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B6-0201/2008
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

22.4.2008

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Adam Bielan, Ryszard Czarnecki, Ewa Tomaszewska
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the situation in Chad

Postup : 2008/2568(RSP)
Postup v rámci schôdze
Postup dokumentu :  
B6-0201/2008
Predkladané texty :
B6-0201/2008
Prijaté texty :

B6‑0201/2008

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Chad

The European Parliament,

-  having regard to its previous resolutions of 5 March 2008 on the situation in Chad, 11 December 2007 on Eastern Chad, 27 September 2007 on the ESDP operation in Chad and the Central African Republic ,

-  having regard to the Security Council Resolution no 1778 (2007) adopted on 25 September 2007,

-  Having regard to the Conclusions of the European Union Council on Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic adopted on 28 January 2008,

-  having regard to the Tripoli Agreement of 8 February 2006 to Settle the Dispute between the Republic of Chad and the Republic of the Sudan,

-  having regard to the peace agreement in Sirte of 25 October 2007, signed by both the Government of Chad and the main Chadian opposition groups,

-  having regard to the Council joint action 2007/677/CFSP of 15 October 2007 on the European Union military operation in the Republic of Chad and in the Central African Republic (EUFOR TCHAD/RCA),

-  having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  Whereas the geopolitical situation in the Republic of Chad is one of the most challenging in sub-Saharan Africa, aggravated by artificial borders that have been laid down with little or no regard for ethnic demarcation;

B.  Whereas the Tripoli Agreement signed on 8 February 2006 urged both the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of Chad to abstain from any action that could destabilize the situation in the border region between the two countries and to cease their support for, respectively, both Sudanese and Chadian rebel groups acting in the area;

C.  Whereas the situation in Darfur has a significant impact on that in Republic of Chad, mostly because of massive refugee flow and cross-border attacks carried out by Janjaweed militias, who are responsible for genocide in that region;

D.  whereas in February, rebel groups carried out by Chad’s three main armed resistance groups - the Union of Democratic Forces (UFDD), led by Mahamat Nouri, the RFC (Rally of Forces for Change) of Timan Erdimi, and the UFDD-Fundamental led by Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye, with aid of Darfur rebels, launched an attack on the Chadian capital N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow President Idriss Deby, resulting - according to UN figures - in 700 casualties as well as large numbers of injured persons, more than 1000 wounded and more than 30 000 civilians forced to flee their homes;

E.  Whereas state security forces arrested at least 15 persons and held them without charge since Chadian rebels attempted a coup on February2008;

F.  Whereas at least 18 armed rebellions against Mr Deby’s regime have been launched since 1990;

G.  Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported the registration of approximately 12,400 new refugees from Central African Republic (CAR) since the beginning of 2008. This brings the total of CAR refugees in Chad to over 57,000, in addition to about 250 000 refugees from Darfur who have crossed over the border since 2003, almost all of whom are located in 12 camps in the country's east and whereas the number of internally displaced persons in eastern Chad has reached 180 000;

H.  Whereas the unstable political situation and armed conflict in Chad aggravates the grave situation of Darfur refugees, especially after recent threats from the Chadian government to expel any more exiles arriving from Darfur;

I.  Whereas combined efforts by the international community, mainly the UN and the European Union, including military bridging operations in the Republic of Chad (EUFOR Chad), support to the African Union Mission in Darfur (AMIS), and establishment of the Police tchadienne pour la protection humanitaire (PTPH) within the United Nations Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINUCRAT), can bring about stabilization and the establishment of a long lasting peace in the region;

J.  Whereas in view of the current humanitarian and security situation, the deployment of the EUFOR mission authorised by the UN Security Council has become indispensable, not least considering that the UN and the EU have a 'responsibility to protect' civilians in this regions with all means necessary, and to provide humanitarian assistance as well as security for humanitarian personnel;

K.  Whereas the deteriorating security situation in Chad forced the U.N. to evacuate most of its staff to the neighboring countries;

L.  Whereas a long-term solution to the instability in Chad can only be achieved by political rather than military means;

M.  Whereas the regime of President Idriss Deby is based on a very weak foundation, especially after the widely discredited 2006 election, which deepened factional divisions and fuelled opposition against his rule;

N.  Whereas the lack of full respect for human rights and the rule of law by Chadian public institutions, including the judicial system, hampers the political activity of peaceful opposition;

O.  Whereas the Sirte agreement, although it has not been implemented so far and did not bring the end to hostilities, should generally be regarded as a guideline for future negotiations and peace-building process;

P.  Whereas armed opposition against the government of Chad cannot be considered democratic and has thus far been guilty of grave human rights violations, and therefore should not be supported by the international community;

Q.  Whereas the Republic of Chad is regarded as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, rated 173rd poorest out of 177 in the Human Development Index and an estimated 80% of its population live on less than one dollar a day, with limited access to drinking water and medical healthcare;

