EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/543

(2004/C 84 E/0620)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0189/04

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(29 January 2004)

Subject: Tunisian regime's repressive measures targeting human rights activists

According to various sources, since the beginning of January there has been an upsurge in acts of violence and intimidation against human rights activists by the Tunisian regime. On 3 January, Hammad Ali Bedoui, a member of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT) was placed under house arrest despite being in possession of a valid passport and Schengen visa. That same day, a huge deployment of police officers prevented the General Assembly of the International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP) from taking place. On 5 January, Sihem Bensedrine, a journalist and member of the CNLT, was brutally attacked as she was returning to her home, which is also the headquarters of the CNLT. Since the beginning of the year, the building has been subject to heightened, 24-hour surveillance, which requires the constant presence of five plain-clothes police officers. Furthermore, according to the Yemeni Consul in Tunisia, the Tunisian authorities exerted extreme pressure on the Yemeni authorities not to grant visas to Mokhtar Trifi, the president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), Khedija Cherif the vice-president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) and Alya Cherif Chammari, a member of the board of Collectif 95 Maghreb Egalité and the Tunisian Centre for the Independence of the Judicial System, who had been invited to attend the Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Democracy, Human Rights and the Role of the International Criminal Court, held in Sanaa from 10 to 12 January 2004. The event was organised, under the aegis of the Presidency of the European Union, by the Yemeni Government and the NGO ‘No Peace Without Justice’ and sponsored by the Commission, the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland and the UNDP.

Is the Commission aware of the stepping-up of repressive measures against human rights activists by the Tunisian authorities? At the recent EU-Tunisia bilateral meeting at the end of September 2003, did the Commission remind the Tunisian delegation that the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement contains a human rights clause (Article 2) that stipulates that relations between the parties and the agreement in general are based on respect for human rights and the rule of law? Does the Commission not believe that the Tunisian authorities have now shown, with enough force and consistency and for a sufficient length of time, that they never had any intention of respecting the human rights clause, and does it not believe that it is up to the EU, therefore, to devise a range of retaliatory measures, which, it seems, would be the only way to persuade the Tunisian authorities to display a more constructive attitude?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(27 February 2004)

The Tunisian human rights organisations referred to by the Honourable Member informed the Commission of the facts stated in his letter, via the international networks to which they belong.

With regard to the Regional Conference on Democracy and Human Rights held in Sana'a from 10 to 12 January 2004, the Commission remarked on the absence of Tunisian representatives of independent civil society.

In concert with the Member States, the Commission holds a regular dialogue with the Tunisian authorities on democracy and human rights.

For example, at the Fourth EU-Tunisia Association Council meeting on 30 September 2003, the EU reminded Tunisia of the importance it attaches to respect for the fundamental principles and common values underpinning the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement. The Member of the Commission responsible for external relations emphasised this, stressing that a more participatory society was essential to the country's harmonious development.

The Commission therefore proposed to Tunisia that the implementation of the Association Agreement and the European neighbourhood policy include a more structured and hence more effective dialogue on common values.

In addition, financial cooperation increasingly focuses on programmes relating to governance and the rule of law.