MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Ban on the elections for the Tibetan government in exile 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

Kristiina Ojuland, Norica Nicolai, Marielle De Sarnez, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, Leonidas Donskis, Marietje Schaake, Sonia Alfano on behalf of the ALDE Group

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

B7‑0266/2011

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

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the international human rights treaties to which Nepal is a party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),

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

A. 

 

B.  whereas Nepal's monarchy fall in 2006, leading to a government formed of the Maoist parties (Unified Communist Party of Nepal) and Marxist-Leninist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Nepal started to prohibit anti-Chinese behaviours and demonstrations,

 

C.  Police in Nepal have forcefully shut down local elections for the leadership of a Tibetan refugee group, apparently yielding to pressure from China,

 

D.  voting was underway for the head of the Chushi Gangdruk, a group which protects the interests of a former Tibetan resistance force against the Chinese military, when police in riot gear and armed with guns and batons stormed into an election centre and carted away the ballot box,

 

E.  a member of the Chushi Gangdruk election committee told ICT, a Tibetan advocacy group, that the polls were meant to select representatives for its charitable work and not to hold any anti-Chinese activities,

 

F.  the seizure of the ballot box from the Boudha district, one of three areas where voting was held and raided by the police, came four months after Nepali armed police blocked thousands of Tibetan exiles in Kathmandu from voting for a new government-in-exile,

 

G.  the police forcibly confiscated the ballot boxes after storming into three voting centres in the capital, home to almost 9,000 Tibetan exiles, as the elections were held,

 

H.  a policeman took the ballot box and told the voters that it would be locked away with other ballot boxes that had been confiscated in October last year,

 

I.  Tibetans demonstrating outside Chinese diplomatic facilities in Nepal have routinely been beaten, detained, and threatened with deportation to India,

 

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

 

K.  whereas Tibetan Election Observation Mission delegations were composed of parliamentarians observed polling stations in northern and southern India in addition to nations in Europe and North America,

 

L.  Whereas, as recognized in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, everyone has the right to take part in the government of his or her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives,

 

M.  Whereas the EU reaffirmed its commitment to support Democratic and participatory governance in the EU´s external relations by the adoption of its Council conclusions on Democracy Support in the EU’s External Relations on 17 November 2009,

 

 

1.  Congratulate the Tibetan people for their long standing commitment to democracy and the enthusiasm with which they embraced the elections held on 20 March 2011;

 

2.  Emphasises the importance of peaceful democratic elections to the strengthening and preserving of the Tibetan identity both inside and outside the territory of Tibet;

 

3.  Prise His Holiness the Dalai Lama to hand over His temporal role in order to contribute to further developing of the Tibetan institutions in exile towards the creation of a full democratic system;

 

4.  Expresses its concern abut the rising political tension in Nepal and the lack of progress towards democracy;

 

5.  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.  Urges the Nepalese authorities to allow peaceful elections of Tibetans in exile on their territory and to ensure standards of protection for all refugees;

 

7.  Expresses its concern about the lack of understating of the Chinese government to the wishes of Tibetans to peacefully exercise their rights to vote their government in exile;

 

8.  Calls the Chinese authorities to provide meaningful autonomy to Tibet that facilitates the democratic experience of the Central Tibetan Administration and to allow the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet as a religious leader;

 

9.  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, the Governments and Parliaments of India and the People's Republic of China, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.