WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2611/98 by Josep PONS GRAU to the Commission. Human rights in Equatorial Guinea
29. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 118/103 (1999/C 118/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2611/98 by Josep Pons Grau (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Human rights in Equatorial Guinea Recent events in Equatorial Guinea have been marked by the mass trial at which 117 members of the Bubi ethnic group were denied even the minimum guarantees expected of a state based on the rule of law and where the convictions handed down included 15 death sentences. The conditions in the gaol housing the convicted prisoners have been described by Amnesty International sources as subhuman in the extreme, and are presumed to have caused the death of Martín Puye of the Movimiento de Autodeterminación de la Isla de Bioko (Bioko Island Movement for Self-Determination). The Government of Equatorial Guinea has shown itself utterly indisposed to improve its record on democratisation or human rights. In these circumstances, will the Commission reconsider its cooperation links with Equatorial Guinea? Will it invoke the ádemocracy clauseí in the LomØ Convention? Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (5 October 1998) The Commission is closely monitoring the human rights situation in Equatorial Guinea. It has, on a number of occasions, interceded through appropriate channels, together with the Member States, on behalf of those arrested and convicted following the incidents which occurred on the island of Bioko in January 1998. The Commission has made it clear to the authorities of Equatorial Guinea that the progressive resumption of cooperation is contingent on progress with regard to respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, in accordance with Article 5 of the fourth LomØ Convention. In this connection, it is prepared to support measures aimed at reforms which will improve the situation and ensure the rule of law and the democratic functioning of institutions. (1999/C 118/128) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2612/98 by Mirja Ryynänen (ELDR) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Sustainability of Member Statesí finance policies The institutional frameworks for Member Statesí finance policies, and, more particularly, the procedures for drawing up the annual budget and the degree to which those procedures are decentralised and rigorous, vary quite substantially. Now that the decision concerning the third stage of EMU has been taken, attention in the Member States should focus on the need to guarantee the stability of the monetary union, which may be undermined, for example, by an expansive finance policy implemented by a Member State, with the additional spending so to speak hidden in the budget. In the light of this danger, the institutional frameworks governing public sector finance policies should be comparable. How does the Commission intend to ensure that the finance policies implemented by the Member States can be compared?