MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on mass graves in Iraq
13.12.2016 - (2016/3028(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Javier Couso Permuy, Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Tania González Peñas, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Xabier Benito Ziluaga, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Merja Kyllönen, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Kostadinka Kuneva, Stelios Kouloglou, Kostas Chrysogonos on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-1344/2016
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Iraq, and in particular that of 26 of October 2016 on the situation in Northern Iraq/Mosul, of 27 February 2014 on the situation in Iraq, of 18 September 2014 on the situation in Iraq and Syria, and the IS offensive, including the persecution of minorities, of 12 February 2015 on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, of 12 March 2015 on recent attacks and abductions by ISIS/Da’esh in the Middle East, notably of Assyrians, and of 4 February 2016 on the systematic mass murder of religious minorities by the so-called ‘ISIS/Daesh’
– having regard to Resolution 2091 (2016) ‘Foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq’, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 January 2016,
– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the humanitarian situation in Iraq has continued to deteriorate since 2003 following the US invasion; whereas according to recent UN data the violence has resulted to over 3.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Iraq and left more than 10 million in need of humanitarian assistance:
B. whereas a major humanitarian crisis is under way in Iraq as a result of the fighting and has been going on since 2003 after the US invasion; whereas UN estimates that the Mosul offensive could displace up to 1 million people, approximately 700,000 of whom will likely require emergency shelter support;
C. whereas the UNHCR and its partners have tried to prepare for supporting the people who may be displaced and affected by this military operation; whereas the funding of humanitarian assistance has been totally insufficient to prepare fully for this situation; whereas shelter is currently available for 60,000 people in camps and emergency sites only: whereas construction of additional sites, with capacity for 250,000 people, is underway; whereas drinking water is in dangerously short supply; whereas food rations for 220,000 families are ready for distribution only;
D. whereas since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, almost 240 000 people have fled the violence into Iraq, mainly into its Kurdish region;
E. whereas on the 17th of October, a large offensive by coalition of Iraqi military and pro-government militia was launched on the Isis-controlled city of Mosul and the surrounding area; F. Whereas on 23 of October, four people died after inhaling fumes from burning sulphur from al-Mishrag Sulphur Gas Factory and Field in the Shura sub-district of Mosul; whereas according from the UN others details are also emerging of the use of chemical weapons by ISIL;
G. whereas the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) received reports on 25 October that 50 former Iraqi police officers had been killed in a building outside Mosul city,
H. Whereas since the 27th of October, ISIL has been relocating abducted women, including Yezidi women, into Mosul city and into Tel Afar town; whereas some of these women were reportedly “distributed” to ISIL fighters while others have been told they will be used to accompany ISIL convoys;
I. whereas OHCHR has information that between 1 and 4 November, 195 former Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) members had been reportedly abducted by ISIL in several villages in Tal Afar, and on 3 November, another 100 former ISF officers had been abducted from Mawali village about 20 kilometres west of Mosul; whereas the fate of these 295 civilians is unknown;
J. whereas the 2 or 3 of November, ISIL allegedly abducted at least 30 sheiks in the Qayrawan sub-district of Sinjar district, who were taken to an unknown location, she added; whereas allegations said that 18 of them were killed in Tal Afar district on 14 November,
K. Whereas the 4th of November 2016, according to the UN, ISIL had forcibly moved about 1,500 families from Hammam al-Alil towards Mosul airport;
L. Whereas the 7th of November, the ISF reportedly found in Shura sub-district of Mosul an underground prison containing 961 people, all of them Sunni, and many of them former ISF officers or members of the Iraqi Islamic Party; whereas People in the prison – which reportedly had cages measuring 1 metre by 0.5 metres – bore signs of torture and malnutrition.
