(1888PressRelease)
November 20, 2007 - European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, : The European Parliament today passed a motion for resolution against Pakistan’s martial law. Through its resolution, the European Parliament in regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Pakistan, previous declarations and resolutions has condemned the recent actions of President Pervez Musharraf.
The European Parliament has called on General Perverz Musharaf to repeal the Provisional Constitutional Order, put an end to the martial law. The resolution highlights the grave human rights abuses and mass arrests of innocent citizens, prominent leaders like Benazir Bhutto, Imran Khan, Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhary and Altiaz Ahsan.
The EP has called President Musharraf to respect the verdict of the Supreme Court- once it is reinstated- on the constitutionality of his election as President and resign his position as head of Army before taking his oath for a new presidential term if he wins.
The EP has recalled that the credibility of the election process would depend on the release of all political prisoners, including those in the unlawful custody of intelligence agencies, and on putting an end to the disappearances of political opponents. In this regard the EP considers that freedom of speech, movement, association and assembly must be fully implemented and in particular all restrictions on Baloch parties be removed.
The European Parliament has stressed on the deployment of an EP Observer delegation to monitor the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Pakistan and asked General Perverz Musharaf to guarantee holding of free, fair and transparent elections.
The European Parliament has called on the Commission to carefully consider the sending of a further exploratory mission, in event that the martial law is lifted, in order to evaluate the viability of the deployment of a long- term EU-Election Observation Mission.
The EP has also called on the Council and the Commission to insist that the Government of Pakistan uphold all the principles enshrined in the 3rd Generation Agreement between EU and Pakistan, in particular the democracy and human rights clause. The EP has called upon its members and the EU to impress upon Pakistan the need for adopting democratic means to meet the genuine grievances of the people of Pakistan and Balochistan instead of relying on brute force.
Further information can be viewed from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/expert/motion.do?language=EN
Released from the office of
Mr. Marek Aleksander Czarnecki
Member of the European Parliament, Member of South Asia Delegation
Tel. +32 2 284 7194, Fax: +32 2 284 9194
Email: marekaleksander.czarnecki ( @ ) europarl dot europa.eu / prwire.ep ( @ ) gmail dot com
