it
en
fr
de
SOUTH-EAST ASIA/DEMAND FOR THE RESIGNATION OF MR NASSAUER: LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
To the kind attention of Mr Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament
Strasbourg, 11 March 2003
Mr President,
As you may remember, in November of last year I issued a statement describing the rather strange - to say the least - behaviour of Mr Nassauer, Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the Member States of ASEAN, south-east Asia and the Republic of Korea. Mr Nassauer had, in fact, insisted on confirming the meeting with the Vietnamese counterpart even though the authorities of that country had not responded favourably to any of the requests made by the European Parliament, in particular to the request - in line with the mandate given by the EP in its resolution of 5 July 2001(1) - to meet the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Venerable Thich Quanq, the leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam who have been kept in detention or under house arrest for over 20 years. On this occasion, even the honourable compromise that I took the liberty of proposing to the Chairman and the members of the Delegation did not find favour in his eyes. It was not, however, a declaration of war, since the participation of the EP Delegation in the multilateral meeting that took place in Hanoi would have been confirmed and would thus have permitted the meeting with Vietnamese officials in this context. Only the official bilateral meeting with the Vietnamese delegation would have been cancelled.
On this occasion I also expressed my “perplexity” about the criteria followed by Mr Nassauer for the selection of the members of this delegation. Although the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament explicitly require it, Mr Nassauer had taken no account of the participation of the members of the Delegation in the meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg to draw up the list of participants for the visit to Hanoi and Phnom Penh.
I will not elaborate on the general approach of Mr Nassauer to the situation in south-east Asia. I do, however, have very precise memories of the behaviour of other delegation chairmen. Beginning with Mrs Doris Pack, who I had the pleasure to accompany to the Balkans on numerous occasions. Who would deny that her courage and hard work at particularly difficult moments account for the fact that she is now listened to and respected in all the capitals of the Balkans. Or Daniel Cohn-Bendit, for whom the fight to obtain the right to visit prisoners was not only not incompatible with his mandate as the Chairman of the delegation with Turkey but was, on the contrary, an integral part of that mandate.
However, despite the not inconsiderable number of official statements by the European Parliament(2), I believe that the Documentation Office would have great trouble finding a single statement by Mr Nassauer in favour of the innumerable victims of the Vietnamese and Lao regimes. Religious persecution in Laos and in Vietnam: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Persecution of the Montagnards in Vietnam and of the Hmong in Laos: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. The widespread practice of disappearances in Laos – of the same type as those practised by the infamous South American dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s - in particular those of the 5 leaders of the 26 October Movement: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. New wave of political assassinations in Cambodia: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Arrest and long jail sentences for numerous pro-democracy campaigners in Vietnam and in Laos: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Imprisonment of cyber-dissidents in Vietnam: no known comment from Mr Nassauer…
Mr President,
As you will imagine, the list could be much longer! I do not, however, wish to encroach upon your time any longer, except to draw your attention to one last serious misdeed. For reasons that Mr Nassauer has defined as of “political balance”, I have once again been excluded from the list of members of the delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Asia who will be visiting South Korea in April. I regret to have to inform you that Mr Nassauer’s argument is grossly misleading. The delegation is, in fact, made up of 22 members. Without counting the President, there are 7 members of the EPP, 6 of the PSE, 2 of the ELDR, 2 Greens, 2 NA, 1 GUE, and 1 EDD. Out of these 21 members, 16 will have taken part (including the delegation to South Korea)(3) in one or other of the meetings with third countries. To those 16 members we must add a colleague who participated to one of the trip without being member of the Delegation. Among the 16 members one will have taken part in three meetings, while another will have taken part in two. In terms of “political balance”, the members belonging to the EPP – Mr Nassauer’s parliamentary group - who represent 33% of the members of the Delegation, will have taken part in 41% of the trips, the PSE group, which represents 27% of the members of the Delegation, in 29% of the trips, the Liberal group, which makes up 9% of the members of the Delegation, in 11% of the trips, the Green group, which represents 9% of the members of the Delegation, in 17% of the trips, the GUE group, which represents 4.5% of the members, in 0% of the trips, the EDD group, which represents 4.5% of the members, in 0% of the trips, and Non-Attached deputies, who make up 9% of the members, in 0% of the trips.
In terms of the respect of the rules and the democracy of our Parliament, Mr Nassauer certainly knows how to maintain a balance. In terms of the defence of the fundamental rights and the promotion of democracy in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, I have no doubt that the authorities in Vientiane, Hanoi and Phnom Penh judge the talents of Mr Nassauer at their true worth. In Kurhessen-Waldeck, his constituency, I do not know, and I fear that so far it has been the same for his electors.
I hope, Mr President, that you will agree to invite Mr Nassauer to have the good taste to resign from his post as Chairman of the Delegation.
Respectfully,
Olivier Dupuis
(1)Resolution on the religious liberties in Vietnam (05/07/01): "calls on the delegation for relations with the Member States of ASEAN, south-east Asia and the Republic of Korea to plan a trip to Vietnam in order to meet the leaders of all the religious faiths, especially those who have been imprisoned;".
(2)Especially EP resolution of 15 February 2001 on the situation with regard to human rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (15/02/01) and the resolution of 15 November 2001 on arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos.
