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COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EN P/06/116 Brussels, 18 September 2006 12886/06 (Presse 255) P 116/06 Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on political prisoners in Eritrea On 18 September 2001, eleven prominent members of Parliament and of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice, the only political party in Eritrea, were arrested. A few days later, 10 independent journalists were also arrested. Since then, other individuals have been arrested and detained incommunicado, without charges and with their right to due process suspended.
Despite repeated appeals by the international community, including the EU, and several governmental and non-governmental human rights bodies, these prisoners remain in detention, without having been charged with any offence, and without access to a free and fair trial. None has been brought before a magistrate, although Eritrean law requires this to be done within 48 hours.
The European Union severely deplores these serious violations of human rights and urges the Government of the State of Eritrea to disclose details of the place of detention, detention conditions and health status of these prisoners. The European Union also urges the Government of the State of Eritrea to either bring charges against those detained and bring them to a fair and public trial with adequate legal representation, or to release them unconditionally.
Families, legal representatives and medical doctors of their choice should be allowed access to the prisoners. The Eritrean authorities should ensure that the treatment of these prisoners while in custody adheres to all the conditions set out in Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990.
The EU attaches great importance to the welfare of the detainees, and renews its call on the Government of the State of Eritrea to allow the EU Heads of Mission in Asmara to visit those concerned in order to assess their situation.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
