MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Sudan and South Sudan
6.6.2012 - (2012/2659(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Sabine Lösing, Willy Meyer, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Patrick Le Hyaric, Jacky Hénin, Younous Omarjee, João Ferreira on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0281/2012
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Roadmap adopted by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council on 24 April 2012,
– having regard to UN Security Council resolution 2046 (2012),
– having regard to Statement by the EU-High Representative/ Vice-President of the Commission of 5 May 2012,
– having regard to the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005,
– having regard to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA),
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas South Sudan is an independent state since July 2011 as a consequence of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 and a referendum held only in the south of Sudan;
B. whereas South Sudan is of one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries, with one of the highest infant mortality rates and the lowest education indicators in the world;
C. whereas most of the oil reserves in the region are located in the Southern Kordofan and Abyei regions; whereas more than 80% of the budget of South Sudan and approximately 50% of Sudan’s budget are generated from oil exploitation and export;
D. whereas the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), has frozen the long-lasting civil war in Sudan but has not been fully implemented yet, whereas important issues remain outstanding, such as border demarcation and the demilitarized zone along the border between Sudan and South Sudan, citizenship, the sharing of oil revenues and use of pipelines;
E. whereas the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) mandate was set to end on 9 July, when the South Sudan was officially declared independent and the UN Security Council established the successor mission UNMISS with up to 7000 military personnel; whereas the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) mandated to observe the demilitarization of the region of Abyei, was approved on 27 June 2011 by the UN Security Council;
1. Condemns the repeated incidents of cross-border violence between Sudan and South Sudan, including seizure of territory, support to proxy forces and aerial bombing that causes renewed flows of refugees;
2. Expresses its deep concern of the humanitarian situation created by the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan, and the continued fighting in the states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, in Sudan; strongly condemns all acts of violence committed against civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law;
3. Is convinced that there can be no military solution to the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in particular; stresses the urgent need for a political and diplomatic mutually accepted solution;
4. Calls for an immediate stop of all supply of armaments into Sudan and South Sudan, in particular to the conflict regions Abyei, Blue Nile and South Kordofan States;
5. Urges the two sides to complete the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and calls on both the Sudanese and South Sudanese armed forces to withdraw from Abyei in accordance to their Agreement of 20 June 2011 and to engage in a constructive dialogue for a peaceful solution on the status of Abyei, within the framework of the CPA;
6. Recalls the agreement between Sudan and Southern Sudan reached in June 2011 on Border Security and the Joint Political and Security Mechanism, where in Paragraph 2 commitment to create a safe demilitarized border zone (SDBZ) was set; recalls the agreement on the Border Monitoring Support Mission reached in July 2011, which elaborates on the establishment of a Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM); stresses the urgent need for Sudan and South Sudan to start the process of border demilitarization;
7. Urges all parties to stick in particular to paragraph 7 and 16 of the 24 April 2012 decision of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, reiterating that the territorial boundaries of states shall not be altered by force and any territorial disputes shall be settled exclusively by mutually agreed, peaceful and political means and that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile;
8. Urges both, Sudan and South Sudan to cease hostilities, and respect their agreements; allow safe passage, access and movement of populations cut off on either side of the borders;
9. Stresses the importance of the principles of the peaceful settlement of international disputes in line with the UN-Charter and urges the International Community to stick to it’s neutral role of a conciliator/mediator and refrain from any military intervention or military support to either side, in order to achieve a sustainable peace between Sudan and South Sudan and focus on reconciliation and disarmament processes;
10. Calls on the EU and its Member States to concentrate their assistance on civil development projects in particular in the health and education sectors as well as on agriculture to assure food security and food sovereignty, instead of on military assistance; calls in this regard on the conductor of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) with currently (March 2012) 5.533 uniformed personnel in total (4.913 troops) to learn the lessons from the mission to D.R. Congo where serious human rights violations were committed by members of the mission; insists on the termination of military training missions and of any civil-military cooperation;
11. Insists on the respect of the sovereignty of the peoples of Sudan and South Sudan over their natural resources; stresses that democratic governance and just access to natural resources will be essential for the prosperity and social and economic development of the region in favour of the population; emphasises that the exploration of the natural resources needs state regulation and transparency; calls for negotiations over the fair and mutually accepted sharing of the revenues from the oil exploitation;
12. Calls on all international creditors to proceed to an immediate and comprehensive suspension of all debt repayment by Sudan and South Sudan;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission, the EU Special Representative to South Sudan, the Government of Sudan, the Government of South Sudan, the African Union institutions and the Chairman of the African Union High-Level Panel on Sudan.