MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
13.11.2007
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Thierry Cornillet, Marios Matsakis, Fiona Hall
on behalf of the ALDE Group
on situation in Somalia
B6‑0468/2007
European Parliament resolution on situation in Somalia
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Somalia,
– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the previous statements made by 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
- A.whereas, Somalia has not had an effective national government for over 15 years and remains one of the world's most dramatic example of a "failed state",
- B.whereas years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to one million people,
- C.whereas there is an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in South Central Somalia as tens of thousands of people are currently fleeing violence in Mogadishu, and one million Somalis, are in need of assistance and protection and Somalia is into its worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 15 or 16 years,
- D.whereas international and national NGOs can not respond effectively to the crisis because access and security are deteriorating dramatically at a time when needs are increasing,
- E.whereas the perpetrators of most of the killings of individual journalists in 2007 remain unknown and to date, Somali government officials have consistently failed to condemn the killings, much less investigate, arrest, or prosecute anyone in connection with them,
- F.whereas several people have been killed, including police officers, in the Somali capital, following the formation of a new anti-government alliance,
- G.whereas the UN refugee agency says some 400,000 people have fled the fighting in the capital in the past four months as a result of the surge in violence,
- H.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,
- I.whereas Somali Islamists and opposition leaders meeting in Eritrea have joined forces in a new alliance to overthrow Somalia's transitional government,
- J.whereas the Islamists boycotted a reconciliation meeting sponsored by the transitional government last month;
- K.whereas Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said his troops will withdraw once African Union peacekeepers arrive in Mogadishu,
- L.whereas since their defeat by Ethiopia's vastly superior military force in December lastyear, the Islamists have resorted to guerrilla tactics,
- M.whereas pledges by AU nations to contribute troops to the planned 7,000-strong peacekeeping mission have yet to be honoured and so far only 1,600 Ugandan soldiers have been deployed,
1. Strongly condemns recent fighting in Mogadishu and calls for immediate cessation of hostilities; demands that all warring factions respect International Humanitarian Law;
2. 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;
3. Underlines the dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation in South Central Somalia and calls on those with a responsibility to protect civilians to act urgently to save lives;
4. Calls on the Somalia Contact Group to focus currently on humanitarian assistance and the international community, and the EU in particular, to increase the provision of humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons and the populations in need;
5. Calls on all parties concerned to respect international humanitarian law and allow relief agencies access to the populations in need, as well as to ensure the protection of humanitarian workers;
6. Stresses the responsibility of the international communities and all parties to the present conflict to protect civilians, to allow the delivery of aid and to respect humanitarian space and the safety of humanitarian workers;
7. Stresses in particular the urgent need for protection of journalists and condemns the Somali government's systematic harassment of journalists, its closures of media outlets, and its failure to investigate the killing of journalists, which have deeply damaged independent reporting in Somalia; calls on the transitional Somali government to investigate these attacks as well as cease its own harassment of the media;
8. Stresses that all sides have been responsible for war crimes and numerous, serious abuses of civilians;
9. Appeals to all parties concerned to refrain from any action likely to escalate the current tensions, to pursue the path of dialogue and to extend the necessary cooperation to the Transitional Federal Government and parliament as the legitimate central authorities in Somalia governed by the framework of the Transitional Federal Charter;
10. Calls on the EU, in coordination with the African Union and working closely with IGAD and the Arab League, to provide the requisite political, financial and logistical support to facilitate the peace process, including the deployment of the African Union Peace Support Mission ;
11. Urges strict application and monitoring of the arms embargo against Somalia imposed by the UN in 1992;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretaries-General of the UN, the African Union and IGAD, the President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, the Chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts and the Pan-African Parliament