Brussels, 26/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Transnational Radical Party has called for a worldwide day of peaceful demonstration in front of all of Vietnam's diplomatic representations, on 7 September 2002, with the objective of securing respect for human rights, democratic principles and fundamental freedoms in this country. In two questions submitted to the European Commission, Olivier Dupuis, a Belgian Radical elected to the European Parliament in Italy, asks: - what initiatives the Commission plans to take to support the petition submitted by 21 Vietnamese dissidents, former leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who are calling for radical reforms to ensure real protection of human rights in this country; - how it intends to use the human rights clause contained in the cooperation agreement between the EU and Vietnam to obtain the cessation of practices of harassment and detention of religious leaders in Vietnam.
Mr Dupuis has put several other questions to the Commission concerning China and Taiwan. Concerning China, the MEP asks the Commission to explain the initiatives it intends to take to obtain the annulment of the condemnations of 16 individuals (4 Swiss nationals, 1 citizen of New Zealand and 11 citizens of Hong Kong) who were conducting a peaceful hunger strike in front of the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong, on 14 March 2002. Mr Dupuis also asks the Commission how it plans to get China to reverse its decision to abolish teaching in the Uighur language in Eastern Turkestan. Highlighting the significant reduction in the number of executions and the reforms undertaken to limit the number of acts punishable by the death penalty in Taiwan, Mr Dupuis has also asked the Commission what support it intends to provide for the definitive abolition of the death penalty in Taiwan.