European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Eritrea
Date: 2004-11-18
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Eritrea, cooperation policy, democracy, human rights, opposition, political prisoner, prison system

18.8.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 201 E/123

Thursday 18 November 2004

1.
Reiterates its call for the abolition of the death penalty, calls for an immediate moratorium on capital
punishment in China and urges the Chinese authorities to immediately commute the death sentence handed
down to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche;

2.

Strongly condemns the execution of Lobsang Dhondup on 26 January 2003;

3.
Calls on the Chief Prosecutor of the Sichuan Provincial People's Procuratorate and the Governor of the
Sichuan Provincial People's Government to do their utmost to prevent the execution of Tenzin Delek Rin-
poche;

4.
Urges the authorities to guarantee that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche will not be ill-treated in detention, asks
for an immediate review of the case and calls on the Chinese authorities to do all in their power to establish
that international human rights and humanitarian law standards are being respected and, in particular, to
guarantee internationally recognised legal proceedings for persons arrested;

5.
Calls on the European Union and its Member States to urge the Government of the People's Republic
of China to respect the religious rights and freedom of the Tibetan people, and in particular to prevent the
execution of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and to call for a new and fair trial;

Calls on the Commission and the Council to express their concerns about Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's

6.
case during the forthcoming EU/China Summit;

7.
Calls on the Council and the Member States to maintain the EU embargo on trade in arms with the
People's Republic of China and not to weaken the existing national limitations on such arms sales; considers
that this embargo should be maintained until such time as the EU has adopted a legally binding Code of
Conduct on Arms Exports and the People's Republic of China has taken concrete steps towards improving
the human rights situation in that country, inter alia by ratifying the UN Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and by fully respecting the rights of minorities;

8. Welcomes the release of Ngawang Sangdrol and Jigme Sangpo, Tibet's longest-serving prisoners of
conscience, and urges the Chinese authorities to continue with prisoner releases;

9.
Calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China to step up the ongoing dialogue with the
representatives of the Dalai Lama with the aim of reaching a mutually acceptable solution to the issue of
Tibet without further delay;

Reiterates, in this respect, its call to the Council to appoint an EU Special Representative for Tibetan

10.
Affairs so as to contribute effectively to the peaceful resolution of this issue;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary-
General, the Chinese Government, the Governor of Sichuan Province and the Chief Prosecutor of the
Sichuan Provincal People's Procuratorate.

P6_TA(2004)0068

Human rights in Eritrea

European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Eritrea

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the ruling against Eritrea by the African Commission on Human Rights in March

2004,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

C 201 E/124

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.8.2005

Thursday 18 November 2004

A. deeply concerned by Eritrea's steadily deteriorating human rights situation, and dismayed by the mani-
fest lack of cooperation from the Eritrean authorities, despite repeated appeals by international human
rights organisations and NGOs,

B. whereas on 4 November 2004 the Eritrean security forces indiscriminately arrested thousands of young
people and others suspected of evading military conscription, and fearing that the prisoners may risk
torture and ill-treatment,

C. whereas 12 people died in an alleged escape bid on 4 November 2004 in the Adi Abeto military

prison,

D. whereas many young people have fled the country to escape from military service, and many of those
forcibly returned to Eritrea from Malta and Libya have been arrested, tortured and sent to a secret
prison where most are still detained incommunicado,

E.

F.

strongly deploring the continued imprisonment without charge since September 2001 of the so-called
Asmara 11, a group of former ruling-party members of parliament campaigning for democratisation,

having regard to the de facto suppression of the independent press and the arrests of numerous jour-
nalists, in the wake of which the association ‘Reporters sans frontières’ now ranks Eritrea as the third
most repressive country in the world towards journalists,

G. whereas since September 2001 13 independent journalists have been arrested in Asmara, one of them
being a Swedish citizen, Dawit Isaak, who has not been tried for any crime, while the Eritrean auth-
orities have refused to make any comment on his fate,

H. whereas the constitution adopted in 1997 and guaranteeing civil liberties, including freedom of religion,

has never been implemented,

I. whereas respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, consti-

tutes an essential element of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement,

1.
Firmly condemns all human rights abuses in Eritrea and calls on the country's authorities to uphold
human rights, to respect the international conventions and to cooperate in full with international human
rights organisations and NGOs;

2.

Calls on the Eritrean government to abide by the international human rights conventions;

3.
Calls for a thorough and independent investigation of the incident at the Adi Abeto military prison on
4 November 2004, where at least a dozen prisoners were reportedly shot dead; calls for those responsible
to be brought to justice;

Calls on the Eritrean authorities to immediately release the 11 former members of parliament,

4.
compliance with the ruling of the African Commission on Human Rights of March 2004;

in

Calls on the Eritrean authorities to lift the ban on the country's independent press and to immediately
5.
release the 13 independent journalists and all others who have been jailed simply for exercising their right
to freedom of expression;

Calls on the Eritrean authorities to respect the human rights of all detainees, including the young

6.
people arrested on 4 November 2004, and allow them immediate access to their families and lawyers;

Stresses the importance it attaches to fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom

7.
of association, especially in the political and trade union spheres, and freedom of assembly;

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Thursday 18 November 2004

8.
Reiterates its demand for the initiation of an inter-Eritrean political process, bringing together the
various party leaders and representatives of civil society with a view to finding a solution to the current
crisis and to setting the country on the path to democracy, political pluralism and sustainable development;
in this context, confirms its commitment to supporting the development of Eritrea, as well as peace and
stability and cooperation in the region;

9.
Calls on the Council and Commission to open the consultation procedure in accordance with Arti-
cle 96 of the Cotonou Agreement in order to stop human rights violations and pave the way for political
pluralism;

10.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the ACP-EU Council
and ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the African
Union, and the Government and Parliament of Eritrea.