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Press release
Human rights: Somalia, Mauritania and the internet
Human rights - 06-07-2006 - 19:00
General
General
The Strasbourg plenary session concluded in its customary way with three debates on democracy and human rights around the world. In the resolutions it adopted following these debates, Parliament urges the different parties in Somalia to pursue the path of dialogue, it backs the democratisation process in Mauritania and it calls for the EU to support freedom of expression on the internet in countries where this is under threat.
Somalia
In its resolution on Somalia, Parliament voices concern at the prolonged civil war as well as its implications for peace and reconciliation and for the security and stability of the Horn of Africa as a whole. The EP condemns the recent fighting in the country and appeals to all parties to refrain from any action likely to escalate current tensions.
MEPs say there are fears that the Union of Islamic Courts, whose militia seized control of much of southern Somalia on 4 June 2006, includes groups accused of having links to Al-Qaida and international terrorism.
However, Parliament notes that the Arab League initiated a dialogue in Khartoum on 22 June 2006 between the Transitional Federal Institutions and the Union of Islamic Courts, in which the Transitional Federal Government recognised the 'reality' of the Union of Islamic Courts which, in return, recognised the 'legality' of the government.
The resolution urges all parties to pursue the path of dialogue and to extend the necessary cooperation to the Transitional Federal Government and parliament as the legitimate central authorities in Somalia governed by the framework of the Transitional Federal Charter.
Parliament supports the initiatives taken by the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) aimed at sustaining the peace and reconciliation process. It also urges the Transitional Federal Institutions and the Union of Islamic Courts to assume their responsibilities in implementing the dialogue initiated in Khartoum.
In addition, MEPs call on the newly formed International Somalia Contact Group, consisting of the AU, the UN, the EU, the USA and others, to focus on governance and institution-building, humanitarian assistance and regional stability and security.
MEPs maintain that, if the international community considers the transitional institutions to have sole legitimacy, pending the holding of free elections they must be given the resources needed to establish institutions such as a police force.
Parliament therefore calls on the EU, in coordination with the AU and working closely with IGAD and the Arab League, to provide political, financial and logistical support, including the deployment of the AU Peace Support Mission. The international community, in particular the EU, is asked to increase humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons and the populations in need.
International humanitarian law must be respected and relief agencies allowed access to the populations in need. Lastly, the arms embargo against Somalia imposed by the UN in 1992 must be strictly enforced.
Mauritania
In a resolution on Mauritania, Parliament reviews the situation since the overthrow of former President Ould Taya on 3 August 2005.
The resolution notes that the Military Council for Justice and Democracy (MCJD) undertook to restore democracy in Mauritania. The EP encourages the authorities to conduct this process as promised and stresses that it will carefully monitor how it progresses.
Parliament welcomes the abolition of media censorship and the freedom of expression enjoyed by political parties and civil society in Mauritania.
MEPs note that a consensus has emerged among political parties and civil society in support of the current process. An electoral timetable has been adopted for a constitutional referendum, as well as general, municipal and presidential elections.
There was a turnout of 76.36% in the referendum of 25 June 2006 in which 96.96% of the electorate voted in favour of constitutional change but MEPs point out that large sections of the population were unable to prove their identity in order to obtain a polling card in accordance with electoral law.
Parliament therefore calls on the Mauritanian authorities to ensure that all Mauritanians can vote in the forthcoming elections, and to enable Mauritanians abroad, including those in refugee camps in Senegal and Mali, to vote in future elections too.
A large number of political parties have been created since 3 August 2005. The resolution recommends that these parties be funded on the basis of their representation in the municipal elections, in which proportional representation makes it easier to take account of the country’s diversity.
Lastly, MEPs call on the Military Council for Justice and Democracy (MCJD) and the transitional government to focus on humanitarian problems, refugees and the legacy of slavery, as well as economic crime, including corruption. The current and future authorities should also tackle wealth inequalities and bring a minimum of social justice to the country.
Freedom of expression on the internet
Lastly, Parliament adopted a resolution condemning government-imposed restrictions on internet content which conflict with freedom of expression. It stresses that freedom of expression is a key value shared by all EU countries and that concrete steps must be taken to defend it.
The resolution refers in positive terms to the statement issued by the World Summit on the Information Society of 16-18 November 2005 in Tunis on the importance of the information society for democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms. This includes the freedom to receive and access information.
The EP points out that the struggle for free speech has today largely shifted on-line as the internet has become the channel of choice for political dissidents, democracy activists, human rights defenders and journalists worldwide.
However, authoritarian regimes have been working on ever more far-reaching methods of controlling the internet. MEPs pinpoint China, Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. They also say many cyber-dissidents are currently in prison, most of them in China.
The resolution also draws attention to the role of western companies, saying that the means to censor the web and monitor electronic communications are often provided by firms based in democratic states.
The resolution singles out Yahoo, Google and Microsoft, which have been persuaded by the Chinese Government to facilitate censorship of their services in the Chinese market. Equipment and technologies supplied by western companies such as CISCO Systems, Telecom Italia and Wanadoo (a subsidiary of France Telecom) have been used by governments to censor the web, says Parliament.
MEPs welcome the introduction by US legislators in February 2006 of a draft law, the Global On-line Freedom Act, aimed at regulating the activities of internet businesses when they operate in repressive countries.
They believe the EU too should stand up for the rights of internet users. They therefore call on the Council and Member States to agree a joint statement confirming their commitment to the protection of internet users' rights and the promotion of free expression on the internet world-wide.
The Commission and Council are also asked to take the following steps:
- to press the authorities of countries that have imprisoned journalists and others for expressing views on the internet to release them immediately;
- to draft a voluntary code of conduct limiting the activities of companies in repressive countries;
- to take into account, when considering EU assistance programmes with third countries, the need for unhindered internet access by the citizens of those countries.
06/07/2006
REF.: 20060629IPR09390