Amnesty International letter and Memorandum to EU Officials on the eve of the Euro-Mediterranean Meeting in Valencia 22-23 April 2002.

The Director of Amnesty International’s EU Office has warned an EU Conference in Brussels today on association negotiations with the Mercosur countries and Chile, that human rights are still being left off the agenda.

Amnesty International statement

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EU OFFICE

As the European Commission and the President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika prepare to initial an EU-Algeria Association Agreement in Brussels tomorrow (Wednesday 19 December), Amnesty International says the fact this event is going ahead shows the EU’s human rights clause is now clearly not worth the paper it is written on.

Letter to Mr Louis Michel, President of the Council of the European Union and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium.

The continued deterioriation of the human rights situation in Tunisia – Joint letter by human rights organizations to Louis Michel, President-in-office of the Council and Belgian Foreign Minister.

As Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi arrives in Brussels today for talks on a proposed Cooperation Agreement with the European Union, Amnesty International has called on the EU to ensure that the human rights clause in such an agreement is given real substance, given the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

Amnesty International says EU leaders must tell the US President he is on a collision course with Europe and much of the rest of the world, on key human rights issues such as the death penalty and the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AVOCATS SANS FRONTIÈRES, EURO-MED HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (FIDH), HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, OBSERVATORY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, WORLD ORGANIZATION AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT)