• EN - English
Motion for a resolution - B8-0165/2018Motion for a resolution
B8-0165/2018

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on mercy killings in Uganda

13.3.2018 - (2018/2632(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 135 of the Rules of Procedure

Charles Tannock, Karol Karski, Urszula Krupa, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Monica Macovei, Ruža Tomašić, Raffaele Fitto, Zdzisław Krasnodębski, Anna Elżbieta Fotyga, Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner, Ryszard Czarnecki, Notis Marias, Branislav Škripek on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0165/2018

Procedure : 2018/2632(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B8-0165/2018
Texts tabled :
B8-0165/2018
Texts adopted :

B8‑0165/2018

European Parliament resolution on mercy killings in Uganda

(2018/2632(RSP))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the United Nations General Assembly’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 to which Uganda is a signatory,

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the African Charter on Human and Peoples‘ Rights,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990, which was signed and ratified by Uganda,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 13 December 2006, signed and ratified by Uganda,

- having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986,

- having regard to the Cotonou Agreement,

-having regard to the European Convention on the Exercise of Children‘s Rights, which was adopted on 25 January 1996 and entered into force on 1 July 2000,

- having regard to the Children Act in the Ugandan Law, which entered into force on 1 August 1997,

A. whereas the ‘mercy killings’ in Uganda is a practice where parents of disabled children kill them or deliberately allow them to die by starving them or denying them medical attention because of the belief that they are better off dead than having to endure a painful and incurable disability;

B. whereas the practice of mercy killings is illegal under Ugandan law which states that ‘parents of children with disabilities and the State shall take appropriate steps to see that those children are assessed as early as possible as to the extent and nature of their disabilities; and are offered appropriate treatment and afforded facilities for their rehabilitation and equal opportunities to education’;

 

C. whereas 7.2% of the Ugandan population are living with a disability of which 30% are children and in northern Uganda 80% of the disabled children were identified as living in chronic poverty;

 

D. whereas the utmost threat to children with disabilities is posed by misleading beliefs regarding the condition, including that the presence of the child will lead to more disabled children;

 

E. whereas some parents confess that the act of ‘Mercy killing’ is necessary to save disabled children from suffering severely through their lives;

F. whereas doctors and medical workers fail to understand or explain the nature and the cause of the child’s frailty and the healthcare system is not sufficiently equipped to diagnose and treat many types of disabilities that could be minimised or even eliminated;

 

G. whereas many misconceptions surrounding children with disabilities pose a challenge to the developmental efforts and the work of Human Rights monitors in Uganda;

 

H. whereas non-governmental organisations in Uganda are facing several difficulties and obstacles and in providing services to children with disabilities and their parents, in an attempt to fill the gap where the government is not fulfilling its responsibilities;

 

I. whereas the work of civil society organisations fighting for the rights of vulnerable people, including those with disabilities is very difficult in Uganda with the recent case of an attack on the offices of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum on 9 February 2018, where eight unidentified men attempted to break into HRAPF‘s offices in Kampala and attacked the two security guards on duty with machetes; whereas that was the most recent one in the series of attacks and intimidations to the organisation;

 

J. whereas people with disabilities face oppression and marginalization in Ugandan society with little chance for education;

 

K. whereas disability places families, and especially mothers with disabled children, in an undervalued social status and denies them full participation in society;

 

L. whereas the aforementioned misconceptions surrounding people with disabilities have also caused the mothers of children with disabilities to deny the child the necessary care and even forced some mothers to end the lives of their disabled children;

 

M. whereas the Ugandan authorities do not provide any kind of support to the parents, and especially mothers, who decide to raise disabled children despite the enormous social pressure and stigma they are facing.

 

1. Strongly condemns the denial of healthcare, murder, physical and psychological violence suffered by disabled children in Uganda;

 

2. Calls on the President of Uganda to protect children with disabilities from physical harm, and promote social awareness and provide information on the situation of disabled people;

 

3. Calls on the Ugandan government to meet the medical, psychological and social needs of people with disabilities more effectively by guaranteeing them equal access to healthcare, education and employment;

 

4. Calls on the President of Uganda to include disabled people in society through implementing adequate educational systems that address the needs and rights of persons with disabilities and to make primary healthcare accessible for disabled people;

 

5. Calls on the government of Uganda to ensure medical doctors who come in direct contact with people with disabilities and their medical problems are adequately educated and sensitized to the needs of these patients, and furthermore to provide such programmes for people with disabilities and their families/caregiver(s) on how to deal with medical issues related to the particular disability;

 

6. Calls on the government of Uganda to put more effort into addressing the root causes of such discrimination and violence, particularly in exploring and dealing with situation in which people with disabilities are more at risk of being attack or even murdered;

 

7. Calls on the Ugandan government to support all actions undertaken in favour of the improvement of civil and human rights of disabled people;

 

8. Calls on the Ugandan authorities to provide more equal opportunities for disabled children to receive education and training that will allow them to participate in society;

 

9. Calls on the Ugandan government to foster the exchange of views with other nations where the treatment of persons with disabilities is also of concern, specifically in constructing effective and culturally acceptable strategies for improving the situation of persons with disabilities;

 

10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support the efforts of the government, NGOs and civil society of Uganda to formulate and implement policies to address the needs and rights of persons with disabilities, based on non-discrimination and social inclusion, and equal access to healthcare and other social services;

 

11. Calls on the Commission to closely monitor the human rights situation of persons with disabilities in Uganda and to promote significant improvements in their protection and social integration;

 

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, the African Union, the Government and Parliament of Uganda, the UN Secretary General, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the ACP Council.

 

Last updated: 13 March 2018
Legal notice - Privacy policy