Press release

 

 

In a resolution on Cuba, adopted by 50 votes to 21 with 3 abstentions, MEPs call on the Cuban authorities to allow greater political freedom but they also urge the EU and its Member States not to relax their stance towards the country as laid down in an agreed EU official position. This resolution replaced the one originally scheduled on Iraqi refugees.

 

In the adopted text, Parliament notes that dozens of independent journalists, dissidents and human rights defenders are still in jail and stresses "the need for Cuba to launch a process of political transition to multi-party democracy, with participation and decision-making open to all Cubans on the basis of an open-ended dialogue that excludes no-one".  

 

 

In a key point of the resolution, MEPs insist that the EU and its Member States must not deviate from the EU's agreed policy on Cuba, which was laid down in a "common position" of 1996 (regularly updated since and due for another revision in 2008).  Thus, the EU institutions are urged "to give their unconditional support and full encouragement to launching a peaceful process of political transition to a multi-party democracy in Cuba, in line with the common position".

 

More pointedly, the resolution "stresses that the EU's common position on Cuba remains entirely valid, as do its objectives" and it "deeply regrets the fact that the high-level visits of the EU institutions and the Member States that have taken place to date have involved talks with all the authorities of the Cuban regime but no direct meetings with the representatives of the peaceful democratic opposition or the political prisoners' relatives".

 

 

The European Parliament's Sakharov Prize, which is presented each year to defenders of human rights, democracy or free speech, was awarded in 2002 to Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and in 2005 to Damas de Blanco, both of Cuba, but in neither case were the winners allowed to leave the country to receive their prize.  Parliament tried to send a delegation to investigate the situation but the Cuban authorities refused to issue visas to the MEPs.  The resolution urges the authorities to alter their stance on both these matters. 

 

 

MEPs also note that "the Council has decided to invite a Cuban delegation to Brussels in order to resume a comprehensive and open political dialogue with the Cuban authorities". Parliament "hopes that when that visit is prepared the Council will include in the talks with the Cuban government the invitations of the EU institutions to the Damas de Blanco and Oswaldo Payá, as well as Parliament's desire to send a delegation to Cuba".

 

Lastly, Parliament believes the EU should make use of its economic clout, saying it "considers it extremely important that any strengthening of political and economic relations - including development aid - between the EU and the Cuban authorities that might derive from a comprehensive and open political dialogue be linked to concrete and verifiable improvements of the human rights conditions of all Cuban citizens, starting with the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience".

 

 

 

*          *          *

 

 

 

 

Following up on previous resolutions on Ethiopia, MEPs take another look at the unstable situation that has persisted in that country since the 2005 elections. Opposition leaders who led protests at the outcome of the elections have been convicted in court and may now face the death penalty.  While calling on the Ethiopian authorities to respect fundamental rights, MEPs also believe the EU institutions could be doing more and indeed that the EU bears some responsibility since it persuaded Ethiopians not to boycott the elections.

 

In the wake of the May 2005 elections, whose results are widely held to have been falsified by the government, opposition demonstrations were met with violence from the authorities, resulting in 193 civilian deaths and 763 injured, according to a Commission of Inquiry set up by the Ethiopian Parliament.  Members of the Commission were later "forced to flee following pressure by the government to reverse the Commission's findings".

 

 

Now, on 11 June 2007 an Ethiopian court has found 38 senior opposition figures guilty of charges "ranging from ‘outrage against the constitution’ to aggravated high treason". Sentencing is expected next month and most of the accused could face the death penalty.

 

Among a range of demands on the Ethiopian authorities in their resolution, MEPs call on the government "to release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners, including elected members of parliament, CUD leaders, human rights activists, journalists, teachers, students, trade union activists and ordinary citizens".

 

The EP also "urges the Ethiopian judicial authorities to reconsider their verdict, and calls on the Ethiopian Government to repeal possible death and/or prison sentences".  In addition, it "calls for the establishment of an international independent Inquiry Commission".

 

 

MEPs strongly believe the international community should play a bigger role. They ask the EU, the African Union and the UN "to encourage and support an all-inclusive inter-Ethiopian dialogue, with the participation of political parties and civil society, in order to work out a lasting solution to the current political crisis".

 

MEPs call on the UN "to appoint a ‘special rapporteur’ to conduct an investigation in Ethiopia into judicial independence and arbitrary detentions, the human rights situation, including minority rights, post-election violence and killings, and charges of treason and outrage against the constitutional order directed at opposition leaders, journalists and civil-society activists".

 

In addition, the EU Commission and Council should "pursue a coherent post-electoral policy in Ethiopia" and "consider the application of targeted sanctions against senior government officials". The EP points out that "development cooperation programmes under the Cotonou Agreement should depend on respect for human rights and good governance". It hence calls on the Commission and Council to "take a coordinated stance" consistent with Article 96 of the agreement.

 

 

 

 

*          *          *

 

 

 

 

In a resolution on Burma adopted by 73 votes to 1 with 2 abstentions, MEPs condemn the regime's oppression of the Burmese people and call for the release of political prisoners.  They also urge outside actors, such as the EU, ASEAN, China, India and the business world, to each play their part in improving the situation.

 

The resolution first demands "the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi", the leader of the National League for Democracy and winner of the EP's Sakharov Prize, who has spent 11 of the last 17 years under house arrest.  On 25 May 2007 the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) extended her detention for another year.

 

Parliament then "condemns the SPDC's unremitting oppression of the Burmese people and its persistent persecution and imprisonment of pro-democracy activists" and "draws particular attention to the case of U Win Tin, a 77-year old journalist detained as a political prisoner for almost two decades now for writing a letter to the UN on the ill-treatment of political prisoners".  It insists on "the immediate release of U Win Tin and all political prisoners – estimated to number over 1200".

 

 

The resolution welcomes a statement by ASEAN leaders in which they "encouraged Myanmar to make greater progress towards national reconciliation" but regrets that the ASEAN has not yet opted for "more robust measures against the military junta in Burma" and also that "the Burmese Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, was permitted to attend the eighth ASEM Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Germany this year".

 

China and India are urged "to use their considerable economic and political leverage with the Burmese regime in order to bring about substantial improvements in the country and, in any case, to cease the supply of weaponry and other strategic resources".

 

Businesses which invest in Burma are asked "to ensure that, in carrying out their projects, human rights are genuinely respected".

 

 

The renewal of EU targeted sanctions is welcomed but it is recognised that they have failed to achieve the desired impact. MEPs therefore call on the Council "to expand the scope of the sanctions and to enlarge the list of those targeted".  Meanwhile, the Council must "ensure that all Member States rigorously apply existing restrictive measures".  Under the EU Common Position on Burma, "support is limited to humanitarian aid and assistance for those most in need".  MEPs believe "all aid destined for Burma must be delivered through genuine NGOs", with a focus on women's groups and ethnic minorities.