MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Central African Republic
6.10.2015 - (2015/2874(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Cristian Dan Preda, Tunne Kelam, David McAllister, Patricija Šulin, Eduard Kukan, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Francesc Gambús, Maurice Ponga, Lorenzo Cesa, Jiří Pospíšil, Davor Ivo Stier, Stanislav Polčák, Barbara Kudrycka, Tomáš Zdechovský, Therese Comodini Cachia, Giovanni La Via, Monica Macovei, Andrej Plenković, Marijana Petir, Roberta Metsola, József Nagy, Claude Rolin, Ivan Štefanec, Pavel Svoboda, Jeroen Lenaers, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, Anna Záborská, Jaromír Štětina, Adam Szejnfeld, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Barbara Matera, Lara Comi, Dubravka Šuica, Ivana Maletić, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, Elisabetta Gardini, Mariya Gabriel on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-1000/2015
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on the Central African Republic,
- having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 11 February 2015 on the work of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (2014/2154 (INI),
- having regard to the ACP-EU JPA resolution on the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) of 19 June 2013, and of 17 June 2015,
- having regard to the statement by the EEAS Spokesperson on the violence in the Central African Republic of 28 September 2015,
- having regard to the Council conclusions on CAR of 9 February 2015, and of 20 July 2015,
- having regard to the remarks by the Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum, the UN independent expert on the human rights situation in CAR of 1October 2015,
- having regard to the call by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the Security Council of 28 September 2015 for an immediate end to the sudden eruption of violence in CAR,
- having regard to the UN resolution 2217 (2015) renewing MINUSCA’s mandate at current authorised troop levels until 30 April 2016, adopted by the Security Council at its 7434th meeting, on 28 April 2015,
- having regard to the UN resolution 2196 (2015) renewing the Central African Republic (CAR) sanctions regime until 29 January 2016 and the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee until 29 February 2016,
- having regard to the revised Cotonou Agreement,
- having regard to the Libreville (Gabon) Agreement of 11 January 2013 on the resolution of the politico-military crisis in the CAR, signed under the aegis of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which sets out the conditions for ending the crisis in CAR,
- having regard to the extraordinary summits of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), held in N’Djamena (Chad) on 21 December 2012, 3 April 2013 and 18 April 2013, and to their decisions to establish a National Transitional Council (CNT) with legislative and constituent powers and adopt a roadmap for the transition process in the CAR,
- having regard to the meeting of the International Contact Group of 3 May 2013 in Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo), which validated the roadmap for the transition and set up a Special Fund to assist the CAR,
- having regard to the CAR's Constitution adopted by the Transitional Council at the end of August 2015,
- having regard to the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), ratified by the CAR in 2001,
- having regard to the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been signed by the CAR,
- having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas new sectarian clashes between the country’s Christian and Muslim populations erupted at the end of September 2015 following the murder of a Muslim motor-taxi driver in Bangui; whereas those clashes have left almost 40 people dead and prompted some 30,000 people to flee their homes;
B. whereas over 500 prisoners escaped at the end of September 2015 from the Ngaragba prison in Bangui and in Bouar, including well-known perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses; whereas this poses a serious threat to civilians and the protection of victims and witnesses; whereas the prison escape is a setback for the preservation of law and order, and for the fight against impunity in CAR;
C. whereas conditions for aid agencies in Bangui have deteriorated, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; whereas several offices and residences of relief organizations have been looted and their freedom of movement impeded, especially health workers in hospitals;
D. whereas according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSCA), although the security situation has calmed lately, tensions persist in Bangui, which had been the scene of attacks against civilians, violence between communities and attacks against humanitarian personnel;
E. whereas the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called for those involved in the clashes "to immediately cease and desist the violence", adding that any war crimes committed will be punished;
F. whereas recent clashes threaten to unravel a fledgling peace process and can bring the country back to the dark days of late 2013 and 2014 when thousands were killed and tens of thousands had to flee their homes; whereas crime remains a major threat;
G. whereas CAR has plunged into crisis at the end of 2012, when Muslim rebel forces known as Séléka captured many major towns in the central and eastern regions of the country, and eventually ousted President Francois Bozize in March 2013; the conflict continued as thepredominantly Christian forces known as the anti-balaka , launched counterattacks against the Seleka;
H. whereas the ECCAS summit on 3 April 2013 established a National Transitional Council (CNT), representing all the active forces in the country and intended to exercise legislative and constituent powers; whereas that summit also instructed the CNT to elect, from among its number, an interim president and two vice-presidents, the first of whom would hold the presidency of the CNT;
