MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

13.3.2007

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 Charles Tannock, Bernd Posselt and Ari Vatanen,
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on Cambodia

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B6‑0103/2007

European Parliament resolution on Cambodia

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to its resolutions of 13 January 2005 and 10 March 2005 on Cambodia , its resolution of 1 December 2005 on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and its resolution of 19 January 2006 on Cambodia,
• -having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Cambodia which entered into force on 1 November 1999,
• -having regard to the United Nations (UN) Declaration of Human rights defenders of 1998 and the European Union (EU) Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders approved by the Council on 14 June 2004,
• -having regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a State Party,
• -having regard to the agreement between the UN and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the prosecution under Cambodian law of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea of 6 June 2003,
• -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas on 24 February 2007, Hy Vuthy, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) at the Suntex garment factory, was shot dead after finishing his night shift at the Suntex factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district,

B.  whereas other trade unionists in Cambodia have been attacked in the past year: Chea Vichea, the FTUWKC President, was shot dead in January 2004 and Ros Sovannareth, the FTUWKC President at the Trinunggal Komara factory, was murdered in May 2004,

C.  whereas municipal elections will take place in April of this year and parliamentary elections in July 2008,   

D.  whereas the proceedings before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) have not started because of various disagreements between the Cambodian and the international judicial officers concerning the draft Internal Rules for the ECCC,

1.  Condemns the killing of Hy Vuthy and all the other acts of violence against trade unionists; calls on the Cambodian authorities to ensure that the killing of Hy Vuthy is thoroughly and independently investigated and that all persons responsible are brought to justice;

2.  Welcomes the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections in Cambodia; calls on the Cambodian authorities to ensure that these elections are free and fair;

3.  Supports the efforts of the ECCC Review Committee on the Internal Rules to narrow the differences on a number of issues in order to move prosecutions and trials forward;

4.  Urges the Cambodian Government to fulfil its commitment to establish the ECCC, in accordance with international standards of judicial independence, fair trial and due legal process, as agreed with the UN in June 2003;

5.  Calls on the Commission and the Council to support the efforts aimed to resolve differences that have stalled the long-awaited trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders;

6.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the government and National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia.