MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on South Soudan, including recent child abductions
10.3.2015 - (2015/2603(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Marie-Christine Vergiat, Patrick Le Hyaric, Malin Björk, Gabriele Zimmer, Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Younous Omarjee, Sabine Lösing on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0241/2015
B8‑0263/2015
European Parliament resolution on South Soudan, including recent child abductions
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the resolutions of the European parliament on the situation in Sudan and South-Sudan
- having regard to the revised Cotonou Agreement,
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,
- having regard to the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol,
- having regard to the Unites Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its three Optional Protocols,
- having regard to the UNICEF statement of 21 of February 2015 on the abduction of children and the declaration of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, of the 4th of March 2015;
– having regard to Rule 135 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the he Republic of South Sudan, which has a multi-cultural population, became independent on 9 July 2011, as a result of a referendum held in the south of Sudan;
B. whereas South Sudan's independence was the final stage of a 6 year peace agreement after decades of civil war, whereas following internal disagreements in the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, President Salva Kiir Mayardit dissolved his entire cabinet and removed Vice-President Riek Machar from office in July 2013; points out that contrary to expectations, the partition of Sudan has not resolved the situation.
C. Whereas this conflict became a civil war; whereas United Nations declared that crimes against humanity were committed;
D. Whereas the different parties in conflict in South Sudan started negotiations the 7th of January 2014 in Addis Ababa under the auspices of IGAD; considering that seven cease-fires has been decided and systematically violated; whereas the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid said that the prospects of achieving a lasting peace at the political level are not good; whereas the decision of President Salva Kir to postpone for two years the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for July 2015 is an example of obstructing the peace process; whereas the Security Council of United Nations has established the 3th ofMarch 2015 sanctions against South Sudanese leaders if one of them try to threaten the safety or to interfere in the peace process;
E. whereas the belt of insecurity, under-development and poor governance across the Sahel to the Horn of Africa can only be addressed if the root causes are tackled such as: extreme poverty, climate change, EU and international geostrategic and economic interests ass well as interventions, unfair distribution of wealth and exploitation of natural resources;
F. whereas South Sudan has abundant fertile agricultural land and natural resources besides petroleum which include iron ore, copper, diamonds and gold;
G. whereas crucial issues such as border demarcation, sharing oil revenues and the use of the North's pipeline remain unsolved; whereas LAPSSET, the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor, was launched on March 2, 2012 by the governments of Kenia, South Sudan and Ethiopia and is seen by the UNCTAD as a project intending to transform regional economies and to create a bridge across the middle of Africa from Lamu (Kenia) to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean need consultations with all communities concerned in order to pre-empt new conflict;
H. whereas the lack of medical care and infrastructure, a poorly functioning economy, a chronic food insufficiency and high levels of acute malnutrition creates tensions and leads to violence;
I. whereas in the conflict in South Sudan then thousands people died since the end of 2013 and more than 2 million have fled their homes, many of them to the neighbour states, Kenia, Ethiopia and Uganda;
J. whereas children make half of the population of South Sudan;
K. Whereas, according UNICEF, in the last year alone, 12.000 children, mostly boys, have been recruited and used as soldiers by armed forces and groups in South Sudan;
1 Deplores the loss of lives in the conflict, expresses deep concern over the developing conflict, which is causing many deaths among civilians in particular among women and children;
2. Calls for a negotiated equitable and sustainable solution that will allow South Sudan's leaders to resolve their differences peacefully and democratically and for a national reconciliation process in the interest of the South Sudanese population as a whole; expresses its support for an impartial/neutral mediation;
3. Urges the international community to make diplomatic efforts to convince both sides of the conflict to end fighting and to start negotiating towards a peaceful, equitable and sustainable solution of the conflict and the initiation of DDR-programmes (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration);
4. Urges for an immediate stop of the delivery of weapons and munitions to South Sudan and the whole region; supports the existing EU arms embargo on South Sudan; calls for a comprehensive international arms embargo;
5. Supports the participation of civil society in peace negotiations as essential;
6. Underlines the need for the country's natural resources, particularly oil production, to be under state control and for the state to use them for the benefit of its people as a whole,
7. Urges the European Commission and its Member States scaling up the humanitarian support and to give access to the resources for the local farmers and producers to produce enough food for their populations, to stop land grabbing, to give access clean water, healthcare and sanitation to the population of South Sudan;
8. Calls on the international community to honour its funding commitments to South Sudan and the region and to mobilise additional resources in order to respond immediately to the humanitarian situation in South Sudan;
9. Calls on all parties in the conflict to protect civilians, particularly women and children, and to safeguard medical facilities, schools and places of refuge;
10. Welcomes the liberation of 3000 South Sudanese child soldiers on the 27th of January 2015; calls for massive aid to provide the support and protection of these children who need to begin rebuilding their lives;
11. Calls on to ensure the necessary resources for reintegration of the child soldiers and make possible their return to a peaceful life;
12. Denounces the recent new abductions of children by armed men from a village in South Sudan; appeals to militia leader Johnson Oloni to immediately free all abducted children, to let them go back to school and be with their families immediately; urges the government of South Sudan to use all their influence to secure the children's release;
13. Supports the UN ongoing UN's 'Children, Not Soldiers' campaign aiming to end the recruitment and use of children by Government and armed forces in conflict by the end of 2016;
14. Urges the Government of South Sudan and the opposition led by Riek Marchar to honour their commitments and to release all children in their ranks;
15. Urges the South Sudanese authorities to strengthen the fight against impunity by training the justice and the law enforcement community with tools designed to end all forms of violence against women and girls;
16. Calls on to give the South Sudanese women a full role in the peace-talks and to support women at grassroots level to make a measurable difference in the quality of peace negotiations by turning the tide of suspicion and build trust and promote reconciliation;
17. Underlines the importance of accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and calls on for the publication and dissemination of the AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan report (AUCISS);
18. Urges the Commission, the Member States and the South Sudanese authorities to work with communities and women’s rights organisations to provide and promote access to quality education and sexual and reproductive rights and healthcare services for girls and women, including access to contraception and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment;
19. Instructs its President to forward his resolution to the Council, he Commission, the Government of South Sudan, the African Union, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the UN Secretary-General,