MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on South Sudan, including recent child abductions

10.3.2015 - (2015/2603(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

Ignazio Corrao, Dario Tamburrano, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Piernicola Pedicini, Marco Valli, Rolandas Paksas, Valentinas Mazuronis on behalf of the EFDD Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0241/2015

B8‑0258/2015

European Parliament resolution on South Sudan, including recent child abductions

(2015/2603(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous  resolutions,

 

– having regard to the statements made by the Spokesperson on the South Sudan peace process of 23 January 2015, and on the resumption of fighting in Bentiu, in South Sudan of 31 October 2014,

 

– having regard to the statement of the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Calls for the Release of Children Recruited by All Parties of 03 Mar 2015,

 

–  having regard to UN Security Council resolutions 2206 (2015) of 3 March 2015,

 

–  having regard to the statement of 3 February 2015 by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,

 

–  having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

 

–  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 Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,,

 

 

A.  Whereas at least 89 and possibly hundreds of children in Wau Shilluk preparing for exams were forcibly recruited as child soldiers; whereas adult males were also forcibly recruited during the February 15 and 16 raid;

 

B.  Whereas the United Nations has gathered evidence that the responsible is a militia led by Johnson Oliny, a commander integrated into South Sudan army; whereas the groups that are chiefly responsible for using child soldiers are the army, six rebel groups, including the one led by former vice president Riek Machar, and armed groups from Sudan; whereas the South Sudan Army (SPLA) has clarified that they have no control over Oliny’s militia;

 

C.  Whereas South Sudan has had a law on the books since 2008 banning children from joining armed groups, and the government and several rebel groups have pledged to stop recruiting children to fight in armed conflicts; whereas the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA-Juba) formally recommitted to an action plan drafted with the United Nations to end and prevent recruitment and use of child soldiers, as well as all violations against children and it also committed to protect children from the impact of the conflict;

 

D.  Whereas in the report released by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it appears that the recruitment and use of children as soldiers has increased since South Sudan plunged into conflict in December 2013; whereas Unicef pointed out that nearly a quarter-million South Sudanese children under age five are suffering from “severe acute malnutrition”;

 

E.  Whereas at least 619 children were killed between December 15, 2013, when the civil war erupted, and September 30, 2014; whereas the UN cautions that reported numbers of children killed, wounded or sexually abused may be underestimated because investigators do not have access to the most dangerous parts of the country;

 

F.  Whereas schools have been used as places for child recruitment;

 

G.  Whereas the current humanitarian situation is demanding that humanitarian actors continue to provide assistance to approximately 81,000 people in the Abyei Area;

 

H.  Whereas because of this conflict, two and a half million people urgently need help with food; whereas an estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced within the country and another 452,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees by the violence; whereas at September 2014, of the 3.8 million civilians designated for assistance by the humanitarian community’s crisis response plan, 3.1 million had received assistance, including more than half a million children affected by psychosocial distress;

 

I.  Whereas rape and other forms of sexual violence have been committed, including in connection with the recruitment and use of children, abductions and intercommunal violence;

 

J.  Whereas the UN resolution 2206 (2015) expresses grave alarm and concern regarding the conflict between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and opposition forces; whereas it also strongly condemning past and ongoing human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those involving targeted killings of civilians, ethnically-targeted violence, extrajudicial killings, rape, and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, abductions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention;

 

K.  Whereas South Sudan is in a state of civil war with forces loyal to President Salva Kiir pitted against rebels led by former Vice-President Riek Machar;

 

L.  Whereas the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) is now itself providing safe shelter to more than 100,000 internally displaced people seeking refuge from violence perpetrated by the government and the armed groups that oppose it;

 

M.  Whereas the continued cooperation between the Government of Sudan and Government of South Sudan is also critical for peace, security and stability and the future relations between them;

 

1.  Calls on the Government of South Sudan to develop a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme for children separated from armed forces and groups and to ensure that children receive adequate support and reintegration assistance, with particular attention to the specific needs of girls;

 

2.  Urges SPLA in Opposition to immediately stop all grave violations against children and to respect the commitment that its Chairman signed with the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict in May 2014; recalls the necessity to take concrete measures to stop the ongoing violations against children and to respect international humanitarian and human rights law;

 

3.  Stresses the need for an effective human rights monitoring, including of any sexual and gender-based violence and violations and abuses committed against women and children, taking note that there have been no developments;

 

4.  Expresses grave concern at the threat to peace and security arising from the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons and at the residual threat of landmines and explosive remnants, which hinders the safe return of displaced persons to their homes and safe migration;

 

5.  Requests the Government of South Sudan to ensure accountability and to take all the necessary measures to redouble efforts to advance the investigations in progress and prosecute those responsible;

 

6.  Condemns all human rights violations in South Sudan and urges the South Sudan government to put an end to all human rights abuses and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms;

 

7.  Calls upon the donor community to ensure adequate support to child protection activities and programmes, with particular attention to children separated from their families and child survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence;

 

8.  Encourages the government of South Sudan to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children and armed conflict;

 

9.  Stresses the urgency of facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all affected populations;

 

10.  Welcomes the UN willingness to impose targeted sanctions in order to support the search for an inclusive and sustainable peace in South Sudan;

11.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government of South Sudan, the Human Rights Commissioner of South Sudan, the National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan, the institutions of the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the UN Secretary-General.