MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the discrimination against young girls in Pakistan, in particular the case of Malala Yousafzai
23.10.2012 - (2012/2843(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure
José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra; Cristian Dan Preda; Mario Mauro; Elmar Brok; Laima Liucija Andrikienė; Bernd Posselt; Filip Kaczmarek; Tunne Kelam; Philippe Boulland; Eija-Riitta Korhola; Edit Bauer; Roberta Angelilli; Sergio Paolo Francesco Silvestris; Zuzana Roithová; Monica Luisa Macovei; Sari Essayah; Giovanni La Via; Eduard Kukan; Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0477/2012
B7‑0482/2012
European Parliament resolution on the discrimination against young girls in Pakistan, in particular the case of Malala Yousafzai
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolution of 15 December 2011 on the situation of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights and democracy in Pakistan, in particular that of 20 January 2011(1) and those of 20 May 2010(2) and 12 July 2007(3) , 25 October 2007(4) and 15 November 2007(5)
- having regard to its resolution of 18 April 2012 on the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World and the European Union's policy on the matter, including implications for the EU's strategic human rights policy
- having regard to the statement of the spokesperson of the High Representative of 10 October 2012 on the shooting of a young human rights defender in Pakistan,
- having regard to the statement of the Executive Director of UN Women of 10 October 2012 condemning the attack on Malala Yousafzai,
- having regard to the Council conclusions on intolerance, discrimination and violence on the basis of religion or belief, adopted on 21 February 2011,
- having regard to the EU-Pakistan 5-year engagement plan of March 2012, containing priorities such as good governance, cooperation in the field of women's empowerment and dialogue on human rights,
- having regard to the Council conclusions on Pakistan of 25 June 2012, reiterating its expectation regarding the promotion and respect of human rights
- having regard to Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 18 December 1979 and to the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women of 20 December 1993,
- having regard to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
- having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on women, peace and security, and to UN Security Council Resolution 1888 (2009) on sexual violence against women and children in situations of armed conflict, which emphasises the responsibility of all states to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls,
- having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 9 October 2012 Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year old Pakistani girl from Mingora in the Swat district was attacked on her way to school, shot in the head and severely wounded;
B. whereas Malala Yousafzai has been active since the age of 11 as a blogger and has become a symbol of resistance against the Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education, receiving in December 2011 the National Youth Peace Prize, which has been renamed in her honor the National Malala Peace Prize;
C. whereas, based on the girl's outspoken criticism of the Taliban and her advocacy for the rights of girls and women in her country, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack and issued a statement after the attacks claiming it was obligatory to kill anyone leading a campaign against Islamic law and announcing that the movement would attempt to kill Yousafzai again if she recovers from her injuries;
D. whereas the attack on Malala Yousafzai has been preceded in 2012 by the killing of human rights defender Farida Afridi allegedly for her work for women's welfare,
E. whereas in the last months Pakistan continued to experience attacks by armed groups using terror tactics and influenced by and/or associated with the Taliban or Al-Qaida, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and those attacks have often targeted Government sites, schools and civilians, including children, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and urban centres.
F. whereas in 2011, 11 incidents were reported of children being used by armed groups to carry out suicide attacks, children continued to be victims of indiscriminate attacks, including by improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings, a total of 57 children were killed during the reporting period from landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices, bomb blasts, shelling and targeted attacks and, on 13 September 2011, TPP allegedly attacked a school bus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, killing four children.
