RESOLUTION B3-0060, 0071 and 0079/93

Resolution on the situation in Malawi

The European Parliament,

A.welcoming the announcement by Dr Hastings Banda, the Life President of Malawi, that a referendum is to be held on 15 March 1993 to determine whether the country should retain its present one-party system or reintroduce multi-party democracy, while regretting that his government continues to outlaw the freedom of the press, of association and of expression,

B.whereas reports from international human rights organizations continue to give solid evidence of human rights abuses by the Malawian authorities, notably the report of the delegation of the Law Society of England and Wales sent to Malawi in September 1992, which contains evidence of torture, maltreatment of prisoners and abuse of legal processes,

C.aware that numerous citizens are still imprisoned on political grounds including Chafukwa Chihana, Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy, and 274 others held for demonstrating against his conviction, and that still more are living abroad for fear of arrest,

1.Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners including Chafukwa Chihana and Vera Chirwa and urges the Government of Malawi to drop all political charges against these people and others in exile so that they can freely participate in discussion of the issues involved in the referendum;

2.Calls on the Government of Malawi to ensure that a free and fair referendum is held, guaranteeing freedom of expression for all opinions, so as to preclude an invalid result; in particular, calls on the government to repeal the preservation of Public Security Act - without which it will be impossible to conduct a free debate on the merits and demerits of single and multi-party systems - and to establish a genuinely independent Referendum Commission;

3.Considers it necessary for the European Community and other international bodies to monitor preparations for the referendum and the voting itself to ensure that it is freely held and to denounce any irregularities; therefore requests the Government of Malawi to issue an invitation to observers from abroad to monitor the electoral process, including the vote on 15 March 1993, and thus demonstrate to public opinion, both at home and abroad, that the referendum is being conducted in an exemplary ashion;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Co-Chairmen of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, the United Nations, the OAU and the Government of Malawi.