Resolution on the situation in Mauritania
Date: 2008-11-28
Institutions: ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Subjects: ACP-EU Joint Assembly, Mauritania, adoption of a law by vote, aid policy, parliamentary assembly, parliamentary vote, peacekeeping, public safety, the EU's international role

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Official Journal of the European Union

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32. Urges the European Commission and ACP governments to ensure that it is the responsibility of any
company found to be using child labour to ensure that the children working for that company are
properly integrated into the education system;

33. Stresses that GSP and GSP+ status must be conditional on those ACP countries benefiting from the
GSP and GSP+ programmes not only ratifying, but also demonstrating compliance with the
ILO conventions on child labour and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; to this end, calls
on the European Commission to put in place a structure for regular and frequent monitoring and
reporting on compliance with the provisions of these conventions; states that appropriate action must
be taken where there is evidence of serious and systematic violation;

34. Believes that public procurement contracts should include clauses that oblige the companies in ques-
tion to demonstrate supply-chain compliance with international child labour standards, that such
contracts should not be awarded in the absence of such proof and that there must be an appropriate
opportunity (within the public arena) for NGOs and other parties to present evidence of the contrary;
strongly emphasises that such clauses should in no way be considered non-tariff trade barriers;

35. Calls on the EU Member States and the European Commission to tie support for companies through
trade missions, export subsidies, grants and loans to demonstrations of compliance with international
conventions on child labour;

36. Stresses that globalisation and liberalisation of world trade must be accompanied by the observance of

fundamental rights, including the prohibition of child labour;

37. Calls for the international community (which includes the World Trade Organisation) to pioneer a
‘child kite mark’, which would indicate clearly that a product was ‘grown/manufactured without child
labour’ and which could be used specifically vis-à-vis countries where child labour is known to be
prevalent;

38.

Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the European
Commission, the African Union, the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, the
Pacific Islands Forum, the EU Member States, the United Nations Children's Fund and the ILO.

RESOLUTION (1)

on the situation in Mauritania

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,

— meeting in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) from 25 to 28 November 2008,

— having regard to Article 17(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU), the Lomé Declaration
of July 2000 and the Protocol relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of
the African Union on unconstitutional changes of government,

— having regard to the decisions taken by the PSC at its 144th and 151st meetings,

— having regard to the United Nations Security Council statement of 20 August 2008,

— having regard to the statements and resolutions of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), the European Union (EU) and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF),

— having regard to the consultations opened under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement,

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 28 November 2008 in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea).

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— having regard to the communiqué at the consultative meeting on the situation in Mauritania attended
by the League of Arab States, the United Nations, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the
OIF, the EU and the AU on 21 November 2008 in Addis Ababa,

— having regard to the report of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors' fact-finding mission to the Islamic

Republic of Mauritania from 7 to 11 October 2008,

— having regard to the Mauritanian National Assembly resolution of 14 September 2008,

A. whereas on 6 August 2008 a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ousted the

President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi,

B. whereas the economic and social situation in the country is catastrophic, and whereas the success of

democracy is best ensured by development,

C. whereas President Abdallahi was democratically elected in April 2007 at the end of a democratic transi-
tion process hailed as exemplary by the international community and validated by the European Union
election observation mission and the European Parliament delegation,

D. having regard to the EU's backing of the democratic transition and the EUR 156 million ‘support
programme’ for the period 2008 to 2013 under the 10th European Development Fund, complementing
the assistance already in place and the EUR 335 million granted in aid since 1985,

E. whereas Mauritania is a member of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, otherwise known as the
Barcelona Process, and took part in the Summit for the Mediterranean held in Paris on 13 July 2008,

F. whereas, although the change of government was effected without bloodshed, President Abdallahi and
several other political figures were arrested, and whereas President Abdallahi remains deprived of his
liberty,

G. whereas a ‘High State Council’ has been established by the junta, and whereas the chairman of that
council, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been appointed head of state by means of a ‘constitu-
tional ordinance’,

H. whereas the ‘constitutional ordinance’ in which the junta defines its powers and which enables it to

govern by decree is without any legal basis,

I. whereas the ‘High State Council’ has appointed a prime minister,

J. whereas the difficulties Mauritania was experiencing at the time of the coup were political in nature and

could thus have been resolved by peaceful, political means and dialogue,

K. whereas, despite those difficulties, Mauritania had made remarkable progress with extremely sensitive
domestic policy issues such as the return of refugees, the eradication of slavery and media liberalisation,
and whereas this augured well for the eventual development of a firmly rooted democracy,

L. whereas an open debate between all political forces is required in order to establish the means of
restoring constitutional order and the mechanisms governing the balance between executive and legisla-
ture, with a view to securing, within the framework of the constitution, a proper balance between presi-
dent and parliament and the necessary political stability, without interference by the armed forces,

M. having regard to the various means of ending the crisis and restoring constitutional order put forward
by political forces and by ‘civil society’, in particular the proposal from the democratic opposition and
the ‘transition roadmap’ put forward by the National Assembly,

N. having regard to the security problems in the Sahelo-Saharan strip, which are giving lifeblood to
terrorism, cross-border crime and arms and drugs trafficking and are having a destabilising effect on the
countries of the subregion,

O. having regard to the role played by Mauritania in combating those scourges,

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P.