G. whereas from 2009 to present, girl schools continued to be directly targeted by armed groups in bomb and improvised explosive device attacks, resulting in 152 incidents of partial or complete destruction of school facilities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in 2011, the attacks reportedly to avenge military operations in the region and in opposition to secular and girls’ education; whereas the most recent attack on a girls school was perpetrated on September 25th 2012 in the Charsadda district;
H. the situation for many women and girls in Pakistan remain acute with Pakistan being labelled the third most dangerous place in the world for women by the Global Gender Gap Index ;
I. whereas the Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report of the UNESCO of 16 October 2012 revealed that Pakistan has reduced the amount it spends on education to less than 2.3 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP) despite having the second-largest number of out-of-school girls in the world;
J. whereas girls often continue to domestic violence, trafficking, forced marriages, and being traded in settlement of disputes;
K. whereas, in most cases, the perpetrators of violence against women and girls remain unpunished;
L. whereas despite a number of discriminatory laws against women in Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan introduced during 2011 and 2012 new legislation to better tackle issues of discrimination and violence against women, including laws against forced marriage, harassment of women at the workplace and at home, and acid attacks; whereas these laws need a speedy and consequent implementation into practise;
M. whereas the rise of Taliban control in certain territories leads to negative consequences for women and girls hindering them in exercising their rights;
N. whereas the EU has reaffirmed in its 5-year engagement plan of March 2012 its commitment to building a strong long-term partnership based on mutual interests and shared values with Pakistan, supporting Pakistan's democratic institutions and civilian government, as well as civil society;
O. whereas the EU, while ready to pursue cooperation, counts on Pakistan to respect its international commitments, in particular in the field of security and human rights, including women's rights;
P. whereas the EU and Pakistan announced on 5 June 2012 the creation of a Steering Committee on Counter-Terrorism in order to enhance close cooperation against terrorism;
Q. whereas Article 3(5) of the Treaty on European Union states that the promotion of democracy and respect for human rights and civil liberties are fundamental principles and aims of the European Union and constitute common ground for its relations with third countries; whereas EU assistance in trade and development is conditional upon respect for human rights and minority rights;
1. Condemns the attack on Malala Yousafzai as an assault both on basic human values and on all Human Rights defenders in Pakistan;
2. Welcomes the general condemnation of the attack by the Pakistan Society and most major political parties; notes in this respect that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was the only major political party which did not directly condemn the TTP as the responsibles of the attack;
3. Calls on the Government of Pakistan to ensure the safety of Malala Yousafzai and her family and to bring to justice those responsible for the assault; calls on the Government of Pakistan to ensure the safety of other human rights activists which have received threats from Taliban groups;
4. Is deeply concerned about the situation of women and girls and the repeated reports of violations of children's and women's rights in Pakistan including reports of children being used by armed groups to carry out suicide attacks; stresses that closer international attention must be paid as a matter of urgency to the situation of women and girls in Pakistan;
5. Is deeply worried about the worsening trend of violent extremism which constitutes a great threat to women and girls, and use of intimidation and violence and which has already led to blowing up girls' schools and flogging women in parts of FATA and KP;
6. Urges the Pakistani government to firmly prosecute those individuals and groups inciting violence, in particular those calling for the killing of individuals and groups with whom they disagree;
7. Welcomes the child protection policy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) launched on 10 January 2012 which implements a plan for protective services and child protection units in all FATA Agencies;
8. Welcomes the introduction of new legislation by the Government of Pakistan during 2011 and 2012 in order to better tackle issues of discrimination and violence against women, and calls on the Government to ensure the actual implementation of these new laws;
9. Calls on the Pakistani Government to make it a priority to increase the number of girls receiving school education; and to guarantee for their safety while receiving education;
10. Calls on the Commission and Council to propose and implement education programmes aimed at improving the literacy and education of women in Pakistan;
11. Urges the European Commission and the Council, as well as the international community, to significantly increase funds aimed at efforts to protect women from rape, abuse and domestic violence of girls and to support measures to enabling civil society movements against discrimination of women and girls;
12. Insists that women's and children's rights be explicitly addressed in all human rights dialogues, and in particular the issue of combating and eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, including all forms of harmful traditional or customary practices, early or forced marriage, domestic violence and feminicide, and likewise insists that the invocation of any custom, tradition or religious consideration of any kind in order to evade the duty to eliminate such brutality be rejected;
13. Calls on the competent EU institutions to include the issue of religious tolerance in society in its political dialogue with Pakistan, this matter being of central importance to the long-term fight against islamist extremism;
14. Urges the competent EU institutions to insist that the Government of Pakistan uphold the democracy and human rights clause enshrined in the Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; reiterates its call on the European External Action Service to regularly report on the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement and the democracy and human rights clause including the exercise of women's and children's rights;
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15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the European External Action Service, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the Governments and Parliaments of Pakistan.