Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-16-Speech-4-118"
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"en.20030116.8.4-118"2
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".
Madam President, The Commission shares the concern that you have expressed regarding the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea. We feel that the situation has deteriorated considerably in the past year and that the slightly positive progress that seemed to be taking place up until the end of 2001 has been halted. This deterioration casts doubt on whether President Obiang’s regime has a genuine desire for democratisation and respect for human rights.
We also share your doubts and your assessment of the elections on 15 December, which were called early, breaching the provisions of the Constitution and preventing electoral observers from attending. They obviously cannot be described as democratic elections.
Also, the general pardon issued by President Obiang in October should be applied to all of the political opponents detained in spring 2002 and convicted in unsafe trials.
We are all in agreement regarding cooperation with Equatorial Guinea, which is very dependent on the problems in the democratisation process and on the progress of human rights in the country. Cooperation was blocked for several years, and five years ago partial cooperation began. It is true that the National Indicative Programme of the eighth European Development Fund, signed in July 2000, highlighted support for democracy, human rights, civil society and the rule of law as a priority area in which we should act. It also establishes that providing European funds for other measures is subject to visible efforts by the Guinean Government in this area. We are therefore aiming to promote democracy and respect for human rights.
With regard to paragraph 7 of your Resolution, I would like to point out that in October the Commission proposed to the Government of Equatorial Guinea that a mission should be conducted to evaluate the overall application of activities associated with consolidating the rule of law and promoting and respecting human rights, as laid down in the cooperation programme. We need to know the progress of that situation and its conclusions in order to make any decision on continuing cooperation activities in that country and, in particular, in order to sign the new National Indicative Programme for the ninth EDF.
Finally, the Commission considers, as some of you have said, that we need to step up our efforts and international pressure in all institutions, particularly, but not solely, in the International Monetary Fund, in order to ensure transparent and efficient management of oil resources, in order to ensure that the increase in these resources translates into an equivalent improvement in the standard of living of the people of Equatorial Guinea."@en1
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