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Press release
Human rights: Chad, women's rights in Saudi Arabia, Japan's wartime sex slaves
Human rights - 13-12-2007 - 19:56
Plenary sessions
Plenary sessions
In its three human rights resolutions adopted at the end of the Strasbourg plenary session, the European Parliament calls for swift deployment of troops in eastern Chad, a vast improvement in women's rights in Saudi Arabia and recognition by the Japanese authorities of the fate of the sex slaves or 'comfort women' used by its armed forces in the Second World War.
Conflict in eastern Chad
Concerned about the escalating conflict in eastern Chad, MEPs call for rapid deployment of EU and other troops as approved under a UN Security Council resolution, as well as negotiations as part of a comprehensive peace process.
An armed struggle between the Chadian army and two rebel groups has resumed after a fragile peace deal which unravelled at the end of November. About 238,000 refugees from Sudan, 44,600 refugees from the Central African Republic and 170,000 internally displaced persons are hosted in twelve camps along Chad's eastern border with Sudan. Food distribution and other humanitarian aid efforts are being hampered.
The international community has responded to the crisis. A UN Security Council resolution of 25 September 2007 provides for the deployment of a multidimensional international presence in eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR), including an EU mission known as EUFOR TCHAD/RCA. On 15 October the EU Council adopted a joint action on this mission but the timetable for deploying the troops has been put back.
Swift troop deployment needed
In its resolution Parliament emphasises that "the recent violence and unrest in Chad underscore the urgent need for the deployment of EUFOR TCHAD/RCA without further delay". It stresses that "these forces must have and use all means necessary, in full compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, to protect civilians at risk".
Parliament regrets, however, that the mission still lacks vital equipment "such as helicopters and medical supplies" and "calls on the EU and its Member States to honour the political decision made and to provide this mission with more troops and appropriate financial, logistic and air support". However, MEPs welcome the Commission funding of over €50 million for this mission and observe that "this is evidence of a coherent interinstitutional EU approach to European security and defence policy".
Referring to the Darfur crisis taking place next door to Chad, Parliament stresses "the urgent need to address the destabilising impact of the crisis on the humanitarian and security situation in neighbouring countries".
It also highlights the issue of sexual exploitation in this conflict region and urges that outside forces be made aware of this problem and be trained in a gender-sensitive approach.
A longer term solution
MEPs urge the EU "to press for a comprehensive peace process, using pressure and incentives to encourage all parties to return to the negotiating table". They also call for "talks to address all levels of conflict currently taking place within Chad, including government/rebel tensions and interethnic conflict". Chad itself, in cooperation with Sudan and Libya, is pressed "to create the necessary conditions for a lasting political solution in implementation of the Sirte peace accord". Indeed, the EP argues that no peacekeeping mission in the eastern part of Chad and the northern part of the CAR can be successful without a genuine political reconciliation process.
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia
In a resolution on women's rights in Saudi Arabia, Parliament calls for the Saudi government to improve the lot of women in the kingdom, who it says "continue to face many forms of discrimination in private and in public life, are frequently victims of sexual violence and often face enormous obstacles in the criminal justice system" - even though Saudi Arabia has signed up to a range of international human rights conventions.
Among the demands made in today's resolution, Parliament "insists that the Saudi Arabian Government take further steps aimed at lifting restrictions on women's rights, including women's free movement, on the driving prohibition, on their employment opportunities, on their legal personality and on their representation in judicial processes, eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in private and public life and promote their participation in the economic, social and political spheres".
Concern over fate of 'Qatif girl'
The resolution states that in October 2006 a 19-year-old woman, known as 'the Qatif Girl', was sentenced to 100 lashes following an incident in which she was alone in a car talking with a man who was not a close relative when she was attacked and gang-raped. Parliament "deplores the decision taken by the General Court of Qatif to punish the rape victim" and "calls on the Saudi Arabian authorities to quash the sentence and drop all charges against the victim of the rape".
Domestic violence
Parliament notes that "on 3 October 2007, King Abdullah announced a judicial reform, promising the setting-up of new specialised courts and improved training for judges and lawyers" and "recalls that, in May 2007, it was reported that King Abdullah had ordered that a new court be established which would specialise in hearing domestic violence cases".
Nevertheless, MEPs believe that "a campaign to promote awareness regarding violence against women in Saudi Arabia, especially domestic violence, would be a most welcome initiative, which should be introduced as a matter of urgency".
Lastly the resolution calls on the Council and Commission "to raise these issues at the next Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council".
Use of sex slaves by Japanese forces in World War II
A resolution on the 'comfort women' (sex slaves) used by Japan in World War II calls for a change of official attitudes in modern-day Japan, a right for survivors or families to apply for compensation and measures to educate people about these historical events.
The resolution states that the government of Japan, during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s until the end of World War II, officially commissioned the acquisition of young women, who became known to the world as ianfu or ‘comfort women’, for the sole purpose of sexual servitude to its Imperial Armed Forces. The system "included gang rape, forced abortions, humiliation, and sexual violence resulting in mutilation, death or eventual suicide, in one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century".
The survivors are still waiting for justice to be done. The dozens of ‘comfort women’ cases brought before Japanese courts have all ended in the dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims for compensation, despite court judgements acknowledging the Imperial Armed Forces’ direct and indirect involvement, and the state’s responsibility.
Call for formal acknowledgment of responsibility by government
The EP refers to the acknowledgements of these abuses made by Japanese politicians and officials, although "some Japanese officials have recently expressed a regrettable desire to dilute or rescind those statements". At all events, the EP believes more needs to be done.
The resolution calls on the Japanese government "formally to acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical and legal responsibility, in a clear and unequivocal manner, for its Imperial Armed Force’s coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as ‘comfort women’, during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s until the end of World War II".
Legal obstacles to compensation must be removed
It also calls on the Japanese government "to implement effective administrative mechanisms to provide reparations to all surviving victims of the ‘comfort women’ system and the families of its deceased victims".
The Japanese National Assembly is urged "to take legal measures to remove existing obstacles to obtaining reparations before Japanese courts". In particular, say MEPs, "the right of individuals to claim reparations against the government should be expressly recognized in national law, and cases for reparations for the survivors of sexual slavery, as a crime under international law, should be prioritized, taking into account the age of the survivors".
Education about the past
MEPs also want the government of Japan "to refute publicly any claims that the subjugation and enslavement of ‘comfort women’ never occurred".
Lastly, the resolution "encourages the Japanese people and government to take further steps to recognize the full history of their nation, as is the moral duty of all countries, and to foster awareness in Japan of its actions in the 1930s and 1940s, including in relation to ‘comfort women’" and "calls on the government of Japan to educate current and future generations about those events".
REF.: 20071211IPR14818