MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the nuclear threat and human rights in North Korea
11.3.2013 - (2013/2565(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Helmut Scholz on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0132/2013
B7‑0137/2013
European Parliament resolution on the nuclear threat and human rights in North Korea
The European Parliament,
– having regard to UN Security Council resolutions 825 (1993), 1540 (2004), 1695 (2006), 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 1887 (2009), 2087 (2013) and 2094 of 7 March 2013,
– having regard to the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Marzuki Darusman, of 1 February 2013 (A/HRC/22/57),
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and in particular that of 8 July 2010[1],
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 11 February 2013 the DPKR officially reported that it had successfully conducted a nuclear test, the third in seven years;
B. whereas the DPKR withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003, has been conducting nuclear tests since 2006 and officially declared in 2009 that it had developed a nuclear weapon;
C. whereas the DPRK has scrapped all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closed its hotline with Seoul and shut their shared border point;
D. whereas the Korean Peninsula has faced tensions and military confrontation for decades; whereas the current dangerous crisis shows that there is an urgent need to overcome the deadlock and to find a sustainable political solution acceptable to all partners concerned;
E. whereas the DPKR has had an extremely problematic human rights situation for many years and the UN Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPKR identified in his report nine key, interlinked issues or patterns of violations of human rights: violation of the right to food; torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, including inhuman conditions of detention; arbitrary detention; violations of human rights associated with prison camps; discrimination and the disproportionate or specific effect of human rights violations on vulnerable groups, in particular women, children, people living with disabilities and returnees; extensive violation of freedom of expression and other related freedoms; violation of the right to life, in particular the abusive application of the death penalty and the use of public executions; restrictions on freedom of movement and abusive treatment of citizens forcibly returned; enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of foreign nationals;
F. whereas the people of the DPKR are challenged by decades of under-development with poor health care and high levels of maternal and child malnutrition, in a context of political and economic isolation, recurrent natural disasters and international increases in food and fuel prices, and whereas in November 2012 the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated that 2.8 million vulnerable people, equal to slightly more than 10 percent of all North Koreans, face undernutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat in their daily diet;
1. Condemns in the strongest terms the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 12 February 2013 and demands that it abstain in future from further tests;
2. Condemns the official announcement by the DPRK that the country reserves its right to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike; calls on the DPRK to abide by the Charter of the United Nations, which obliges its Members to refrain from the threat or use of force against any other state;
3. Strongly calls on the DPRK to immediately retract its announcement of withdrawal from the NPT and to return at an early date to the NPT and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards; underlines the need for all States Parties to the NPT to continue to comply with their Treaty obligations in respect of all its aspects; urges the DPRK to re-establish its pre-existing commitments to a moratorium on missile activities and to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT);
4. Expresses its deepest concern at the growing tension on the Korean Peninsula and the danger of a war; is deeply preoccupied by the aggressive rhetoric and demands that the parties involved, as well as their allies, refrain from any action that might aggravate tensions, including military exercises; urgently calls for the start of a dialogue on a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation;
5. Notes the consensus among the members of the UN Security Council reacting to the recent nuclear test of the DPKR and calls on them to undertake joint and coordinated political and diplomatic efforts to end the military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula and to find sustainable political solutions to the problems of this region;
6. Calls on the People’s Republic of China – as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the DPRK’s main trading ally – to exert an appropriate positive influence on the DPRK and to attempt to ensure that the situation does not escalate further, which could lead to an uncontrollable security risk in the Far East and Pacific region in general;
7. Calls on the United States and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to stop their military exercises in the region; calls on the United States – as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and main ally of the Republic of Korea – to exert a political influence on the RoK to abstain from any steps which could lead to a further aggravation of military tension on the Korean Peninsula through a possible hard-line reaction to the DPRK’s provocative rhetoric and policies and thereby to avoid a spiral of military tensions in the Far East and Pacific region;
8. Urges all the participants in the Six-Party Talks to intensify their efforts to ensure the full and expeditious implementation of the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 issued by China, the DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States, with a view to achieving the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia;
9. Underlines the need to intensify the efforts to strengthen the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; recalls that nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation are substantively interrelated and mutually reinforcing; urgently calls for interim and confidence-building measures such as the creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones, negative security guarantees and data exchange;
10. Calls on the EU and its Member States to make nuclear disarmament a priority of the foreign and security policy and to contribute to overcoming the stalemate in the related talks at bilateral and multilateral level;
11. Expresses its deep concern at the human rights situation in the DPKR; welcomes the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry on the DPKR; calls on the government of the DPKR to follow the recommendations contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPKR and cooperate with the UN with a view to improving the human rights situation of the citizens of the country;
12. Expresses its particular concern about the severity of the food situation the country is facing and its impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of the population; stresses that the primary obligation to feed people lies with the state, which must take all measures necessary to rectify existing flaws in the production and distribution system that have contributed to the shortage of food; calls on the Government of the DPKR to reduce military expenditure and ensure equitable re-allocation of resources to respond effectively to the food crisis and other areas needing development;
13. Calls on the Commission to maintain existing humanitarian aid programmes and channels of communication with the DPRK with a view to continuing humanitarian assistance to the people; urges the DPRK to ensure safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance that is delivered impartially on the basis of need, in accordance with humanitarian principles;
14. Calls on the DPRK to immediately and permanently stop public executions and abolish the death penalty in the DPRK;
15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government of the DPKR, the Government of the Republic of Korea, the governments of the Members of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General.
- [1] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0290.