Brussels, 20/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine said on 20 April that she was "extremely shocked by the new wave of capital executions in China which several NGOs have reported". Ms. Fontaine notes that, "unfortunately, the number of people executed cannot be known with certainty", but that is would seem that "it has been clearly on the rise these past few days". According to her, China, "which seeks to join the chorus of nations, would do well to decide on a moratorium on executions and definitively abolish the death penalty".
As for Olivier Dupuis, Euro-MP on the Bonino list, he accuses the EU, "and foremost the Council", of having "gone easy on the dictator Jang Zeming" during the debate in the UN Human Rights Commission regarding China, in Geneva this week (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.6). "The task was easy. All that needed doing was…nothing. To begin with by not co-sponsoring the resolution tabled by the United States. A resolution (…) without the slightest mention of the word "condemnation"", the MEP commented.