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| Friday, 17 September 2004 |
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Euro MPs call for EU sanctions on the Maldives STRASBOURG, France, Thursday (Reuters) The European Union should halt some aid to the Maldives and ban its leaders from travelling to the bloc because of the treatment of opposition figures, a group of EU lawmakers said. They also called for the EU to set up rules for tourism to exotic countries with a poor record of democracy, to stop money flowing into the pockets of "dictators of paradise hell-holes". Earlier this month, the EU urged the Maldives to lift a state of emergency imposed after protests in August. It also asked the Indian Ocean archipelago to respect the rights of detained protesters, some of whom are opposition politicians. "It is essential that maximum international pressure is applied to ensure these people's release," said the members of the European Parliament, led by British Conservative Geoffrey Van Orden, calling for a ban on non-essential aid. They said some 80 people remained in prison after the protests, noting credible reports prisoners had been tortured. "They are in grave danger, and represent the islands' democratic future ... it is totally unacceptable for the EU to give aid worth millions of euros to ensure the survival of a 25-year-long dictatorship," the lawmakers said in a statement. The European Parliament will vote on measures to pressure EU governments to act against the Maldives, an group of 1,200 tiny islands and white sand atolls off India. Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Male, in August to protest for change in the country led by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving ruler. Gayoom has vowed to revamp politics in the Maldives in the face of stiff criticism from human rights groups and after public anger at prison abuse boiled over into a riot last year. He has promised to limit the term of the presidency and to allow opposition parties to operate and bolster the judiciary. But Gayoom's political opponents are still barred from forming parties under the constitution. Reacting to the planned parliamentary vote, the Maldives' chief government spokesman said it intended to lift the state of emergency but that the recent protests would not turn the authorities away from reform. Ahmed Shaheed said that the detained protestors were only being held as long as investigations were being carried out and would either be released or charged. He also said all detainees were in good health and refuted all charges of torture. |
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