MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

16.1.2007

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Brian Crowley, Cristiana Muscardini, Roberta Angelilli and Eoin Ryan
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the imprisonment and trial of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medic on charges related to the 1999 HIV/AIDS case at the Benghazi children’s hospital

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0024/2007

B6‑0027/2007

European Parliament resolution on the imprisonment and trial of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medic on charges related to the 1999 HIV/AIDS case at the Benghazi children’s hospital

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the fact that the EU must remain at the forefront in protecting human rights around the world,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas a Libyan court on 19 December 2006 reaffirmed the death penalty by firing squad on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, on charges that these people infected 462 children at the Benghazi children’s hospital with the HIV/AIDS virus,

B.  whereas the Libyan court gave this verdict notwithstanding the body of international opinion to the contrary forwarded to the court, including from the International Council of Nurses and from Luc Montagnier, the French doctor who first detected the HIV/AIDS virus,

C.  whereas the Libyan court has simply disregarded the basic human rights of the defendants in question,

1.  Notes the statements made on this issue by the EU Commissioner for External Relations on 19 December 2006 and by the President of the European Parliament on 20 December 2006;

2.  Notes the letter which the EU Commissioner for External Relations wrote to the Libyan Government on this matter on 28 December 2006, calling for a resolution of the issue based on humanitarian grounds;

3.  Calls on the German Presidency of the European Union to seek a resolution of these cases based on humanitarian grounds;

4.  Calls on the Commission to continue to provide an increased level of funding to help children infected with AIDS in Benghazi, Libya;

5.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the German Presidency of the European Union, the governments of the Member States, the President of the Commission, the President of Libya, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the African Union and the head of the World Health Organisation.