Parlement européen : communiqué du Président Buzek

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"The death of Ali Issa Saqer and Zakaraya Rashed Hassan in the hands of the Bahraini police is unacceptable."

« I firmly condemn these abuses against peaceful protesters. »

« I call for a credible investigation into the recent deaths and all violations of human rights. Those who were responsible for any abuses must face justice. »

Brussels, 12 April 2011

Buzek on the death of civic activists in Bahrain prison

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, made the following statement on the reported death of two civic activists in Bahraini police custody :

« The death of Ali Issa Saqer and Zakaraya Rashed Hassan in the hands of the Bahraini police is unacceptable. I am deeply concerned by concurrent reports of several human rights organisations that both activists had been tortured in prison and might have been killed.

These massive abuses appear to be not the only case. The whereabouts of several other public figures are still unknown, as in the case of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. Their well-being is of great concern to the EU.

I firmly condemn these abuses against peaceful protesters. The detention of more than 400 human rights activists, bloggers and opposition supporters in Bahrain does nothing to pacify the situation. To the contrary, such reactions will further alienate the authorities from the people.

Violence against your own people will play into the hands of those that want to seed division and unrest. The heavy hand of the government undermines all hopes for national dialogue.

I call for a credible investigation into the recent deaths and all violations of human rights. Those who were responsible for any abuses must face justice. Those who were arbitrarily arrested must be released. This is the only way forward on the path towards national reconciliation, democracy and stability. »

Note to editors :

The European Parliament debated and voted a resolution on the situation in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen on 7 April 2011. The full text of the resolution is available here :

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0148+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN

For further information :
Robert A. Golański
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Friedrich Bokern
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