Brussels, 22/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Isabelle Durant (Greens/EFA, Belgium), Vice-President of the European Parliament, called on Colombia, on Tuesday 20 March, to shed full light on the illegal operations conducted by its secret services on European soil, which led to the Belgian justice system opening an investigation in October 2010. Durant above all said she hoped the European Parliament, when giving its stance on the future free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia in a few months' time, would make cooperation by the Colombian authorities regarding this spying incident a condition for ratification of the agreement.
Isabelle Durant was speaking in Brussels on Tuesday 20 March at a press conference organised by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights League to which a lawyer of the victims in Belgium, Ms Venet, and a Colombian lawyer, Mr Perez, were invited. At the end of 2010, two natural persons and NGOs for the defence of fundamental rights in Colombia associated in court action with Belgian justice (similar facts having also been discovered in Spain), so that the latter might carry out an investigation into the intimidation and spying practices that the plaintiffs had to face, in this case from the DAS (Colombian security administrative department). In May 2011, the Belgian justice system sent an international letter rogatory to the Colombian authorities asking to be able to carry out investigations on the ground - a request that has still not been carried out.
The FIDH, represented at the press conference, said it was indispensable for progress to be made in the field of human rights and for an end to be put to impunity in key dossiers such as that of the DAS. It is also necessary for MEPs to seize the opportunity of the free trade treaty with Colombia to ask that country to meet a series of conditions regarding respect of human rights. Isabelle Durant nonetheless acknowledged that points of view differed from one parliamentary group to the next although she did give her assurance that a number of MEPs would call for progress to be made on human rights. However, the question of exactly “how far” the Parliament is ready to go remains unanswered.
The Council of European trade ministers reached a political agreement on 16 March on the signing and provisional application of the multipartite free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia (and also with Peru). The Council must formally endorse its decision in coming weeks, and the European Parliament should then give its consent to the signing and provisional application of the agreement. (SP/EH/transl.jl)