MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the ban of the elections for the Tibetan exile government in Nepal

5.4.2011

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

Charles Tannock, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Roberts Zīle, Ryszard Czarnecki, Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Marek Henryk Migalski on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0263/2011

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B7‑0263/2011

European Parliament resolution on the ban of the elections for the Tibetan exile government in Nepal

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolution on Nepal of 17 June 2010 and its resolution on Tibet of 26 October 2006;

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;

– having regard to the statement of 29 May 2010 by UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon on the political situation in Nepal;

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

 

A.  Whereas more than 82,000 exile Tibetans across the world were called to the final round of vote on 20 March 2011, to elect the third directly-elected Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government in exile and also new Members of 15th Tibetan Parliament in Exile, the democratic institutions established by the Tibetan Refugee Community under the leadership of H. H. the Dalai Lama back in 1960;

B.  whereas under pressure from the Chinese Government, 10 000 Tibetans in Kathmandu did not get permission from the Nepalese authorities in Kathmandu to vote on the Tibetan Government and Parliament in Exile; whereas also the estimated six million Tibetans living in Chinese-controlled Tibet were also not permitted to vote;

C.  whereas already during an earlier round of voting in Nepal on 3 October 2010, Kathmandu police confiscated ballot boxes and shut down the Tibetan community voting sites, despite the fact that Tibetan communities in Nepal had received the authorization for polling;

D.  whereas Nepal is home to approximately 20 000 exiled Tibetans who began arriving in large numbers in 1959, after the failed uprising against the China's rule in Tibet;

E.  whereas since 2008 the Government of Nepal has carried out preventive arrests and policing restrictions on demonstrations and freedom of movement of Tibetans that deny the right to legitimate peaceful expression and assembly during anniversaries and festivals marked by the Tibetan community;

F.  whereas the Government of Nepal has claimed that demonstrations by Tibetans would violate its ‘One China' policy, has reiterated its commitment not to allow 'anti-Beijing activities' on its soil and has thus imposed a blanket ban on the movement of groups of Tibetans;

G.  whereas Nepal's Public Security Act (Section 3.1) has been used to justify holding individuals thought to be organizing demonstrations in preventive detention; whereas such measures violate international prohibitions on arbitrary arrest and detention;

H.  whereas the Supreme Court of Nepal has on more than one occasion found that such a use of preventive detention orders fails to fulfil the requirements set out in Article 25 of the Interim Constitution stating that "no person shall be held under preventive detention unless there is sufficient ground to believe in the existence of an immediate threat to the sovereignty and integrity of, or the law and order situation in, Nepal";

1.  Expresses its deep concern about the actions of the Government of Nepal and its police forces to prevent Tibetans in Kathmandu from participating in the elections for the new Tibetan Government and Parliament in Exile;

2.  Calls on the Government of Nepal to uphold the democratic rights of the Tibetan people who are conducting a unique internal election process which has existed since 1960, to organise and to participate in democratic elections;

3.  Calls on the Government of Nepal to allow all its citizens their right to legitimate peaceful expression and assembly, including freedom of speech, freedom of movement and participation in peaceful activities of the Tibetan communities in Nepal; urges the Government of Nepal to include such rights and to ensure religious freedom within Nepal's new constitution, due to be enacted by 28 May 2011;

4.  Urges the Nepalese authorities to abide by its international obligations to human rights standards and its own domestic laws in its treatment of the Tibetan community;

5.  Urges the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton to address the concerns about the actions taken by the Nepalese Government to block the Tibetan elections, with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities;

6.  Calls on the European External Action Service through its delegation in Kathmandu to closely monitor the situation in Nepal, the treatment of the Tibetan refugees and respect for their rights, and to urge Nepal to abide by its international human rights obligations and prevent arbitrary arrests and detentions;

7.  Urges the Chinese Government and its representatives in Nepal to refrain from any further pressure on the Nepalese authorities concerning the Tibetan elections;

8.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government of Nepal, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.