noting the condemnation of
in particular the
ACP Group, ECOWAS, the AU, the EU, the Arab League and the United Nations, and the decision by
the AU and the OIF to suspend Mauritania until such time as democracy has been restored,

the coup voiced by the international community,

Q. whereas on 22 September 2008 the African Union gave the junta an ultimatum to restore constitu-
tional order and unconditionally reinstate Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi by 6 October 2008,

R. whereas the military junta rejected that ultimatum, and whereas on Tuesday, 7 October 2008, the

AU Commission called on the AU member states not to recognise the putschists in Mauritania,

S.

having regard to the opening of
the consultation procedure between the European Union and
Mauritania, in accordance with Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, which provides for such consulta-
tions where ‘a Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation stemming from
respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law’,

T. whereas the World Bank has suspended USD 175 million in aid to Mauritania; whereas that suspension
will affect some 17 national projects in Mauritania as well as the country's participation in World Bank
regional projects relating to, among other things, rural development, health, education and infrastruc-
ture (such as road building),

U. whereas the police have used violence to break up unauthorised demonstrations organised by a coali-

tion of political parties calling for the reinstatement of President Abdallahi,

1. Condemns the overthrow of the president and government by the armed forces in Mauritania, and
stresses that the democratically established institutions must be respected; regrets this setback, given the
notable advances made in the development of democracy and the rule of law over the past few years in
Mauritania;

2. Notes the transfer of deposed President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi to his home village,
where he is being kept under house arrest, but continues to call for his immediate and unconditional
release;

3. Calls on the Mauritanian authorities to uphold human rights, including freedom of expression, associa-

tion and assembly;

4. Maintains that broad-based consultations are the only means of ending the crisis and enabling all demo-
cratic institutions to perform their proper function once again, including full exercise by the parliament
of all of its prerogatives;

5. Calls on the ruling military authorities to commit themselves forthwith to a timetable for a return to
constitutional order and the restoration of the democratic institutions, and to making the military ineli-
gible to stand in the elections;

6. Calls, accordingly, on all political players in Mauritania to establish an appropriate framework for such

consultations without delay;

7. Welcomes the commencement of consultations between the European Union and the ruling authorities
in Mauritania, and calls on the European Commission to give the JPA regular progress reports on the
consultations conducted under Article 96 and on the establishment of a timetable for the restoration of
constitutional order, but regrets that, to date, there has been no significant progress in this respect;

8. Welcomes the AU's announcement that it will submit ‘concrete proposals’ following the rejection of its

ultimatum by the Mauritanian ‘High State Council’;

9. Calls on the AU and the EU to look at all the targeted sanctions that might be taken against the military
putschists (travel ban, freezing of assets, etc.) should no commitment be made in the near future to a
relevant and credible plan for ending the crisis and restoring constitutional order, but not to take any
steps that might jeopardise the development of Mauritania and an improvement in the living conditions
of its people;

10. Insists that the people of Mauritania, who are already severely affected by the economic and food crises,
must not be made hostages of the current political crisis, and calls on the European Commission to
implement the support projects for civil society under the European Instrument for Democracy and
Human Rights;

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11. Urges the junta to consider the multiple benefits for the Mauritanian people of taking part in the poli-
tical process for peace, democracy, prosperity and human, social and cultural understanding outlined at
the Summit for the Mediterranean of 13 July 2008, which was attended by Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh
Abdallahi, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania;

12. Welcomes the sending of an ACP Committee of Ambassadors' delegation and notes the adoption of the

Mauritanian National Assembly resolution of 14 September 2008;

13. Decides to send an ACP-EU parliamentary delegation to Mauritania, to assist the Mauritanian Parliament
in rediscovering its unity and seeking a way out of the crisis that is honourable for all concerned;

14. Instructs it Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the European Commission,
the Pan-African Parliament, the Commission of the African Union, the Arab Maghreb Union, the
United Nations Security Council and the National Assembly and other authorities of Mauritania.

RESOLUTION (1)

on the situation in Zimbabwe

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,

— meeting in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) from 25 to 28 November 2008,

— having regard to Article 17(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of 29 March 2008 of the Pan-African Parliament Election Observer Mission

on the harmonised elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe,

— having regard to the preliminary statement of 29 June 2008 of the Pan-African Parliament Election

Observer Mission on the Zimbabwe presidential run-off and House of Assembly by-elections,

— having regard to the interim statement of 30 June 2008 of the Pan-African Parliament Election

Observer Mission to the presidential run-off and parliamentary by-elections in Zimbabwe,

— having regard to the preliminary statement of 29 June 2008 of the African Union (AU) Observer

Mission to Zimbabwe,

— having regard to the resolution on the establishment of a government of national unity in Zimbabwe

adopted at the African Union Summit of 1 July 2008 in Sharm el-Sheikh,

— having regard to the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections adopted by the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum in 2001 and the Principles and Guide-
lines Governing Democratic Elections adopted by the SADC Summit in Mauritius in August 2004,

— having regard to the agreement of 15 September 2008 between the Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations, on
resolving the challenges facing Zimbabwe,

— having regard to the SADC Treaty and the Protocols thereto, including the SADC Electoral Protocol,

— having regard to the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the African Charter on Human and Peoples'

Rights and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD),

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 28 November 2008 in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea).