Brussels, 14/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 13 June, the European Parliament spoke of its concern at Russia's refusal to respect its international legal obligations on protecting the freedoms of association, expression and assembly. In a common resolution adopted, MEPs express their “serious concerns about the recent repressive laws and their arbitrary enforcement by the Russian authorities, often leading to harassment of NGOs, civil society activists, human rights defenders and minorities”, highlighting, thus, the law on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the law on “homosexual propaganda” (see EUROPE 10865). In addition, MEPs are concerned about reports of politically motivated trials, unfair procedures and failures to investigate serious crimes against the opposition, activists and journalists.
Concerns about Burma/Myanmar and Azerbaijan. In another resolution, the Parliament calls on the Burmese government and society to act “immediately” to end the human rights abuses against the Rohingya Muslims, and to bring the perpetrators of the violent attacks and other related abuses to justice. MEPs want the government to continue implementing solutions to the underlying causes of the tension. They also call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.
In a third resolution, MEPs call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ilgar Mammadov, the leader of the opposition party REAL who is running in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan. More generally, the European Parliament calls on the Azeri authorities to respect press and media freedom, and the freedoms of expression and assembly. It also wants reform of the law on defamation (see EUROPE 10862). (CG/transl.fl)