Brussels, 24/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a statement aimed at the Barcelona Summit, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) "seriously regrets that very little (...) concrete progress in terms of human rights" within the framework of the EuroMediterranean partnership can be attributed to "a proactive relationship between the partners". In particular, the Network observed that "human rights issues still occupy only a marginal place in peace negotiations in the Middle East, the Western Sahara and Cyprus". Furthermore, it notes that migrants and asylum seekers are "subject to persistent attacks, in the North as well as in the South, and the economic, social and cultural disparities, regionally and nationally alike, have not diminished". However, the Network welcomes "the dynamics created by the Barcelona process within civil society in the region". (The Network, which was set up in 1997, now has 83 members representing human rights defence organisations and individual members from 30 countries).
In a document entitled Ten Years of Euromed: Time to end the human rights deficit, Amnesty International expresses its criticism of the countries of the EU, stating that if the Member States do not respect "basic international obligations, such as non-refoulement and the absolute prohibition of torture, the EU is losing credibility to press human rights compliance by partner countries". "The EU must take its shortcomings in hand", warned Dick Oosting, European director of Amnesty.