Brussels, 22/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - With Spain due to take up the rotating six-monthly Presidency of the EU on 1 January, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) has made a series of country-specific recommendations for its attention.
The EMHRN says that Morocco must be encouraged to “bring an end to all forms of intimidation and harassment of human rights activists”. It notes “acts of intimidation perpetrated by high-ranking penal administration officials” against prisoners of conscience. The Network expresses its solidarity with Aminatou Haidar, a Sahrawi militant, who has gone on hunger strike to protest against Moroccan repression of her country.
On Tunisia, the EMHRN calls for the “media campaign of defamation of Tunisian human rights activists and journalists” to be halted.
There are also recommendations on Italy, which is accused of failing to observe democratic principles. This view is based on studies by the International Office of the IFRM (International Federation for Human Rights), which met in Paris on 13 December. The organisations expressed their serious concern at this period of crisis for Italian democracy, with its direct consequences on the human rights situation. Recommendations are also directed at Israel.
The EMHRN also draws attention to the widespread problem of disappearances across the Euro-Mediterranean region - Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Serbia, Spain and Turkey. (F.B./transl.rt)