MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
22.5.2007
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Ryszard Czarnecki, Adam Bielan, Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski
on behalf of the UEN Group
on Human rights in Sudan
B6‑0210/2007
European Parliament resolution on Human rights in Sudan
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, and Darfur,
– having regard to the report of the UN Secretary-General of 12 September 2006 on Sudan,
– having regard to all relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005 on the situation in Sudan, and Resolution 1706 of 31 August 2006 on the authorisation of UN force deployment to Darfur,
– having regard to the final report of the Panel of experts on the Sudan established pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 1591, released on 11 October 2006,
– having regard to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed in Abuja, Nigeria, on 5 May 2006,
– having regard to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on 9 January 2005,
– having regard to the African Union (AU) decision of April 2004 to establish the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS),
– having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is binding and applied without exception,
– having regard to the European Union Council conclusions of 14 May 2007,
– having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure;
A. whereas the Sudan humanitarian crisis and particularly the situation in Darfur is considered the worst current humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world;
B. whereas the persisting and systematic human rights abuses include killing, torture, rape, looting and destroying of property by all parties involved in the conflict;
C. whereas torture and forced conscription of adults and children have become a feature of the human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Darfur, with the victims of torture too scared to report the abuse to either AMIS or humanitarian workers for fear of retribution;
D. whereas sexual violence against women and children has been recognised as a crime against humanity, but systematic rape continues to be used as a weapon of war by parties in the Darfur conflict and, despite numerous assurances by the Sudanese Government, sexual violence continues unabated;
E. whereas almost two million people in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are homeless and live in official camps or unofficial “squatter areas”, more than two and a half million civilians have been internally displaced, at least 400,000 have lost their lives as a result of the conflict and more than 215,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad during the past three years;
F. whereas the worsening security situation is affecting humanitarian aid workers and obstructing their access to people in need, including refugees, internally displaced persons and other war-affected populations;
G. whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to issue arrest warrants against a Sudanese Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and a Janjaweed leader known as Ali Kosheib, both charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and accused of playing leading roles in a series of attacks against civilians in West Darfur in 2003 and 2004. in Darfur and whereas ICC obliges Khartoum to hand over the two suspects for trial in The Hague;
H. whereas on 14 May 2007 the Council approved a draft decision reassigning part of the reserve of the ninth European Development Fund (EDF) in order to allow for an additional 40 million euro to be granted to the African Union mission in Sudan;
I. whereas the UN ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine provides that where ‘national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,’ others have a responsibility to provide the protection needed;
1. Remains deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of the security situation and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan as a consequence of the increasing violence and condemns continued ceasefire violations by all parties;
2. Welcomes the efforts by the AU and UN jointly to enhance the capacities of the AMIS mission and particularly the agreement between the Sudanese Government, the AU and the UN on the Heavy Support Package and calls on the Sudanese Government not to hinder the urgent transition to a full-scale AU-UN hybrid mission;
3. Calls on the EU and other international actors to apply sanctions that target any side, including the government, that violates the ceasefire or attacks civilians, peacekeepers or humanitarian operations and to take all necessary action to help end impunity by enforcing and implementing the Security Council sanction regime through targeted economic sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, as the EU has done in the past with other countries;
4. Calls the Sudanese government to refrain immediately from using any form of violence against civilians and organisations providing humanitarian assistance and to honour and implement DPA commitments;
5. Deplores the increase in Sudanese government obstruction and harassment which has contributed to the decision of some humanitarian assistance agencies to withdraw from Darfur;
6. Condemns the Darfur genocide and underlines that the Sudanese Government does not respect the UN's authority and is responsible for the continuing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur;
7. Deplores the Sudanese Government’s support for the Janjaweed militia and condemns all arms, ammunition and related equipment transfers to Darfur for military operations in which extremely serious violations and abuse of human rights and international humanitarian law are committed by all parties;
8. Condemns all discriminatory practices and the persecution of Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities in Sudan;
9. Calls on the Sudanese Government and the international community to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court in order to end impunity;
10. Welcomes the Chad-Sudan reconciliation agreement of 3 May, requiring them to cooperate with the United Nations to stabilise Darfur and the border region in Chad;
11. Expresses its concern that the ongoing violence in Darfur might further undermine security in the wider region, in particular Chad and the Central African Republic, and welcomes the fact that the governments of Chad and the Central African Republic have agreed to a UN presence on their territories;
12. Calls on the governments of the Member States of the European Union, the Council and the Commission to assume their responsibilities and make every possible effort to provide effective protection for the people of Sudan from a humanitarian disaster;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States, the Government and Parliament of Sudan, the United Nations Security Council, the Heads of State and Government of the Arab League and the Governments of the ACP countries, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the African Union Institutions.