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| Launch of a "white book" assessing five years of EMP | Date: 15-11-2000 |
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - ARTICLE XIX INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (FIDH) HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (HRW) WORLD ORGANIZATION AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT) PENAL REFORM INTERNATIONAL (PRI) REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (RSF) EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK (EMHRN) NOVEMBER 1999 - NOVEMBER 2000 EIGHT INTERNATIONAL NGOs ASSESS FIVE YEARS OF THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP An area of dialogue, exchange and co-operation based on the strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights ? In Barcelona in 1995, 27 states of the North and the South of the Mediterranean - the 15 Member States of the European Union and Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority committed themselves to "turning the Mediterranean basin into an area of dialogue, exchange and co-operation guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity" by establishing "a comprehensive partnership through strengthened political dialogue on a regular basis, the development of economic and financial co-operation and greater emphasis on social, cultural and human dimension". Although the political and security dimension of the Partnership, as well as its social, cultural and human aspects are an integral part of the Partnership, the economic and financial pillar constitute the main motivation for this new entity, of which the progressive establishment of free trade in the Mediterranean region by the year 2010 is at the core. Its realisation demands the "strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights ". On this basis, the Partners committed themselves to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights conventions to which they are parties. The Partnership has progressively developed with the conclusion of bilateral Association Agreements between the EU and the Mediterranean countries. All Association Agreements include a human rights clause (Article 2). Human rights defenders from both shores of the Mediterranean welcomed the principles for respect of human rights stated in the Barcelona declaration and the Association Agreements. November 2000 marks the fifth anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration, as well as the 50th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. Even though progress has been made since then in terms of human rights protection, much work remains to be done to ensure that the fundamental rights and guarantees enshrined in this instrument are genuinely and concretely available to all men, women and children in Europe and in the countries of the South and the East of the Mediterranean. The persistence of human rights violations and impunity in Europe is a reminder that a lack of political will, and not scarce resources and contending priorities constitute the underlying reason for impunity, and that the argument that respect for human rights can only be achieved at a certain level of social and economic development has no foundation. Human right violations continue to occur not only in countries with a well-documented history of endemic human rights violations or countries facing challenging political upheaval and social and economic transition. This shows that respect for human rights does not depend on the level of social and economic development and that neither " a lack of resources ", nor " conflicting priorities " can be used as justification for the persistence of human rights violations in Europe, but rather a lack of political will to prevent and halt them. Since 1995, human rights organisations from the South and the East of the Euro-Mediterranean region have developed their activities within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. At the national level, they made use of the perspectives offered by the negotiations of Association Agreements with the European Union including the human rights clause. At the regional level, they have significantly strengthened their ties : in the South, a genuine Arab human rights movement has come into existence. At the same time, a partnership between civil societies on both shores has emerged as a result of regular follow-up conferences to the Barcelona Declaration. On the eve of the 4th Euro-Mediterranean conference in Marseille 2000, eight international human rights organisations take stock of the results of the partnership. In many countries of the region, they observe the following persistant areas for violations : Perpetrators of human rights violations profit from endemic impunity Physical, as well as symbolic violence against women persists Freedom of expression is muzzled Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are systematically practiced Severe restrictions on freedom of association Human rights defenders are confronted with attacks on their freedom of action Criminal justice and prison systems are in urgent need of reform Considering the countinuous and in some cases increasing human rights violations, the states of the region have not taken the necessary steps to implement their commitment to "turning the Mediterranean basin into an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity (…) based on the repect for human rights and democratic principles." These states have the appropriate tools to turn their committments into action - especially with the human rights clause included in the association agreements and by negotiations between the European union and its partners. It is time that these mechanisms be used and we are determined to work relentlessly in this direction. RECOMMENDATIONS In this regard, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, ARTICLE 19, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (FIDH), HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH , WORLD ORGANIZATION AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT), PENAL REFORM INTERNATIONAL, REPORTERS SANS FRONTIERES and EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK (EMHRN) CALL THE STATES PARTIES TO THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP TO: 1. Respect their international commitments, notably the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and international human rights conventions and covenants which they ratified, as well as human rights provisions included in the Barcelona Declaration. 2. To make operational Article 2 of the Association Agreements between the European Union and its Southern and Eastern Mediterranean partners, by which the parties commit themselves to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. 3. To set up concrete mechanisms to assess compliance with the human rights clause, which should include: Regular and impartial monitoring of the human rights situation on the territory of all contracting parties; Monitoring the freedom of action of human rights defenders to act and speak freely in order to defend the rights of others; Programmes of action to implement recommendations of relevant international human rights bodies (United Nations treaty bodies, Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Commission, etc.); Continuation of relevant demarches towards partner countries on individual cases of human rights violations. 4. To bring their laws, policies and practices into line with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women and its Optional Protocol; the International Convention of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. 5. To accede to and respect the United Nations Convention on Refugee’s Status (1951), its 1967 Protocol, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Executive Committee’s interpretation of these instruments The "white book" is available in English and French. Amnesty International : Gabriele Juen, +32-496 52 75 - EMHRN : Marc Schade Poulsen, +45 33 30 88 28 FIDH : Gaël Grilhot, + 33 1 43 55 14 12 / 25 18 - Human Rights Watch : Lotte Leicht, +32-2-732 20 09 OMCT : Nathalie Mivelaz, +41-79 348 30 76 - Reporters Sans Frontières : Virginie Locussol, +33-1-44 83 84 64 |
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