Strasbourg, 16/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution (by 268 to 28 with 253 abstentions) calling for the convening of an EU-Tunisia Association Council to discuss human rights in Tunisia, calling on the Presidency of the Council of the EU to issue a public statement on the banning of the Tunisian League of Human Rights' congress. At the same time, it stressed the role played by Tunisia in developing a EuroMed area of peace, prosperity and democracy. Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil said that the EPP-ED MEPs had abstained because whilst it was clear that Tunisia had to make more inroads on human rights, this would not come about 'by lambasting this country. It must come through a constructive engagement on our party and by treating it fairly,' but this was the fourth time in six months that the EP had issued a resolution on Tunisia.
During the debate, the President of the Council, Hans Wickler, hoped the human rights subcommittee established by the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement would be able to meet for the first time in July. He listed some positive developments like work to improve the situation of women, allowing Red Cross visitors to look round prisons and an amnesty for some prisoners. But areas of concern remain, like and the way the Tunisian League of Human Rights is being treated (it was not allowed to hold its AGM at the end of May). Commissioner Olli Rehn said the Commission condemned any violation of the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and association, regretting incidents that had occurred on 27 May 2006 when the Tunisian League of Human Rights was preparing to hold its AGM (European Parliament observers were threatened by the Tunisian security forces). Rehn said dialogue should also cover individual cases of violations of human rights, as his experience with candidate countries had taught him. Busuttil asked whether it was a good idea to try to hold a conference in human rights, knowing that the Tunisian government opposed the idea, while French Socialist MEP Catherine Trautmann said the 'pedagogics of dialogue' was insufficient and more proactive intervention was required at the level of the Tunisian government. French Green MEP Helene Flautre, President of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee, who had been mistreated by the Tunisian security forces, slammed the judicial harassment of the Tunisian League of Human Rights (32 different court cases have been launched against it) and called for the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement to be suspended. French Independence and Democracy MEP Paul-Marie Couteaux said he was surprised that some MEPs were so concerned about a country which, he said, knew how to contain the wave of fundamentalism and seemed to be well on the road to development.