Activites

• 2009/10/22 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
  • T7-0059/2009 summary

    The European Parliament adopted by 74 votes to 0 with no abstentions a resolution on Guinea. The resolution had been tabled by the EPP, ECR, ALDE, S&D, GUE/NGL, Greens/ALE groups.It recalls that a military junta, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, seized power on 23 December 2008, following the death of President Lansana Conté, and also recalls the repression of a peaceful demonstration by the opposition on 28 September 2009 which allegedly caused between 100 and 200 deaths and more than 1 000 wounded, by gunshots or bayoneting. Numerous horrifying cases of rape were reported. Parliament condemns the bloody and murderous repression of unarmed demonstrators. It also condemns all sexual violence against women and girls and calls for medical and psychological assistance for rape victims, and wants the Commission urgently to launch specific programmes for the rehabilitation of women victims of violence in Guinea. Parliament welcomes the setting-up by the UN of an independent international committee of inquiry to determine responsibility for the massacre, and the opening of a preliminary investigation by the ICC to ensure that it does not go unpunished. It calls for every possible measure to be taken to guarantee the safety of the witnesses and the victims" families when they are heard by the international committee of inquiry. The resolution notes that the "roadmap" set up on 27 July 2009 under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement was designed to organise the transition to democracy. It calls on the Council to take the "appropriate measures" referred to in Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement and to look into the options for responding to the request by ECOWAS to arrange a mission in support of an African force for protection of the population, so as to provide that force with the resources needed to fulfil its mission, and a longer-term civilian mission to contribute to the organisation of the security forces. Parliament considers that only a government resulting from free and fair elections will be able to represent the country's long-term interests. Noting that the members of the junta who were formerly members of the National Council for Democracy and Development had pledged to hold free elections as soon as possible, and not to stand as candidates in those elections themselves, it considers that the irresponsible use of armed force to repress the population disqualifies the military junta from organising the country's transition to democracy, through free and fair elections. Parliament wishes to see a transitional government put in place, incorporating the main opposition parties, with the task of preparing for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Members call on the African Union, in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to impose strong sanctions against the military junta personnel while organising a national dialogue through a truth and reconciliation commission. All states are asked to suspend international supplies of military and police weaponry, munitions and other equipment that could be used to commit human rights violations by Guinean security forces, in accordance with the position taken by the International Contact Group on Guinea (ICGG).Lastly, Parliament deplores the fact that both state-owned and private Chinese firms investing in Guinea are largely indifferent to the human rights of the country’s citizens.

Documents

• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0059/2009

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)