Brussels, 27/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - In an unanimous resolution on the situation in Haiti, the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly invites the Council and the European Commission to "resume real consultation with Haiti whose economic situation is increasingly uncertain", and to suspend sanctions imposed on this country. In so doing, the Assembly calls for dialogue to be resumed on a real and concrete basis, as well as for support to the Haitian population through the strengthening of its management, training, education and health system.
The Union has suspended cooperation with Haiti under heading 96 of the Cotonou Agreement further to consultation considered unconvincing on irregularities noted in the counting of votes after the senatorial elections 2000 (see EUROPE of 2 February, p.11).
Recalling that the government of Haiti and the ACP general secretariat considered sanctions premature and precipitated (see EUROPE of 7 February, p.9), the Assembly feels it is necessary to adopt clear and transparent criteria for the consultation procedure under Article 96 and in order to assess the democratic process from the aspect of human rights, the rule of law and democratisation of the society in general.
Considering that Haiti will not find the political stability it needs until democratic principles and human rights are observed, the ACP and European parliamentarians call on: 1) the Commission to explore means to help the Haiti people; 2) President Jean Bertrand Aristide and the leaders of the opposition parties to find a political solution to the controversies that exist over the method for calculating the percentage used by the provisional electoral Council for the legislative elections of 21 May 2000; 3) the Assembly's bureau to explore the means for involving the Joint Parliamentary Assembly in the consultation procedure under Article 96.
EUROPE recalls that the aid suspended amounts to EUR 44.4 million in direct budgetary aid allocated mainly for programmes relating to structural adjustment and food security (in the sense of security of sufficient supplies).