MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

22.5.2007

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 Fiona Hall, Marios Matsakis
on behalf of the ALDE Group
on the sentencing to death by stoning of two Sudanese women on adultery charges

B6‑0221/2007

European Parliament resolution on the sentencing to death by stoning of two Sudanese women on adultery charges

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas the Republic of Sudan is signatory to the human rights clause of the Cotonou Agreement[1] and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[2],

B.   whereas the court headed by Judge Hatim Abdurrahman Mohamed Hasan sentenced to death by stoning Ms. Amouna Abdallah Daldoum (23 years old) and Ms. Sadia Idries Fadul (22 years old from Tama tribe, Darfur), on 6 March 2007 and 13 February 2007 respectively, for committing adultery,

C.   whereas stoning is a cruel and inhuman punishment and where the punishment of adultery violates the basic values of the European Union

D.   whereas these two convictions handed down by the Al-Azazi Court, Managil Province, Gazeera are apparently legally sound under article 146 (a) of Sudan’s 1991 Penal Code.

E.   whereas the European Commission announced on March 2007 an additional €45 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan (making a total of €85 for 2007 so far)

1.  Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States

• a)to condemn the death sentences passed on Ms Amouna Abdallah Daldoum and Ms Sadia Idries Fadul;
• b)to put pressure on the government of Sudan to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Ms Amouna Abdallah Daldoum and Ms Sadia Idries Fadul and to ensure they are given a prompt and fair appeal trial in which their procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
• c)more generally, to promote women's rights in their relations with the Sudanese authorities, including the right of women and girls to be free from discrimination and violence, in line with the international laws and standards;
• d)to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in their relations with the Sudanese authorities, including compliance with national laws and international human rights standards, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sudan is a State Party since 1986, and the human rights clause of the Cotonou Agreement, which Sudan signed in 2005;

2.   Demands that the government of Sudan legally revise its judicial system accordingly and ratifies the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty.[3]

3.   Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the President of the Republic of Sudan.

• [1]  Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000
• [2]  UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966
• [3]  UN General Assembly resolution 44/128 of 15 December 1989