Brussels, 23/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - On 15 May, the Greek presidency made the following statement on behalf of the EU:
"The EU is concerned by the recent reports of detention of members of political opposition parties and the treatment of members of a local human rights NGO, Acat-Togo, which has in the past been involved in the preparation of reports for the European Parliament. In order to help create the right climate for democratic elections, the EU urges the Togolese authorities to refrain from arbitrarily detaining opposition activists, to clarify the situation of those detained, and to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to expression. It furthermore calls on the authorities to ensure that human rights activists can carry out their legal and legitimate activities without risk of intimidation and hindrance. The EU repeats its recommendation to the Togolese authorities and all the opposition parties to ensure that the next election enables all shades of political opinion to have their say and to participate with the greatest possible transparency and independence. The EU notes the key role played in elections by independent domestic and international electoral observers. The EU regrets that the Togolese authorities were unable to agree to an EU Exploratory Mission, and notes that as a result an EU electoral observation mission cannot be deployed in Togo for the Presidential elections on 1 June".