Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-07-Speech-4-203"
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"en.20020207.10.4-203"2
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".
Mr President, recent developments in Eritrea are causing the European Commission a great deal of concern, and we feel that arresting political protesters and muzzling the press are making the situation in Eritrea even worse.
It is good that issues such as the arrest of political protesters, the electoral law and the bill on political parties have been debated in the long-awaited gathering of the national assembly in Eritrea but we are, of course, sorry that no decision was taken on when detainees will be referred to the courts or released and that the formation of political parties has again been put on hold.
We hope that the committee set up to safeguard the future of the press in Eritrea will be able to help get the restrictions on the private press lifted soon. The Commission is working with the presidency and the Member States, so that it can react in a forceful manner to the present crisis. Without question, the whole endeavour is based on international law, human rights and human rights conventions and our efforts will be directed towards making sure that political dialogue with Eritrea continues and is reinforced within the context of article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement.
A visit to Eritrea by the high-level troika is being planned as soon as the report by the Boundaries Commission is published, hopefully within the next few weeks. Because of the tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Commission believes that every effort should be made to prevent the conflict from escalating. And the Commission needs to make an active contribution towards conflict prevention and the restoration of peace and stability in the area. However, we need to tread very carefully and avoid any action which might leave the political leaders in the area with their backs to the wall."@en1
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