6. Points out that one of the main goals of Euro-Mediterranean policy is to promote the rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights and political pluralism and considers, in this regard, that the Euro-Mediterranean partnership has not yet produced the expected results in the area of human rights; calls, therefore, on the Council and Commission to clearly enshrine the promotion of human rights and democracy in the objectives of this new initiative and to further strengthen the implementation of existing mechanisms, such as the human rights clause included in the association agreements (also involving the incorporation of a mechanism implementing this cl ...[+++]ause in the new generation of agreements), the ENP bilateral Action Plans and the new subcommittees on human rights; calls, furthermore, for the setting-up of a Euro-Mediterranean Court of Human Rights to give all the citizens of the countries which signed the Barcelona Declaration the possibility of lodging complaints concerning human rights violations;

whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the right to elect freely chosen representatives in secret, in periodically held genuine elections, on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, is one that all citizens should enjoy, that right being also enshrined in all other main international and regional human rights instruments as well as being an essential element of true democracy, to which the EU is committed in its Treaties,

support for international criminal tribunals and ad hoc national tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions, and mechanisms for the legal settlement of human rights claims and the assertion and adjudication of property rights, established in accordance with international human rights and rule of law standards;

where the legal formulation of those rights is concerned, the parties should refer, in particular, to their international obligations and undertakings which have already been ratified, and it must be made clear that the parties are required to comply with the norms which constitute an 'essential element' of the agreement; in particular, the parties should undertake to promote those fundamental rights set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights of 1948, the two International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the internationally recognised UN covenants and legal norms of the "jus ...[+++]cogens"; points out that, in its relations with third countries and in the context of promoting democratic principles and human rights through the human rights and democracy clause, the European Union is called upon to pay special attention to implementing policies for gender equality and women's rights, whilst satisfying itself that the third-country authorities uphold the fundamental rights not to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured or executed and that their citizens have access to an impartial court of law as a priority; points out that, in accordance with the European treaties, in its relations with third countries and in the context of promoting democratic principles and human rights through the human rights and democracy clause, the EU also undertakes to oppose any discrimination based on sexual orientation or concerning the rights of disabled people;

where the legal formulation of those rights is concerned, the parties should refer, in particular, to their international obligations and undertakings which have already been ratified, and it must be made clear that the parties are required to comply with the norms which constitute an 'essential element' of the agreement; in particular, the parties should undertake to promote those fundamental rights set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights of 1948, the two International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the internationally recognised UN covenants and legal norms of the "jus ...[+++]cogens"; points out that, in its relations with third countries and in the context of promoting democratic principles and human rights through the human rights and democracy clause, the European Union is called upon to pay special attention to implementing policies for gender equality and women's rights, whilst satisfying itself that the third-country authorities uphold the fundamental rights not to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured or executed and that their citizens have access to an impartial court of law as a priority; points out that, in accordance with the European treaties, in its relations with third countries and in the context of promoting democratic principles and human rights through the human rights and democracy clause, the EU also undertakes to oppose any discrimination based on sexual orientation or concerning the rights of disabled people;

In the 1970's, two declarations, the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons (DRMRP) [2] and the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (RDP) [3], were the first instruments in which the human rights of persons with disabilities were explicitly recognised.