R.  Whereas Chad’s natural resources, especially oil, have the potential to boost the economic growth and raise the standard of living in the country;

S.  Whereas the situation of children in Chad is grave, primarily because of participation in armed forces, sexual abuse, exploitation as workers and poor access to education and

T.  Whereas the Arche de Zoe incident hindered the effectiveness of humanitarian aid in the region due to travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Chad on humanitarian workers, while deteriorating security situation hampers their efforts even further;

1.  Calls on the government of the Republic of Sudan to respect the Tripoli Agreement of 8 February 2006, in particular articles 2,3 and 4;

2.  Calls on the Chadian government to continue a genuine political reconciliation process with armed opposition and to conclude a new cease-fire agreement, taking into consideration the decisions of the Sirte agreement and calls on the government of Chad to continue the process of democratic change and to put special emphasis on the fight against corruption;

3.  Calls on the Governments of Chad and Sudan to immediately cease all support to armed groups in Darfur and Eastern Chad, to fulfil their commitments to prevent armed groups from crossing the common border, to settle differences through political dialogue and to take all necessary measures to stabilise the current situation;

4.  Condemns the support of the Sudanese government for paramilitary groups operating in Eastern Chad, in particular as regards the supply of weapons and means of transport;

5.  Whereas likely the main goal of the rebel offensive in early February - mounted with the assistance of the Sudan - was to discourage the upcoming deployment EUFOR in eastern Chad and the neighbouring Darfur, a region which Sudan would like to hide from the international community so that it can continue to perpetrate its atrocities there;

6.  Deeply concerned about the situation of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh whose whereabouts are uncertain and allegation that he is held in custody by the Chadian authorities; therefore also very concerned about the situation of many other opposition members whose life has been threatened, several hundreds of opposition members are said to have been killed, allegedly by the Chadian army, in the aftermath of recent clashes between rebel and government forces;

7.  Concerned by reports about the continued detention without charge of at least eleven persons arrested after the failed coup, many of whom are members of the Goran ethnic group;

8.  Calls the Chadian government to immediately release persons arrested following a February coup attempt and urges the Chadian government to take all necessary measures to protect the all human rights defenders, who are currently in great danger;

9.  Deplores the fact that the Chadian government used the February coup attempt as a pretext to arbitrarily arrest people who have no apparent connection to the insurgency;

10.  Condemns all detentions of politicians peacefully opposed to the government and calls on the Chadian authorities to reinforce democratic judicial procedures in a way that would

11.  Concerned by the recent fighting between the government and rebels which took place on 1 April 2008 in Adé near the border with Sudan, and left more than 50 civilians killed, injured and 47 wounded;

12.  Welcomes the Polish government decision to deploy four hundred Polish troops (about ten percent of the entire contingent) in the European Union's stabilisation mission in Chad which should be fully operational by September 2008;

13.  Welcomes the deployment of the EUFOR mission to ensure security for internally displaced persons and refugees in eastern Chad and in north-eastern Central African Republic, and to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid, protect humanitarian personnel and facilitate their free movement and calls on the government of Chad to abolish travel restrictions on humanitarian workers;

14.  Calls on EU Member States of the EU to fulfil their commitments and to fully exercise the mandate given by Security Council Resolution no 1778 (2007) to deploy Union-led peace keeping forces to Chad as soon as possible and in particular helicopters;

15.  Commends President Wade of Senegal for his mediation efforts, which enabled the signing of the Dakar Agreement between Sudan and Chad on 13 March 2008 and welcomes changes to Senegal’s constitution to make it possible for national courts to try crimes against humanity, enabling former Chadian leader Hissène Habré to be tried for alleged crimes committed during the 1980s;

16.  Welcomes the African Union’s efforts to engage both sides of the conflict in the peace talks aimed at bringing the conflict to an end;

17.  Calls on the European Union to increase its economic, political and diplomatic efforts in coordination with the United Nations (including the possibility of sending a peacekeeping military mission) in order to concretely look for a peaceful solution of a crisis which provoked thousands of innocent victims and minimize at least the humanitarian disaster in Darfur and Eastern Chad;

18.  Calls on the Council, the Commission and the United Nations to coordinate their efforts in order to minimize the humanitarian disaster in Darfur and Eastern Chad;

19.  Hopes that the actions of Arche de Zoé and the attempt to remove 103 Chadian children will not have a long-lasting negative impact on credibility and effectiveness of humanitarian aid in the region and calls on both sides of the conflict to ensure that children are treated in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights laws;

20.  Emphasizes that no democratic change can be achieved without respect for human rights and the rule of law;

21.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the African Union, the UN Secretary-General, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the Presidents, Governments and Parliaments of Chad, the Central African Republic and Sudan.