European Parliament resolution on Guinea
Date: 2007-02-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Guinea, fact-finding mission, human rights, repression, right to justice, strike, trade union

C 287 E/558

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

29.11.2007

Thursday 15 February 2007

4.
Calls on the many donor countries which have been reluctant to face up to a regional Iraqi refugee
crisis to take into consideration the fact that the Iraqi authorities and the governments affected in the
neighbourhood appear unable to fully cope with the crisis and to reconsider the necessity of providing
financial assistance to help those host countries in order to share the burden of this refugee problem by
offering third-country resettlement opportunities to those refugees;

5. Welcomes the holding of an international conference on addressing the humanitarian needs of refu-
gees and IDPs inside Iraq and in neighbouring countries in Geneva on 17 April 2007; urges the Council,
the Commission, the authorities in the region and the international community to fully participate in that
conference and provide appropriate financial support;

6.
Asks the Member States and the international community, as a demonstration of international burden-
sharing, to contribute to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees and stateless persons, including the Palestinian
refugees from Iraq stranded in the region;

7.
Calls on Member States, while recognising the efforts deployed by the Swedish Government swiftly
and fairly to determine the claims of Iraqi asylum-seekers, in accordance with the above-mentioned UNHCR
Return Advisory and Position of 18 December 2006, and to fulfil their obligations under international and
Community law to grant refugee status or subsidiary protection to those who are at risk of persecution or
serious harm;

8.
Recognises also the efforts made by non-border countries of the region such as Egypt to assist Iraqi
refugees; asks this country to pursue its efforts in favour of the Iraqi refugees by keeping its border open
and improving conditions for them; asks countries hosting Iraqis to respect their fundamental rights and
ensure their access to basic services such as health and education;

Recognises the contribution of the regional Kurdish government in assisting Christian communities

9.
that are internally displaced;

Calls on the Iraqi Government, local regional and religious authorities and the Multi-National Coali-
10.
tion Forces in Iraq to take immediate steps to improve security for all the refugees and IDPs in Iraq and end
discriminatory practices;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN High
11.
Commissioner for Refugees, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Director-General of the Organi-
zation of the Islamic Conference, the governments and parliaments of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon,
Egypt, Turkey and the member states of
the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Palestinian National
Authority.

P6_TA(2007)0057

Guinea

European Parliament resolution on Guinea

The European Parliament,

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

A. gravely concerned by President Lansana Conté's declaration of a state of emergency on 13 February
2007 following the general strike launched on 10 January 2007 by Guinea's trade unions and civil
society concerning economic and social claims and the violent repression by security forces of a peace-
ful demonstration held on 17 January 2007 in Conakry,

29.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 287 E/559

Thursday 15 February 2007

B.

concerned by the recent violence during which security forces clashed with protestors asking President
Conté, who took power in a 1984 coup d'état, to appoint an independent Prime Minister and hand
over all his presidential powers,

C. whereas President Conté has declared a ‘state of siege’, which includes a 20-hour-a-day curfew, a ban on
processions, marches and demonstrations, as well as public and private meetings, and which authorises
day and night searches, giving the army extensive powers to take ‘all the necessary measures’,

D. whereas violent repression by the army's special forces, in particular the ‘Mobile Company for Interven-
tion and Security’ and the ‘Autonomous Battalion for Presidential Security’, has caused a large number
of victims, whereas there are allegations of the presence of mercenaries and former guerilla fighters
working as paramilitary government forces,

E. whereas President Conté's appointment of Mr Eugène Camara as Prime Minister on 9 February 2007
was not in accordance with the agreement of 27 January 2007 signed by the government and the
unions, which called for a ‘consensus Prime Minister’ with extensive executive powers for a three-year
transition period during which parliamentary and presidential elections would be organised, and has
consequently led to continued violence and lawlessness throughout Guinea,

F. whereas since 2005 there have been several incidents in which Guinean security forces have fired on
unarmed demonstrators, notably in June 2006, when the government responded to demonstrations
against the rising prices of basic commodities with a brutal crackdown during which the police and
soldiers gunned down at least 13 unarmed demonstrators,

G. whereas Guinea is endowed with gold, iron and bauxite, as well as fertile land and water resources,
including fish stocks, which could have contributed to improving the population's living standards if
democratic accountability had prevailed in the country,

1.
Strongly condemns the disproportionate and excessive use of force by the Guinean security forces
during the recent demonstrations in various parts of the country, which resulted in the death of many
civilians, the wounding of several demonstrators and the detention of trade union leaders and others;

Stresses the importance of appointing a consensus Prime Minister, in accordance with the undertak-

2.
ings given by President Conté;

3.
Calls for the establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry, overseen by the
United Nations, to investigate the recent killings as well as past human rights abuses, and to identify those
responsible and bring them to justice in order to put an end to this impunity;

4.
Calls on the Guinean authorities to order the immediate release of all persons arrested during the
demonstration without being properly legally charged and, if such charges exist, to ensure that such persons
are given a prompt and fair trial, in which their procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;

5.
Calls for individual and trade union freedoms to be respected and restored and for the authoritarian
abuses which have marked President Conté's regime for 23 years to cease; calls for negotiations to be
opened with civil society organisations and trade unions with a view to a negotiated settlement of claims;

Calls on the Guinean authorities to put an immediate stop to the killings and calls for a democratic

6.
transition towards a system corresponding to the aspirations of the Guinean people;

Calls on the Commission to envisage the political dialogue provided for in Article 96 of the Cotonou

7.
Agreement;

8.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States, the African Union, Economic Community of West African States, the Government of
Guinea and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.