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 Hélène Flautre, Cem Özdemir
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on the human rights situation in Syria

B6‑0229/2007

European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Syria

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
• -having regard to Article 11 of the Treaty of the European Union, which establishes the promotion of human rights as an objective of the Common Foreign and Security Policy,
• -having regard to the EU guidelines towards third countries on the death penalty (1998), on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (2001), on human rights dialogues (2001) and on human rights defenders (2004),
• -having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights violations in Syria and to its recommendation to the Council on the conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Syrian Arab Republic, of the other part, of 26 October 2006,
• -having regard to the EU Presidency statement on the sentencing of intellectual Michel Kilo and political activist Mahmoud Issa in Syria of 14 May 2007,
• -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas Syria undertook in the Barcelona Declaration of 28 November 1995 to act in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other obligations under international law,

B.  whereas, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Syria has the international obligation to uphold the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, association and assembly,

C.  whereas Syria is the only country with which the European Community has not yet signed an association agreement, thus preventing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership from fully developing; recalling, in this regard, that respect for human rights is an essential element in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and of the European Neighbourhood Policy,

D.  deeply concerned by the deterioration of the overall human rights situation in Syria and by its long record of prosecuting political activists and human rights defenders who peacefully express their opinions,

E.  whereas, in May 2006, after signing the Damascus-Beirut Declaration calling for the improvement of the relationships between Syria and Lebanon, several civil society activists were arrested and tortured; particularly concerned by the condemnation in April and May 2007 to three to twelve years imprisonment for some of them, including Anwar al Bunni, lawyer and Head of the EU funded Damascus Centre for Legal Studies, Michel Kilo, Syrian intellectual and writer, Mahmoud Issa, Syrian political opponent, Suleiman Al-Shamar, Leading member of the Democratic National Community, Khalil Hussein, President of the Public Relations Office at the Kurd Future Trend and Kamal al-Labwani, physician and founder of the Democratic Liberal Gathering,

F.  whereas the protection of fundamental freedoms is the foundation for any development towards a strong and independent civil society and a genuine multi-party system,

• 1.Urges Syrian authorities to strictly comply with international human rights law and notably, with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, respectively ratified by Syria in 1969 and 2004;
• 2.Points out that respect for human rights constitutes a vital component of any association agreement;
• 3.Calls therefore on Syrian authorities to reconsider the cases of political prisoners and to release all prisoners of conscience and peace activists; calls, at the same time, on Syrian authorities to review the Syrian association law so as to end all major restrictions as regards the activities of human rights organisations and to definitively lift the state of emergency still in force today;
• 4.Calls in particular on the EU to provide all necessary support to the Syrian civil society activists through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and the newly adopted European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), including by implementing without delay the so-called ad hoc measures dedicated to human rights defenders;
• 5.Reiterates that respect for democratic values, human rights and civil liberties are prerequisites, and that, to this end, an effective control mechanism should be included in the agreement’s human rights clause;
• 6.Takes the view that the geo-strategic importance of Syria in the Near and Middle East and the unique and indispensable role this country can play for a comprehensive and lasting settlement in the region should constitute an additional reason for Syrian authorities to respect the international human rights law and to guarantee the effective exercise of these rights;
• 7.Calls on its sub-committee on human rights to closely monitor the human rights situation in Syria so as to provide its main committee with a comprehensive report on this question; in addition, calls on the political and human rights committee of the EMPA to address this issue in one of its next meetings with the view to enhance the Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary dialogue in the fields of Democracy and Human Rights;
• 8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Syrian government, the Syrian parliament and the UN Council on Human Rights.