Cape Town, 26/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - By adopting a resolution on the Caribbean, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the ACP/EU has demonstrated its support for the Caricom Presidency, which has been making concerted efforts to diffuse the political crisis in Trinidad, Tobago and Haiti. The Assembly has also asked the European Commission to help countries suffering from the crisis in tourism. The Assembly has strongly condemned the assassination of journalists and a politician and has requested the Haitian government to take all necessary steps to bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice. It has also condemned the attempted coup d'Etat on 17 December against President Aristide and calls on the opposition and President Aristide to find a negotiated and lasting settlement to the Haitian crisis. The Assembly believes that the suspension of development aid has aggravated the socio-economic crisis, and wants the EU to reconsider the Haitian case and the needs of the Haitian people.
During a short debate, the Haitian Senator, Pierre Prince, took certain MEPs to task for having "belittled the efforts of President Aristide, the undisputed leader of Haiti", and called for the lifting of EU sanctions. He also called for EU mediation in the Haitian crisis.
The meeting charged with negotiating a compromise on the issue, put forward by the ACP group and the PPE/DE, PES, ELDR, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL was marked by the confrontation between the Haitian Ambassador and Social Democrat MEP, Karin Juncker (Germany). It isn't unusual for Parliamentary assistants to intervene in these kinds of meetings or negotiate on the behalf of MEPs but Ms Juncker interrupted Ms Azor-Charles, exclaiming, "You don't have the right to speak, you're not an MEP". Ms Azor-Charles interpreted this attitude as, "arrogance, anti-feminism and racism".