Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-24-Speech-4-159"
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"en.20050224.13.4-159"2
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".
Mr President, the European Commission is gravely concerned about the sharp deterioration in the political situation in Nepal since 1 February.
Working closely with the European Union Member States and especially with successive European Union Council presidencies, the Commission remains committed to pursuing all diplomatic, political, and developmental efforts that might facilitate the peace process and a return to democracy in Nepal.
I do not have to tell Members of this Parliament how important the respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law are in our relations with third countries. The Presidency’s declaration of 2 February is very clear: the European Union views the King's move as a serious setback for the prospect of a negotiated and democratically-based solution to the current conflict. The European Union troika, which visited Nepal only two months ago, expressed at that time its grave concerns at the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation. Since 1 February, Nepal has been experiencing a profound human rights crisis, as many parliamentarians have now underlined.
The United Nations has recorded more than 340 detentions of political leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists. We, the European Union, will continue to press for the release of all those who remain arbitrarily detained, and we will use the opportunity of the forthcoming session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva to remind both sides to the conflict of their obligations under international law.
As Members may be aware, no European Union position has yet been taken on the issue of continued external assistance to Nepal, because the situation is very complex. The Commission's global approach to conflict prevention calls for us to ensure that Community instruments and programmes are directed towards achieving political and social stability and democracy. As we have frequently stated, development policy and other cooperation programmes provide the most powerful instruments at the Community's disposal for treating the root causes of conflict.
We have learned that conflict countries sometimes require more, rather than less, assistance, and applying blunt political conditions risks penalising the weakest in society. That is why we think that the basic objectives of EC cooperation remain achievable. Indeed, the priorities of support to poverty reduction, human rights and conflict mitigation are more urgent in the new environment. Now is not the time for us, for instance, to cancel our support to Nepal's National Human Rights Commission, provided this institution continues to operate as an autonomous and independent technical body, seeking to promote the rule of law.
However, this does not mean that it is 'business as usual' in terms of donor support to Nepal, not least because of the new constraints faced in ensuring that all sides respect the donors' basic operational guidelines in the state of emergency as the conflict escalates.
Therefore, the Commission has taken the following position. The delegation of the European Commission in Kathmandu will not accept any high level invitations from the King or from any of his cabinet ministers unless instructed otherwise by its headquarters. All ongoing EC cooperation activities are carefully reviewed and the situation in the field is constantly monitored. For the time being, activities continue but new appraisals or identification missions will not be launched for the preparation of the 2005 cooperation pipeline until further notice.
The Commission maintains extensive contacts on this issue with Member States and with other donors on the ground, and will participate in a meeting of like-minded donors during the week of 7 March in Europe to continue to seek a coordinated line.
As ever in such situations, the cost of conflict falls heaviest on the weakest in Nepalese society. I am thinking of the children denied schooling or forcibly recruited, the poor deprived of basic healthcare and shelter and the many victims of brutal violence. Whilst the primary responsibility for resolving the conflict in Nepal rests with the local actors, we must not abandon them now."@en1
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