B4-0352, 0360, 0367, 0387 and 0401/94

Resolution on the detention of Mrs Silvia Baraldini in the United States

The European Parliament,

A.whereas Mrs Silvia Baraldini, an Italian citizen, is currently serving a 43-year sentence in the USA for federal crimes, although she was not personally involved in murder, and whereas she has already spent 12 years in Lexington and Marianna high-security prisons,

B.whereas the Strasbourg Convention on Detention, ratified by Italy and the USA among others, provides for a prisoner sentenced in a foreign country to be repatriated and to serve the remainder of the sentence in his/her own country,

C.whereas Silvia Baraldini has been suffering from a severe form of cancer of the womb during her imprisonment and has had to undergo two emergency operations,

D.whereas her medical history justifies humanitarian action by the American authorities so that Silvia Baraldini may be reunited with her family,

E.stressing that the Italian authorities - including the Presidency of the Republic, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, several Ministers of Justice and other Ministries - have repeatedly made official requests to the Reagan, Bush and Clinton Administrations to apply the Strasbourg Convention to the case of Silvia Baraldini,

F.whereas, because of the steps taken by individuals and associations concerned with respect for human rights in the world, there is strong popular support in Italy for Mrs Baraldini to be repatriated,

1.Calls on President Clinton and the Attorney-General of the United States, Mrs Janet Reno, to apply the Strasbourg Convention in the case of Silvia Baraldini, thereby enabling her to be transferred immediately to an Italian prison;

2.Supports the moves being made in Italy to secure Mrs Baraldini's immediate repatriation;

3.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the Italian and US Governments.