MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

13.11.2007

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 John Bowis, Mario Mauro, Bernd Posselt, Eija-Riitta Korhola
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the situation in Somalia

B6‑0454/2007

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Somalia

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Somalia,
• -having regard to the previous statements made by the High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy of the Council of the Union, Javier Solana, and by Commissioner Louis Michel,
• -having regard to the Statement of Concern regarding the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia signed by 40 international and national NGOs,
• -having regard to the plan for national reconciliation put forward in UN Security Council resolution 1744, passed in February 2007, in the aftermath of the victory by Ethiopia over the Union of Islamic Courts,
• -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
• -having regard to the forthcoming EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon on 8-9 December 2007,
• A.concerned by the prolonged civil war in Somalia and its implications for the peace and reconciliation process in that country, as well as for the security and stability of the Horn of Africa as a whole,
• B.whereas the worsening state of security in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, has prevented national and international NGOs from coping with an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe and responding to emergencies,
• C.whereas the UN Refugee Agency estimates that at least 90,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting between the insurgents of the Union of Islamic Courts and allied Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops; whereas this fighting provoked the deaths of numerous civilians; whereas the safety of the remaining population is a matter of grave concern,
• D.whereas Ali Mohamed Gedi, the Somali Prime Minister has resigned after a feud with the President, Abdullah Ahmed Yusuf, which has aggravated the political impasse in the country,
• E.whereas insurgents of the Union of Islamic Courts exclude all political contact with the government for as long as the Ethiopian army is present in Somalia,
• F.whereas according to UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – Somalia, about 450,000 people have been displaced by fighting during 2007, bringing the total number of displaced persons in Somalia to more than 850,000 including about 400,000 displaced since the civil year began in the 1990s,
• G.whereas, out of a population of 10 million inhabitants, approximately 1.5 million Somalis require international aid,
• 1.Strongly condemns the recent fighting in Mogadishu, which resulted in the loss of life of numerous Somali civilians and humanitarian catastrophe,
• 2.Calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities; demands that all warring factions refrain from indiscriminate attacks on civilians and respect International Humanitarian Law,
• 3.Recalls that the international community and all parties to the present conflict have a responsibility to protect civilians, to allow delivery of aid and to respect humanitarian space and the safety of humanitarian workers; demands therefore that conditions be immediately created for adequate response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia,
• 4.Warns that unless strong and quick measures are taken by the international community to stabilise and gradually improve the situation, there is a clear risk of the Somalia conflict growing into a regional war affecting the whole Horn of Africa;
• 5.Calls on the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to engage with key Somali stakeholders in a consultative process leading to the appointment of a new Prime Minister;
• 6.Urges all Somali stakeholders to renew their efforts towards political dialogue and to remain focused on resuming the process outlined by the Transitional Federal Charter; stresses that successful dialogue and reconciliation is critical to ensuring free and fair elections in 2009 and establishing lasting peace and stability in Somalia,
• 7.Calls for the strengthening of the role of civil society in the process of national reconciliation, particularly women;
• 8.Welcomes efforts by the African Union to assemble a peacekeeping force to help with the process of national reconciliation but deplores the fact that so far only 1600 soldiers out of the 8000 that the AU had agreed to send have actually been deployed; Calls therefore on the African Union to encourage and put pressure on its Member States to uphold their commitments to contribute to the peacekeeping force; calls in this regard on the EU to increase its efforts to provide the requisite political, financial and logistical support to the deployment of the African Union peacekeeping troops, as well as all other steps conducive to the facilitation of the peace process,
• 9.Reiterates its call on the on the International Somalia Contact Group, consisting of the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Tanzania and others to encourage positive political developments and engagement with actors inside Somalia to support the implementation of the Transitional Federal Charter and Institutions, establish effective governance and stability, and address the international community’s concern regarding terrorism.
• 10.Calls on the international community, and the EU in particular, to increase the provision of humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons and the population in need;
• 11.Urges strict and renewed application and monitoring of the arms embargo against Somalia imposed by the UN in 1992, to which scant respect is paid;
• 12.Calls on the EU-Africa Summit to urgently consider the grave situation prevailing in Somalia;
• 13.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretaries-General of the African Union, UN, IGAD, the President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, the Government of Ethiopia, the Chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts and the Pan-African Parliament.