MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr
6.10.2015 - (2015/2883(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Marie-Christine Vergiat, Patrick Le Hyaric, Malin Björk, Younous Omarjee, Merja Kyllönen, Kateřina Konečná, Pablo Iglesias, Kostadinka Kuneva, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Stelios Kouloglou, Kostas Chrysogonos, Tania González Peñas, Javier Couso Permuy, Marina Albiol Guzmán, Paloma López Bermejo, Ángela Vallina, Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Josu Juaristi Abaunz, Marisa Matias, Eleonora Forenza, Sofia Sakorafa, Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Barbara Spinelli on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0997/2015
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Saudi Arabia, notably those concerning human rights. And in particular the ones of March 11 2014 on Saudi Arabia and its relations with the EU and its role in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as latest one on February 11 2015 on the case of Mr. Raif Badawi;
-having regard to article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which protects freedom of opinion and expression, and to article 5 which provides that no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
-having regard to UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
-having regard to the Arab Charter on Human Rights whose article 32 paragraph 1 guarantees the right to information and freedom of opinion and expression, and article 8 prohibits physical or psychological torture or cruel, degrading, humiliating or inhuman treatment;
- having regard to the Report on Saudi Arabia of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council of Council of 26 December 2013;
- having regard to the Cooperation Agreement of 25 February 1989 between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC);
- having regard to the Joint Communiqué of the 23rd EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting of June 2013;
- having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure;
A. whereas all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; whereas freedom of expression is a fundamental right, which includes the right to hold opinions and express oneself through any medium of communication;
B. whereas human rights situation in Saudi Arabia remains more and more alarming, particularly with regards to the lack of democratic rights, discrimination against women and the existence of corporal punishment and death penalty;
C. whereas Saudi Arabia remains one of the most prolific executioners in the world as reported by a number of human rights organisations with at least 90 executions in 2014 and no less than 134 from the beginning of 2015;
D. whereas the death penalty is still commonly applied in Saudi Arabia for a wide variety of crimes. Saudi authorities carried out over 2.200 executions as from January 1985, almost half of whom were foreign nationals and over one third of such executions were carried out without for offences that do not meet the threshold of "most serious crimes" for which the death penalty can be imposed under international law.
E. whereas the death penalty in Saudi Arabia is also used in particular against foreign nationals, the majority of whom are migrant workers with no knowledge of Arabic; whereas migrant workers living and working in Saudi Arabia constitute around 30% of the population;
F. whereas Saudi Arabia continues to sentence to death and thus execute individuals for crimes committed when they were below 18 as well as individuals with mental disabilities.
G. whereas prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is not just included in all international and regional human rights instruments, but constitutes a rule of customary international law, which is thus binding on all states, independent of whether they have ratified the relevant instruments' ;
H. whereas Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, 21 years old was arrested in February 2012 at the age of 17 for taking part in an anti-government protest in Qatif (Saudi Arabia) where police brutally clamped down on demonstrators;
I. whereas as a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia is forbidden from enacting capital punishment against people under the age of 18 and Mohammed al-Nimr was still a minor at the time of his arrest;
J. whereas al-Nimr, arrested at the age of 17,was allegedly tortured, denied access to a lawyer and not even told when his case was taking place until after he was sentenced to death by May 27th 2014;
K. whereas al-Nimr has been recently condemned to be crucified and beheaded - a specially cruel double condemn aiming to put into shame a religious minority-, after his latest appeal was dismissed; whereas different sources do inform that al-Nimr's rejected appeal was held in secret and has left all his legal avenues exhausted, meaning he could be executed at any moment;
L. whereas according to different sources it seems that al-Nimr's conviction is politically motivated as he is the nephew of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death for terrorism offenses;
M. whereas Saudi human rights defenders do remain in a very difficult position. Cases such as the one of Raif Badawi, a human rights activist was sentenced by the Criminal Court of Jeddah in May 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1 000 lashes, because he had created a website where he criticized Saudi Arabia's clerk and thus allegedly insulted Islam;
N. whereas the case of Mr. Badawi is one of many cases of harsh sentences and harassment of Saudi human rights defenders, several of whom imprisoned without trial or convicted under procedures which fall short of international fair trial standards, as has been confirmed by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in July 2014;
O. whereas women's rights are being violated in Saudi Arabia, as they are considered inferior to men and are under the control of a male member of their family rather than having the freedom to make their own decisions on matters such as going out or travelling; whereas Saudi women do not have the right to vote and are prohibited from driving and are therefore discriminated against in public life and public space;
P. whereas Saudi Arabia makes part of the UN human rights council as from 2013, and as from September 21 2015 Saudi Arabia makes part of the consultative group of the aforementioned UN Human Rights Council. Whereas such Consultative Group is intended to be a powerful group with the mandate to select applicants for more than 77 positions in regards to country-specific and thematic human rights mandates;
Q. whereas some EU Member States, including the United Kingdom, France and Spain have strong political and security relations with Saudi Arabia;
1. Expresses its shock and asks the Saudi authorities to quash Ali Mohammed al-Nimr's death sentence;
2. Calls on the Saudi authorities to ensure a fair trial for al-Nimr, in line with international law and to open and independent investigation into allegations of torture;
3. Reminds that Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, that strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by any person below the age of 18;
4. Strongly condemns the widespread human rights violations committed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and calls on the Saudi authorities to stop the execution of any corporal punishment in the country and bring national law closer to international human rights standards.
5. Urges to establish an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia;
6. Reiterates its concern on the fact that Saudi authorities continue to apply the death penalty for a wide variety of way they consider to be crimes, including homosexuality, drug offences, apostasy, sorcery and witchcraft;
7. Reiterates that corporal punishment -such as the reported stoning against women- and especially flogging is in itself an unacceptable form of treatment under any circumstances whatsoever, and should thus be abolished in all countries;
8. Calls on the Saudi authorities to respect the prohibition of torture as it is most notably enshrined in the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Saudi Arabia has signed and ratified;
9. Deplores the fact that despite the ratification in October 2004 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in practice Saudi women are still discriminated against in many ways, in their personal lives, in matters of employment, participation in public life, submission to men, widespread domestic violence, or by restrictions on their rights to free movement and on the freedom to choose their partner; condemns the criminalisation of women who are victims of rape and sexual exploitation, who are not protected as victims but rather condemned as prostitutes;
10. Calls on the authorities to improve the working conditions and treatment of immigrant workers, with special attention to the situation of women working as domestic helpers, who are at particular risk of sexual violence and to eradicate child labour;
11. Urgently calls on the Saudi authorities to respect the rights of every minority, with special attention to the condition of the Shia Muslims further to several reports on actions against such community;
12. Calls on the Saudi authorities to halt the unacceptable punishment of Raif Badawi and to immediately release him as well as all prisoners of conscience;
13. Condemns the fact that despite widespread human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, a number of so called democratic countries such as US and European countries remain a main ally with privileged relationships with Saudi Arabia;
14. Is concerned about the involvement of several European countries such as United Kingdom, France and Spain, as arms providers to the Saudi state;
15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative/Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Arab Human Rights Committee, and the King and the Government of Saudi Arabia.