Cape Town, 25/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - During its plenary session in Cape Town, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution on the situation in eastern Africa. It urges Ethiopia and Eritrea to implement as soon as possible the decision on boundaries, reaffirms its support for the efforts of the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General, and invites both countries to strengthen their cooperation as far as possible with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (MINUEE), in application of its mandate. With regards Sudan, the Assembly welcomes the ceasefire signed in the Nubian mountains on 19 January 2002 by the Sudanese government and the Movement of Liberation of the Peoples of Sudan. It calls on both parties to apply all the arrangements and also invites the Sudanese government as well as the ALPS/MPLS to authorise humanitarian organisation to have access to the zones concerns, including the southern Blue Nile region, and to authorise the United Nations observers to control respect of human rights in these areas. The Assembly is deeply concerned about the continued kidnapping of children in northern Uganda and about the ill treatment inflicted on thousands of children carried off by the "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA).
it invited the Governments of Uganda and Sudan to give consideration to all measures necessary to dismantle the LRA camps and to guarantee the release of the kidnapped children. The Assembly also called on all parties in Somalia to participate in the dialogue initiated by IGAD, without pre-conditions and with real determination to expand the national reconciliation process and bring it to a successful conclusion. The European Union is invited to support IGAD's efforts in Somalia.
In a separate vote by each college, the ACP group rejected several paragraphs of the resolution on respect for human rights in Eritrea and on the expulsion of the Italian Ambassador. The representative of Eritrea had seized the opportunity offered by the debate to criticise "certain Members of the EP" for unfairly condemning his country. He deemed normal the expulsion of the Italian Ambassador, who "was interfering in internal affairs and dealing with issues related to human rights and freedom of the press". Vitaliano Gemelli (EPP/ED, Italy) and Fiorella Ghilardotti brought up the numerous human rights violations in Eritrea: prohibition on political formations, arrests of students, obstacles to freedom of the press and so on. Giuseppe Brienza (EPP/ED, Italy) pointed out that he was born in Eritrea and declared: "With great affection, we wish to see this country progress on the road to democracy ". He recalled that more than EUR 60 million are foreseen by the Commission for reconstruction as soon as the situation permits. Ethiopian Member Petros Olango stated that his country wishes to play a more dynamic role for peace and security in the sub-region. "Our country has only one enemy: poverty", he added, calling on the Assembly to support IGAD's decisions. Commission representative Mr Theodorakis announced that the Union would soon be sending a troika to Eritrea and called on this country to respect the principles of human rights and democracy defended by the Assembly. He also confirmed the EU's support for the peace process in Sudan.