become Britain's Guantanamo - the only difference being that so few people are aware that this abuse of human rights is happening on our own soil. This is a disaster for democracy - the right to a fair trial should be unquestionable."

Jean Lambert MEP

2003:  Jean condmned the UK’s human rights record when she spoke in the European Parliament plenary session on the event of a report on human rights in the EU in 2001.  She singled out racism and discrimination as well as the government’s consistent failure to investigate repeated deaths in police custody of suspects from ethnic minority communities.

“The UK’s record on signing and ratifying human rights treaties is poor and its repeated failure to investigate allegations of systematic racist brutality at the hands of the police is shocking.”

Jean Lambert MEPBack to top