M. Whereas according to OHCHR the 8th of November ISIL reportedly shot and killed 40 civilians in Mosul city after accusing them of 'treason and collaboration' with the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF); whereas the victims were dressed in orange clothes marked in red with the words: “traitors and agents of the ISF”; whereas their bodies were then hung on electrical poles in several areas in Mosul city;
N. Whereas the 9th of November ISIL deployed what it calls the “sons of the caliphate” in the alleys of the old town of Mosul, wearing explosive belts; whereas the same day ISIL also posted a video showing four children, believed to be between 10 and 14 years old, shooting to death four people for spying for the ISF and the Peshmerga
O. Whereas the 11th of November the UN declared that mass graves and further evidence of sexual exploitation, torture and killings, child recruitment and other grave human rights abuses committed by “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL/Da'esh) extremists in Iraq came to light; whereas according to the Irakis authorities, mass graves devised by Islamic State fighters, one of which was a deep well, were discovered on or around the 12th through the 17th of November, 2016; whereas the largest of the reported mass graves, where are entombed the decaying corpses of well over 200 yet-unidentified persons;
P. whereas the 11th of November UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has called for immediate action to ensure that the rights and the needs of victims and survivors are met – including the need for justice, truth and reconciliation; whereas Zeid said that it is equally important that formal justice is supported by actions that promote community reconciliation, such as truth-telling and restorative justice, including the provision of medical and psycho-social services, housing, education and other financial support which may assist people in rebuilding their lives and their communities;
Q. whereas the information disseminated in Europe by the mass media is very scarce, especially if compared to the great coverage of the Aleppo conflict, with similar characteristics.
R. whereas the regional powers and international actors misuse the conflict in Iraq for pursuing their own interests and agenda; whereas Turkey under the pretext of the fight against the so called Islamic State intervened in Iraq against the Kurds and has deployed an estimated 2,000 troops across northern Iraq with no prior coordination - or agreement - with the Iraqi government; whereas the Turkish military presence in Iraq represents a clear violation of national sovereignty of Iraq:
·Is alarmed by the situation of the population of Irak and more specifically by the crimes committed in and around Mossul
·Reiterates that in the fight against ISIL human rights and international humanitarian law must be respected; calls on all parties to the conflict to take concrete steps to ensure that all civilians are protected and assistance is delivered in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian principles, during all military campaigns; strongly calls on all parties involved to avoid establishing military positions in populated areas, and desist form attacks directed against civilian targets; underscores the need for the parties to agree on humanitarian pauses, localised ceasefires and truces in order to allow humanitarian agencies safe and unhindered access to all affected areas;
·Supports the call of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein for “truth-telling and restorative justice, including the provision of medical and psycho-social services, housing, education and other financial support which may assist people in rebuilding their lives and their communities”; demands that the money given by EU serves in priority to rebuild the country and develop public services to achieve these goals;
·Is particularly alarmed by the situation of women and children in the conflict notably by the Yazidis women who are victims of persecutions, executions, torture and sexual exploitation; insist that full medical cares including sexual and reproductive rights and safe abortion should be guarantee notably for the victims of rape; urges UE and its Members states to work closely and support the World Health Organization (WHO) to monitor those rights;
·Calls for the EU to ensure greater support for the increased numbers of refugees; encourages the Commission to make more financial and human resources available to assist the refugees; denounces the continuing insufficient financing of the work of the UNHCR;
·Urges the EU to provide assistance to the refugees in the Kurdish part of Iraq
·Understands the military efforts to combat terrorist groups that works as irregular armies and urges the Iraqi army to be a veritable national force and to abandon old sectarian attitudes which are part of the deterioration of the situation.
·Stresses that the best support for the fight of the Iraqi people against the armed group Islamic State is to stop financing any militia and, in particular, to stop buying oil coming from oilfields controlled by ISIL and transported by truck through Turkey; stresses the fact that the conflict has been exacerbated by the arms trade and the supply of weapons, in which some EU member states take part
·Calls for the holding of an international conference on Iraq under the auspices of the United Nations and with the participation of the neighboring countries; underlines that only a political solution which meets the concerns and interests of all part of the Iraqi society can put an end to the sectarian conflicts and violence in the country; stresses the fact that the partition of the country as the “community division” system failed and contributed to the weakness of Iraqi state and of the growing up of terrorism in the country;
·Strongly condemns the various Western interventions of recent years have played in fostering the radicalization of individuals, especially in the Middle East; stresses that such policies are promoting, not countering, terrorism and therefore should be abandoned; underlines the responsibility that those countries bear for the conflicts in the Middle East region and calls on them particularly to alleviate the suffering of those affected by violence and to grant asylum to refugees; in particular, by developing resettlement programs, condemns any agreement to return populations in this country at the present stage;
· Specially condemns the invasion on 2003 lead by the US and in which the UK and Spain took part, that lead to the dismantling of the National State and urges de regional and international actors to respect the UN Charter and abstain to interfere on the internal affairs of other states;
·Strongly urges Turkey to withdraw its troops for the Iraqi territory and to all countries to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq:
·Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President of the European Council, the President of the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU Head of Delegation in Iraq, the presidents of the parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Council of Representatives of the Republic of Iraq, the Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean, and the League of Arab States.