Marina Schuster | |
|---|---|
| Member of theFederal Diet of Germany | |
| Assumed office 2005 | |
| Constituency | Roth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1975-09-23)23 September 1975 (age 49) Eichstätt,Germany |
| Political party | Free Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Regensburg |
| Profession | Economist Politician |
| Website | Official website |
Marina Schuster (born 23 September 1975) is a German politician of the liberalFree Democratic Party.
Schuster was a member of theDeutscher Bundestag for two consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2013.[1] In the 17th Legislative Term of the Bundestag she was spokeswoman on human rights and humanitarian aid for the Free Democratic Party (FDP) parliamentary group. Her current committee assignments included the Committee on Foreign Relations and theCommittee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, both providing oversight on all activities of theGerman Foreign Office. During her first term, between 2005 and 2009, Schuster also served as a deputy member of the committees on consumer protection and home affairs.[2]
Schuster also served as deputy chair of the German-Egyptian Parliamentary Friendship Group. An expert on African politics, she regularly accompanied chancellorAngela Merkel as well as cabinet ministersFrank-Walter Steinmeier,Guido Westerwelle, andDirk Niebel on official trips to the continent.
Schuster was also active in theCouncil of Europe. From 2009 she was member of the German delegation at theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,[3] succeedingSabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger who went on to become minister of justice in theSecond Merkel cabinet. In this capacity, Schuster also held the position of First Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and was a member of the Monitoring Committee. In 2010, she was elected Vice-Chairperson of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[4] She was part of an observer mission during the2011 election for a constituent assembly following theTunisian revolution.[5] In 2013, she was named General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty.
During her tenure as parliamentarian, Schuster served on the boards of several organizations, including the German Foundation for Peace Research and the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval).[6] Today, she sits on the boards of theHirschfeld Eddy Foundation, an organization focused on human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people; theUnited Nations Association of Germany (UNA-Germany); and the German Africa Foundation. She is a member of theDeutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik.
During her tenure as parliamentarian, Schuster has been particularly vocal about the importance of adhering to the international human rights treaties and has repeatedly coauthored parliamentary motions condemning human rights abuses in Russia, Belarus, and Iran, among others. Along withBernard Kouchner andBill Richardson, Schuster was among the signatories of an open letter to Russian presidentDmitry Medvedev, published on 14 December 2010 in theFinancial Times, urging him to end the persecution ofMikhail Khodorkovsky andPlaton Lebedev as well as to find justice forSergey Magnitsky,Anna Politkovskaya,Natalya Estemirova,Stanislav Markelov, among others.[7] In 2012, she joined the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Interparliamentary Group, an international network including parliamentarians from Britain, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. In the discussion on a European version of theMagnitsky Act, Schuster believes that "targeted travel sanctions against officials who are proven to have played a role" could be helpful if the Magnitsky case remains unresolved.[8] On various occasions, Schuster has publicly denounced prominent cases ofpolitical prisoners, including former Belarus presidential candidateAndrei Sannikov;[9] Russian punk-rock bandPussy Riot;[10] Turkish pianist and composerFazıl Say; and Ukrainian politicians Heorhiy Filipchuk,Yuriy Lutsenko, andYulia Tymoshenko. Schuster supports same-sex marriage and has in the past voiced criticism against countries that fail to sufficiently protect theirLGBT communities, such as inUganda,Cameroon, andRussia.
Under the umbrella of the German parliaments’ godparenthood program for human rights activists, Schuster has been raising awareness for the work of persecuted Zimbabwean activistsJestina Mukoko,Jenni Williams, and Farai Maguwu since 2011.[11] Also in 2011, she took on a prisoner’s godparenthood for Belarusian youth activist Pavel Vinahradau.[12]
Schuster’s views on the relationship between Europe and Africa reflect her party’s critical stance toward traditionaldevelopment aid as a means ofsustainable growth. She opposesbudget support to African governments and favors unfettered access by African exports to the European market.[13] Schuster aims at improving ties with theAfrican Union. She has in the past voted forUnited Nations peacekeeping missions on the continent as well as increased support measures regarding police and military training in order to help African efforts to build up their own security structures, such as inSomalia (2008 and 2009),Sudan (2009),Darfur/Sudan (2007, 2008 and 2011),Democratic Republic of Congo (2011),South Sudan (2012), andMali (2013). She was one of the initiators of the German government’s coordinated concept for African policies with a focus on topics rather than on regions.[14]
Schuster has been supportive of theControl Arms Campaign's efforts to create anArms Trade Treaty[15][16] as well as ofHandicap International's fight againstland mine. She supported the move by Germany and other nations to place disarmament high in the strategic concept agreed upon duringNATO's2010 Lisbon summit.[17]
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