(3)ASEAN Delegation: composition of the working groups:
Strasbourg, 11 March 2003
Mr President,
As you may remember, in November of last year I issued a statement describing the rather strange - to say the least - behaviour of Mr Nassauer, Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the Member States of ASEAN, south-east Asia and the Republic of Korea. Mr Nassauer had, in fact, insisted on confirming the meeting with the Vietnamese counterpart even though the authorities of that country had not responded favourably to any of the requests made by the European Parliament, in particular to the request - in line with the mandate given by the EP in its resolution of 5 July 2001(1) - to meet the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang and the Venerable Thich Quanq, the leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam who have been kept in detention or under house arrest for over 20 years. On this occasion, even the honourable compromise that I took the liberty of proposing to the Chairman and the members of the Delegation did not find favour in his eyes. It was not, however, a declaration of war, since the participation of the EP Delegation in the multilateral meeting that took place in Hanoi would have been confirmed and would thus have permitted the meeting with Vietnamese officials in this context. Only the official bilateral meeting with the Vietnamese delegation would have been cancelled.
On this occasion I also expressed my “perplexity” about the criteria followed by Mr Nassauer for the selection of the members of this delegation. Although the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament explicitly require it, Mr Nassauer had taken no account of the participation of the members of the Delegation in the meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg to draw up the list of participants for the visit to Hanoi and Phnom Penh.
I will not elaborate on the general approach of Mr Nassauer to the situation in south-east Asia. I do, however, have very precise memories of the behaviour of other delegation chairmen. Beginning with Mrs Doris Pack, who I had the pleasure to accompany to the Balkans on numerous occasions. Who would deny that her courage and hard work at particularly difficult moments account for the fact that she is now listened to and respected in all the capitals of the Balkans. Or Daniel Cohn-Bendit, for whom the fight to obtain the right to visit prisoners was not only not incompatible with his mandate as the Chairman of the delegation with Turkey but was, on the contrary, an integral part of that mandate.
However, despite the not inconsiderable number of official statements by the European Parliament(2), I believe that the Documentation Office would have great trouble finding a single statement by Mr Nassauer in favour of the innumerable victims of the Vietnamese and Lao regimes. Religious persecution in Laos and in Vietnam: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Persecution of the Montagnards in Vietnam and of the Hmong in Laos: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. The widespread practice of disappearances in Laos – of the same type as those practised by the infamous South American dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s - in particular those of the 5 leaders of the 26 October Movement: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. New wave of political assassinations in Cambodia: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Arrest and long jail sentences for numerous pro-democracy campaigners in Vietnam and in Laos: no known comment from Mr Nassauer. Imprisonment of cyber-dissidents in Vietnam: no known comment from Mr Nassauer…
Mr President,
As you will imagine, the list could be much longer! I do not, however, wish to encroach upon your time any longer, except to draw your attention to one last serious misdeed. For reasons that Mr Nassauer has defined as of “political balance”, I have once again been excluded from the list of members of the delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Asia who will be visiting South Korea in April. I regret to have to inform you that Mr Nassauer’s argument is grossly misleading. The delegation is, in fact, made up of 22 members. Without counting the President, there are 7 members of the EPP, 6 of the PSE, 2 of the ELDR, 2 Greens, 2 NA, 1 GUE, and 1 EDD. Out of these 21 members, 16 will have taken part (including the delegation to South Korea)(3) in one or other of the meetings with third countries. To those 16 members we must add a colleague who participated to one of the trip without being member of the Delegation. Among the 16 members one will have taken part in three meetings, while another will have taken part in two. In terms of “political balance”, the members belonging to the EPP – Mr Nassauer’s parliamentary group - who represent 33% of the members of the Delegation, will have taken part in 41% of the trips, the PSE group, which represents 27% of the members of the Delegation, in 29% of the trips, the Liberal group, which makes up 9% of the members of the Delegation, in 11% of the trips, the Green group, which represents 9% of the members of the Delegation, in 17% of the trips, the GUE group, which represents 4.5% of the members, in 0% of the trips, the EDD group, which represents 4.5% of the members, in 0% of the trips, and Non-Attached deputies, who make up 9% of the members, in 0% of the trips.
In terms of the respect of the rules and the democracy of our Parliament, Mr Nassauer certainly knows how to maintain a balance. In terms of the defence of the fundamental rights and the promotion of democracy in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, I have no doubt that the authorities in Vientiane, Hanoi and Phnom Penh judge the talents of Mr Nassauer at their true worth. In Kurhessen-Waldeck, his constituency, I do not know, and I fear that so far it has been the same for his electors.
I hope, Mr President, that you will agree to invite Mr Nassauer to have the good taste to resign from his post as Chairman of the Delegation.
Respectfully,
Olivier Dupuis
(1)Resolution on the religious liberties in Vietnam (05/07/01): "calls on the delegation for relations with the Member States of ASEAN, south-east Asia and the Republic of Korea to plan a trip to Vietnam in order to meet the leaders of all the religious faiths, especially those who have been imprisoned;".
(2)Especially EP resolution of 15 February 2001 on the situation with regard to human rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (15/02/01) and the resolution of 15 November 2001 on arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos.
(3)ASEAN Delegation: composition of the working groups:
(1)Indonesia and the Philippines - 28 April / 4 May 2002.
Hartmut Nassauer, EPP, Chairman
Felipe Camison Asensio, EPP
Roger Helmer, EPP
Hubert Pirker, EPP
Patricia McKenna, Greens
Niranjan Deva, EPP
Emilio Menendez del Valle, PES (not member of the Delegation)
(2)Vietnam and Cambodia - 7 to 14 September 2002
Hartmut Nassauer, EPP, President
Patricia McKenna, Greens
Luis Berenguer Fuster, PES
Lambert Doorn, EPP
Christopher Hunhe, ELDR
Christa Randzio-Plath, PES
(3)South Korea - April 2003
Mr Hartmut Nassauer, EPP
Joaquim Piscarreta, EPP
Patricia McKenna, Greens
Roger Helmer, EPP
Luis Berenguer Fuster, PES
Richard Corbett, PES
Jules Maaten, ELDR – to be confirmed (subject to the authorisation of the Conference of Presidents)
