MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Human rights in Uzbekistan
21.10.2014 - (2014/2904(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Cristian Dan Preda, Davor Ivo Stier, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Giovanni La Via, Tunne Kelam, Monica Luisa Macovei, Dubravka Šuica, Seán Kelly, Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa, Jiří Pospíšil, Michaela Šojdrová, Petri Sarvamaa, Eduard Kukan, Lara Comi, Jeroen Lenaers, Andrej Plenković, David McAllister, Lorenzo Cesa, Tomáš Zdechovský, Stanislav Polčák, Philippe Juvin, Franck Proust, Pavel Svoboda, Massimiliano Salini, Jaromír Štětina on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0166/2014
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Uzbekistan,
- having regard to the EU Strategy for a new Partnership with Central Asia, adopted by the European Council on 21-22 June 2007, and to the joint progress reports by the Commission and the Council of 24 June 2008 and 28 June 2010,
- having regard to the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of October 2009 and 2010,
- having regard to its resolution on the state of implementation of the EU strategy for Central Asia of 15 December 2011,
- having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EC and Uzbekistan which entered into force in 1999,
- having regard to its Rule 135 (5) of the Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Uzbekistan made commitments relating to the protection of human rights, including the freedoms of expression, assembly, association, and religion guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the prohibition on torture enshrined in the Convention against Torture, positive results of these commitments remains low,
B. whereas the overall human rights situation in Uzbekistan remains a cause for concern, in spite of the many efforts by the EU and international organisations to engage constructively with the Tashkent authorities,
C. whereas a significant number of Uzbek citizens are imprisoned on politically motivated charges. These citizens are human rights and opposition activists, journalists and other perceived critics,
D. whereas many of those imprisoned are in serious ill-health, have been tortured, and had their sentences arbitrarily extended in prison,
E. whereas authorities block international rights groups and media outlets from operating in the country,
F. whereas Uzbekistan took incremental steps to improve human rights, including by releasing some individuals imprisoned on politically motivated charges,
G. whereas the Uzbek government continues to refuse an independent investigation into the 2005 massacre of hundreds of people in Andijan and whereas over two hundred individuals continue to serve sentences related to the Andijan events following closed trials that were marred by serious due process violations and indications that torture may have been used to extract confessions,
H. whereas in 2009 and 2010 the Council lifted the EU sanctions "with a view to encourage the Uzbek authorities to take further substantive steps to improve the rule of law and the human rights situation on the ground",
I. whereas according to the latest reports that forced labour and child labour in cotton harvesting are still widespread in spite of the commitment of the Uzbek authorities to clamp down on this practice,
J. whereas the EU-Uzbekistan Partnership and Cooperation agreement includes a clear clause on the respect for democracy and human rights that the parties are committed to respecting,
1. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons imprisoned on politically motivated charges;
2. Calls on the Uzbek authorities to eliminate torture and ill-treatment in pretrial detention and correctional facilities, including by ensuring unhindered access to counsel at all stages of investigations, ensuring prompt access to appropriate medical care and re-establishing the independent monitoring of prisons and to provide families of all prisoners with full information regarding the location and current health conditions of their relatives;
3. Urges the Uzbek authorities to investigate all officials, security and law-enforcement personnel, penal system personnel who are alleged to have tortured or ill-treated prisoners and detainees or denied requests for medical care; calls on the Uzbek government to allow an independent investigation into the 2005 massacre in Andijan;
4. Calls on Uzbekistan to comply with the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and to establish an independent national preventive mechanism for the prevention of torture at the domestic level;
5. Urges the Uzbek government to fully implement the November 2013 recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture and the February 2003 recommendations issued by the UN special rapporteur on torture following his visit to Uzbekistan in 2002 and to approve the pending requests by 11 UN special procedures to visit Uzbekistan, including the UN special rapporteur on torture and to allow unimpeded independent monitoring of prisons by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other independent monitors;
6. Urges the Uzbek government to cease the practice of arbitrarily exempting prisoners held on politically motivated charges who qualify for amnesty from annual amnesty declarations and of arbitrarily lengthening prison sentences for minor offences or “violations of prison rules” under article 221 of the criminal code on “disobedience to the terms of punishment.” ;
7. Call on the EU High Representative, the EEAS and EU Member States to continue to urge Uzbekistan for human rights improvements;
8. Urges the EEAS to address all the main cases of human rights violations at the meeting of the EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue scheduled for November;
9. Calls on the EEAS in Tashkent in coordination with EU Member States representations to closely monitor the cases of political prisoners, assisting families of these and lawyers defending them;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President, the Government and Parliament of Uzbekistan, the EEAS, the Council and the Commission.