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Proposition de résolution - B7-0189/2010Proposition de résolution
B7-0189/2010
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the escalation of violence in Mexico

9.3.2010

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 122 of the Rules of Procedure

Renate Weber, Marielle De Sarnez, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica on behalf of the ALDE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0188/2010

Procédure : 2010/2602(RSP)
Cycle de vie en séance
Cycle relatif au document :  
B7-0189/2010
Textes déposés :
B7-0189/2010
Textes adoptés :

B7‑0189/2010

European Parliament resolution on the escalation of violence in Mexico

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its recommendation to the Council of 12 March 2009 on an EU-Mexico Strategic Partnership,

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 15 July 2008 entitled 'Towards an EU-Mexico Strategic Partnership' (COM(2008)0447),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 30 September 2009 on the European Union and Latin America: Global Players in Partnership (COM(2009) 495),

–   having regard to its resolution of 11 October 2007 on the murder of women (feminicide) in Mexico and Central America and the role of the European Union in fighting the phenomenon,

–   having regard to the EU statement on the murders of journalists Jose Luis Romero, Valentín Valdés Espinosa and Jorge Ochoa Martínez,

–   having regard to the declarations of the five summits of heads of state and government of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean (EU-LAC), held to date in Rio de Janeiro (28 and 29 June 1999), Madrid (17 and 18 May 2002), Guadalajara (28 and 29 May 2004), Vienna (12 and 13 May 2006) and Lima (16 and 17 May 2008),

–   having regard to the joint statement of the Fourth Mexico-EU summit held in Lima, dated 17 May 2008,

–   having regard to the joint statement of the Ninth meeting of the EU-Mexico Joint Committee, held in Brussels on November 2009,

–   having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

A.  whereas the EU-Mexico Strategic Partnership will be launched on the occasion of the next EU-Mexico Summit to be held in Madrid in May 2010, opening the door to closer coordination between the EU and Mexico on global issues and in particular enhanced dialogue, coordination and exchanges in areas such as security, human rights, electoral reform, regional development and regulatory and trade policies,

B.  whereas, when entering into an agreement that contains a human-rights and democracy clause with a third country, the European Union and its partners take on responsibility for ensuring that the third country in question complies with international human rights standards, such clauses being reciprocal in nature,

C.  whereas the Strategic Partnership will therefore include an enhanced cooperation on human rights as both sides have confirmed their attachment to human rights and their willingness to cooperate towards the common goal of attaining the highest human rights standards,

D.  whereas structural poverty persists in Mexico despite significant government social expenditure on specific programmes and that due to the global economic crisis there has been an increase over the last few years in the number of Mexicans living in extreme poverty,     

E.  whereas security remains a major political concern with the increase in drug-related violence and murders, in particular in Mexican States near the US border and that in the context of the growing international concern about this problem, the Mexican authorities have asked the EU to step up cooperation in this area,

F.  whereas the federal government deployed 10,000 soldiers and federal police officers to Ciudad Juarez, while the number of drug-related murders had surpassed 10,000 in the last 4 years and almost all of the murders went unpunished,

G.  whereas crime and drug trafficking are the biggest issues in Ciudad Juarez, resulting in journalists having to extensively censor their covering of these subjects and many journalists becoming a real target, being threatened or killed, according to reports of the National Commission of Human Rights of Mexico,

H.  whereas widespread corruption has rendered the criminal justice system so dysfunctional that many killings remain unresolved, showing that local and state authorities in Mexico have not been totally effective in solving those crimes,

I.  whereas the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has considered the Mexican Government responsible for the murders of three young women in Ciudad Juarez, finding that the government contravened the American Convention on Human Rights and the 1994 Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women by failing to prevent the slayings and properly investigate the crimes,

J.  whereas two indigenous women were detained for three years and were sentenced to 21 years imprisonment for a crime they did not commit and will learn within the next days whether their sentences will be confirmed or overturned,

 

 

 

1.  Deeply regrets and condemns the escalation of violence in Mexico that affects so many sectors of the society and calls on the Mexican authorities to continue to work to reinforce the conditions that allow the free exercise of all human rights and to strongly fight against impunity;

 

2.  Recognises the efforts for the Mexican Government and President Calderón in their vital work of cleaning up certain institutions of the State; believes this campaign is essential in order to stop corruption and ensure that society is not left unprotected;

 

3.  Stresses the need to strengthen the rule of law, so that the security and justice institutions are fully capable of protecting all citizens and human rights are fulfilled in a context of authentic democratic governance, overcoming the inequalities that characterize Mexican society, particularly through poverty reduction and eradication of extreme poverty;

 

4.  Wishes to see clear guidelines on how best to ensure close cooperation with a view to promoting effective multilateralism and reinforcing the UN's capacities for preserving and consolidating peace and ensuring respect for human rights, while also tackling, in the framework of international law, common threats to peace and security such as trafficking in drugs and arms, organised crime, terrorism and human trafficking, in line with the Lima Declaration;

 

5.  Urges that the Strategic Partnership be seen as an opportunity to debate how to make the human rights and democracy clause function more effectively and to evaluate compliance with it – including through development of its positive dimension – given that human rights and democracy represent essential values, in all the agreements and for both parties;

 

6.  Expresses its support for the Mexican Government in its contributions to the work of the UN and in its fight against drug trafficking and organised crime, especially in view of the increasing numbers of victims of drug trafficking and drug consumption;

 

7.  Strongly condemns all murders and, in particular, media-related murders and calls on the competent authorities to take all necessary measures to identify, arrest and bring to justice those responsible for these vile murders;

 

8.  Welcomes the approval by the Chamber of Deputies for a measure to impose special penalties for crimes against "journalistic activity" and calls on the Senate to approve it in order to combat violence against the media;

 

9.  Calls on the Mexican authorities to continue protecting the human rights, including the freedom of expression and the personal security of all the citizens in Mexico;

 

10.  Believes that it is the government's responsibility to combat feminicide ensuring that those responsible and their accomplices are brought to justice and that effective measures are taken to prevent such crimes;

 

11.  Believes that innocent women should not be convicted merely because they are easy targets and that the conviction of the two Otomi Indigebous women, Alberta Alcántara Juan and Teresa González Cornelio, should be based on solid evidence,

 

12.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OEA), the EUROLAT Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Mexico.