I. whereas the ECCAS summit on 18 April 2013 in N’Djamena (Chad) adopted a roadmap for the composition and functioning of the CNT, and increased its membership to 135 to improve opposition and civil society representation; whereas the International Contact Group meeting on 3 May 2013 in Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo) adopted the roadmap for the transition and set up a Special Fund to assist the CAR;
J. whereas since then CAR is struggling to restore peace among the nation and bring constitutional order; whereas this process is very fragile with fierce conflicts erupting frequently;
K. whereas arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, extortion, armed robberies, physical violence, lootings and attacks on civilians have displaced in recent years thousands of people in CAR;
L. whereas it has been estimated that more than 100,000 children faced sexual abuse and recruitment into armed groups in the country and whereas it is estimated that the crisis had left one million children without a school;
M. whereas respect for human rights is a fundamental value of the European Union and represents an essential element of the Cotonou agreement;
N. whereas justice and prosecution of grave human rights violations are amongst the critical tasks needed to end the abuses and rebuild CAR;
O. whereas in September 2014 the EU has launched the first three development projects from the EU multi-donor trust fund for CAR in the area of health, job creation, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure in Bangui, as well as of women empowerment and their economic inclusion;
P. whereas the European Council has launched in March 2015 the EU's military advisory mission in CAR (EUMAM RCA) aiming at supporting the Central African authorities in preparing a reform of the security sector with respect to the armed forces;
Q. whereas since May 2015 the EU has increased its assistance for the CAR with a total of €72 million including resources for humanitarian aid (with €10 million of fresh funding), budget support (with an addition of €40 million) and new contribution to the EU Trust Fund for the CAR (€22 million extra);
1. Expresses its deep concern over the situation in the Central African Republic which can bring the country on the edge of a civil war if the latest violence is not contained; condemns in this respect the recent clashes, which threaten country's recovery process and important progress made in CAR over the last 18 months;
2. Deeply condemns the attacks against humanitarian organizations and residences during the latest outbreak of violence; calls for the free movement of aid workers to reach civilians in need, especially the displaced population; recalls that almost half of a million internally displaced people are in urgent need of food, healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter and basic household items;
3. Calls on CAR's authorities to focus on fighting against impunity and the re-establishment of rule of law, also by holding accountable before justice those responsible of violence; welcomes the creation of the Special Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute grave human rights violations committed in the country since 2003 and points out to the urgent need to make it operational; stresses that international financial and technical support is essential for its functioning; encourages CAR authorities to adopt an efficient and transparent recruitment for staffing the Court;
4. Calls on the Transitional Government authorities and international community to work out a comprehensive approach towards CAR focused on addressing jointly security, humanitarian aid, stabilisation and development cooperation issues;
5. Calls on international community to support the political process in CAR at this critical time and enhance common efforts to facilitate political dialogue, build trust and ensure peaceful co-existence between religious communities in the country;
6. Stresses that in order to prevent further violence disarming armed groups must be an absolute priority, especially ahead of presidential and general elections due in CAR by the end of the year;
7. Underlines that security is essential in order to restore a more stable government in CAR; stresses in this respect the necessity of reforms to transform the CAR armed forces into a professional, democratically controlled and ethnically representative army;
8. Welcomes the EU military Advisory Mission (EUMAM CAR) as well as launching projects aiming at the reinstatement of police and gendarmerie capacities for community policing as well as riot control, restoration of the joint operational command centre, reinforcement of the judiciary, and the rehabilitation of prison facilities;
9. Welcomes the scaling up of the EU and Member States' humanitarian engagement with CAR in light of the evolving needs; stresses that life-saving assistance should be provided to those in need within CAR as well as to refugees in neighbouring countries;
10. Calls on international donors to focus their assistance on state and peace-building, security, promotion of human rights, democracy and rule of law, as well as fostering sustainable economic recovery in CAR;
11. Calls on EU Members States, as well as other donors, to scale up their contributions to the EU Fund for CAR, the Bêkou Trust Fund, whose aim is to promote the stabilisation and reconstruction of the Central African Republic taking into consideration the need to better link the reconstruction/development programmes with the humanitarian response;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Transitional Government authorities of CAR, Council, the Commission, HR/VP Federica Mogherini, the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the institutions of the African Union, ECCAS, the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly and the EU Member States.