Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-16-Speech-4-147"
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"en.20040916.7.4-147"2
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".
Mr President, honourable Members, the Commission is as concerned as you are about the state of emergency in the Maldives and the continued detention of members of the constitutional Assembly, opposition leaders and journalists. The measures imposed under the ‘state of emergency’ are draconian. President Gayoom has clearly overreacted to what amounted to a peaceful protest.
The EU has already reacted strongly. On 17 August, the United Kingdom Foreign Office issued a strong statement calling for the state of emergency to be lifted. On 22-24 August, the EU Presidency led a fact-finding mission that met with various ministers, some of the detainees and several eyewitnesses. The mission led to an official EU démarche on 6 September, which was not well received by the Maldives Government, and to a strong public statement calling on the President to release prisoners, lift the state of emergency and continue with constitutional reforms.
The President was clearly stung by these statements. He sent the Minister for Tourism to the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy to explain the situation. He reassured the European Union that he intends to continue with his promised constitutional reforms. He agreed that Amnesty International and the Red Cross should visit the prisons.
In shaping our response for the future, we should also recognise that the President undertook some reforms before the summer – discussions in the Majlis Assembly and the establishment of the Human Rights Commission – but that he was clearly moving too slowly for the citizens of the Maldives.
Building on this, a resolution from the European Parliament that would underline the main messages already passed by the EU would be very valuable. It should also push the President to move on his offer for the Red Cross to monitor the prisons, stress that the European Union will continue to monitor the situation closely and, if warranted, take up the President’s offer for the EU Representatives to return to the country for further dialogue.
However, it would, in our view, be premature to consider travel restrictions, suspension of aid and other more punitive actions at this stage. If the situation worsens and the state of emergency is not lifted, such measures should be considered. But let us first see if the President will respect his promises to return to normal rule and resume the reform process as soon as possible.
I appreciate the information provided by the honourable Member, Baroness Ludford, concerning the Commission's website. I was not aware of it, but I have already given instructions for it to be checked. Obviously, there is a need to update the website and that will happen immediately."@en1
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