European Parliament resolution on Malaysia
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Malaysia, human rights, political prisoner, right to justice, the EU's international role

C 53 E/406

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

28.2.2002

Thursday 14 June 2001

Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of using the consultation procedure under the

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terms of Article 96 of the Cotonou Convention;

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Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the Chadian Government and the
Secretary-General of the OAU.

20. Human rights: Egypt

B5-0440, 0450, 0466 and 0471/2001

European Parliament resolution on human rights in Egypt

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on Egypt,

A. whereas Dr Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Director of the Khaldun Centre for Democracy, was arrested together
with 27 other people in July 2000 and sentenced on 21 May 2001 to seven years(cid:146) imprisonment;
pointing out also that the Egyptian judiciary is required to review his case,

B. whereas Mrs Nawal Saadawi has been victim of a defamation campaign that attributed her some
statements offending Islam; whereas the Attorney General has decided in her case to drop the charge
of (cid:145)contempt for religion(cid:146) and to transfer the charge of apostasy to the competent court with his
recommendation to drop the charges,

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Calls for Dr Ibrahim to be assured a fair trial;

Recalls that freedom of expression is fundamental for the development and strengthening of democ-

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racy;

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Reaffirms the importance of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in promoting the rule of law and
human rights; asks the Commission to strengthen its MEDA programme for democracy, in cooperation
with the Egyptian authorities,
in particular with a view to supporting freedom of expression and the
independence of the media;

Expresses its support for the Khaldun Centre for Democracy and calls on the Commission to con-

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tinue to support its initiatives;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Egyptian

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Government and parliament.

21. Human rights: Malaysia

B5-0433, 0441, 0451, 0458 and 0467/2001

European Parliament resolution on Malaysia

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Malaysia,

(cid:129) having regard to Article 5 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which guarantees all Malaysians the

right to liberty of their persons,

28.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 53 E/407

A. whereas the human rights situation in Malaysia has deteriorated rapidly,

largely because of Prime

Minister Mahathir(cid:146)s determination to crush his political rivals,

Thursday 14 June 2001

B. whereas the Internal Security Act (ISA) allows the Malaysian Government to order indefinite detention
without charge or trial of any person suspected of acting in a manner prejudicial to national security
and has frequently been used to arrest political opponents and human rights activists, while detainees
have been subjected to physical abuse and to intense psychological pressure amounting at times to
torture,

C. whereas, in addition to the ISA, Article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution has given legitimacy to
other laws used by the authorities to detain thousands of Malaysians without trial for alleged criminal
offences, such as the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance of 1969 and the
Dangerous Drugs (Special Prevention Measures) Act of 1985,

D. whereas numerous Malaysian civil society organisations have for many years consistently called upon
their government to abolish the ISA and to release immediately all those arrested under this Act,

E. whereas, according to reports by Suhakam and other Malaysian and international organisations, over
40 people are currently being detained under the ISA, including at least eight detained on grounds of
peaceful expression of their political or religious beliefs, and some people have been held in an
unknown place of detention and been denied access to their families and lawyers,

F. whereas on 2 June 2001, according to international human rights organisations, a further four politi-
cal activists (Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais and Tian Chua) were served
two-year detention orders under the ISA solely for exercising their rights to legitimate political organi-
sation and dissent,

G. whereas the High Court of Malaya in Shah Alam, in setting free two ISA detainees under writs of
habeas corpus on 30 May 2001, called upon the Malaysian Parliament to review the ISA thoroughly,

H. whereas the guarantee not to be detained in any way without a fair and public trial is a basic and

fundamental human right,

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Deplores the fact that the Malaysian authorities continue to resort to the ISA to detain political
opponents and human rights activists and thus deny them access to justice in an open court of law; calls
upon them to release these detainees, or else charge them and ensure that they are promptly and fairly
tried;

2.
Calls on the Malaysian authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and to guar-
antee Malaysia(cid:146)s citizens the right to freedom of expression and association, to adhere to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to adapt the Malaysian Constitution accordingly, to abolish the
ISA and to enact laws which ensure fair and public trials for all detainees;

3.
Calls on the European Union and its Member States to put pressure upon the Malaysian Government
to respect human rights, and invites the Council and the Commission to raise these questions during the
next EU-Malaysia Partenariat, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 5-6 November 2001, and at the next
EU-ASEAN Ministerial meeting;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the parliament

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and government of Malaysia.