Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-14-Speech-4-210"
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"en.20020314.10.4-210"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, convicted in absentia in 1999 to nine years and three months in prison for membership of an illegal association, incitement to civil disobedience, distribution of pamphlets inciting violence and dishonestly spreading false information liable to disrupt public order, Hamma Hammami came out of hiding in order to challenge this judgment on 2 February 2002.
At the end of an eventful trial punctuated with incidents, the Court of First Instance in Tunis confirmed the original verdict and ordered the accused Hamma Hammami to be imprisoned. The appeal trial began on Saturday 9 March before a number of foreign observers, including journalists, Western diplomats posted to Tunis, barristers from France, Switzerland and Belgium, as well as delegates from human rights organisations. A dozen lawyers appealed, one after the other, to the bar to request to be given time to read through the dossier that they had been unable to access and to deplore the fact that they had been prevented from visiting their client as under normal circumstances. After some deliberation, the Court of Appeal postponed the trial until 30 March and refused the request to release the accused men. These are the facts.
The European Union has expressed to the Tunisian authorities its concern regarding the human rights violations, but has merely hinted at the fact that these violations may compromise its Association Agreement with Tunisia, which was the first bilateral pact between the European Union and a Mediterranean country and which was signed three years ago.
Last January, Mr Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission, met with the Tunisian authorities in Tunis whilst on an official visit to North Africa. In a speech that he gave on that occasion, Mr Prodi stated that the negotiations related to trade and cooperation. Instead of taking this opportunity, whilst speaking publicly, to raise the issue of human rights, Mr Prodi welcomed the economic reforms undertaken in Tunisia. He stressed that the European Union respects the political sovereignty of Tunisia and does not wish to interfere in Tunisia’s internal affairs.
However, at a meeting held in June in Tunis with President Ben Ali and the Prime Minister, Mohammed Ganouch, the European Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, paid more attention to the issue of human rights.
On 14 December 2000, the European Parliament adopted a resolution engaging the European institutions to use all the means provided for by the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement to secure respect for democratic freedoms and human rights and, whereas the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement lays down the promotion of human rights as a key element, it regrets the fact that this frank and open dialogue had not sufficed to encourage the Tunisian authorities to advance along the path of democracy and human rights.
Mr President, I ask you to ensure that this resolution be forwarded to the Council and to the Commission and to the Tunisian Government and parliament for its information, and that we stress that we will follow events closely in the run-up to 30 March."@en1
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