MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Afghanistan, notably the allegations of sexual abuse of boys in the Logar Province.

17.12.2019 - (2019/2981(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Petras Auštrevičius, Atidzhe Alieva‑Veli, Malik Azmani, José Ramón Bauzá Díaz, Phil Bennion, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Gilles Boyer, Sylvie Brunet, Olivier Chastel, Katalin Cseh, Jérémy Decerle, Anna Júlia Donáth, Engin Eroglu, Klemen Grošelj, Christophe Grudler, Bernard Guetta, Antony Hook, Ivars Ijabs, Ondřej Kovařík, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Nathalie Loiseau, Karen Melchior, Ulrike Müller, Javier Nart, Jan‑Christoph Oetjen, Dragoş Pîslaru, Frédérique Ries, Monica Semedo, Susana Solís Pérez, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Ramona Strugariu, Irène Tolleret, Yana Toom, Hilde Vautmans, Marie‑Pierre Vedrenne, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou
on behalf of the Renew Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0242/2019

B9‑0256/2019

European Parliament resolution on Afghanistan, notably the allegations of sexual abuse of boys in the Logar Province.

(2019/2981(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in particular to the one of 14 December 2017 on the situation in Afghanistan,

– having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

– having regard to the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child in 1924 and to the United Nations adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 (ICCPR),

– having regard to the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty, on Torture, on Freedom of Expression and on Human Rights Defenders,

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of 2007,

– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950,

– having regard to the EU-Afghanistan Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development signed on 18 February 2017,

– having regard to the Afghan Law on Protection of Child Rights of 2019,

– having regard to the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Afghanistan of 2019,

– having regard to the Statement from the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) regarding allegations of sexual abuse of boys in Logar province and subsequent actions against human rights defenders of 3 of December 2019,

– having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,

1. Whereas 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1994 by Afghanistan;

 

2. Whereas the Afghan authorities ratified the Child Act in March 2019; whereas the majority of Afghan children continue to be highly exposed and affected by continuous forms of violence including sexual violence; 

 

3. Whereas in Afghanistan children have not yet experience in full their basic rights including the right to life, to health, to learn, to play, to participate and to develop to reach their full potential;

 

4. Whereas between 2015 and 2018 there were 14.000 violations against children in Afghanistan accordingly the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Afghanistan of 2019; whereas 17 cases of sexual violence against children were verified by the United Nations report that underlines that sexual violence against children in Afghanistan remains extremely underreported for stigma and impunity reasons;

 

5. Whereas in Afghanistan the bacha bazi practice, a form of paedophilia, stands as a reality vastly rooted; whereas bacha bazi is a practice where men exploit boys for entertainment, especially dancing and sexual activities;

 

6. Whereas the Afghan authorities have formally criminalized the practice of bacha bazi in February 2018; whereas bacha bazi and other forms of sexual violence against Afghan children continues to be not reported due to social norms, fear of vengeance and impunity;

 

7. Whereas the civil society organization The Logar Youth, Social and Civil Institution has reported that 546 Afghan boys belonging to at least six schools in Logar’s province have been sexually abused by a paedophile ring; whereas part of the investigation has revealed over 100 videos posted online; whereas the investigations related with this case continue and it is foreseen that the victim number will rise dramatically;

 

8. Whereas head teachers, teachers and local authorities from the Logar province have been implicated; whereas since the investigation became public several victims of the sexual abuse perpetrated by this paedophile ring have been murdered and in some cases by their own family members;

 

9. Whereas Mohammad Musa Mahmudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, members of a local advocacy group that reported the involvement of government officials within the paedophile wring in the Logar province, were threatened by the local governor; whereas on November 21 both were arrested by the National Directorate of Security; Whereas and due direct intervention of the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani both were released on the 27 November;

 

10. Whereas the Afghan authorities have systematically failed to pursue criminal investigations and protect the victims of child sexual abuse when having legal tools as the new Afghan penal code which penalizes crimes of sexual abuse against children;

 

1. Deplores the criminal actions perpetrated against the Afghan children in the Logar province and elsewhere in Afghanistan;

 

2. Commends the work being developed by The Logar Youth, Social and Civil Institution, all advocates and human rights defenders in Afghanistan;

 

3. Recalls the Afghan authorities that the protection of children and other vulnerable groups must be core of any given human rights protection policy and calls upon Afghan central and local authorities to continue active measures in eradicating the bacha bazi practice in the country;

 

4. Urges the Afghan Attorney General´s office to initiate an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse and violence against boys in Logar province; urges the Attorney General to implement the necessary tools to ensure the victims´ rights and the victims’ protection;

 

5. Calls on the Attorney´s General Office to launch and independent and impartial investigation into the arbitrary detention of the members of civil society who were arrested after they reported the cases of sexual abuse and violence, and who were subsequently released;

 

6. Calls on the Afghan authorities to make full use of national and international law within the frame of child rights protection; urges the Afghan authorities to make full application of the new Afghan Penal Code from 2018 and the Law on Protection of Child Rights from 2019 in order to ensure full accountability for the cases of sexual abuse and violence against children;

 

7. Urges the Afghan authorities to suspend, within the frame of their professional capacities, all individuals allegedly implicated in the cases of sexual abuse and violence;

 

8. Calls on the Afghan authorities to provide the victims and their families with the necessary psychological and social support in order to minimize the dramatic human dimension of such overwhelming events and as well the social impact faced;

 

9. Urges the Afghan authorities to set immediately a protection mechanism for organizations and advocates that report and expose child rights abuses; Urges the Afghan authorities to set a national support victim line dedicated to child rights abuses;

 

10. Advices the Afghan authorities to develop national and standing pedagogical campaigns on children rights protection and on sexual abuse of children targeting the civil society but as well develop tailor made campaigns to introduce within the Afghan educational system;

 

11. Calls on EU Member States with diplomatic missions and their development agencies on the ground to assist Afghan authorities and local civil society actors working to eradicate the bacha bazi practice from the Afghan society;

 

12. Calls on EU Member States with diplomatic missions on the ground to fully implement the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and to provide all appropriate support to the human rights defenders detained, including prison visits and trial monitoring;

 

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States, and the Government and Parliament of Afghanistan.