MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Djibouti
10.5.2016 - (2016/2694(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Geoffrey Van Orden, Raffaele Fitto, Monica Macovei, Angel Dzhambazki, Charles Tannock, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Anna Elżbieta Fotyga, Ryszard Czarnecki, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Valdemar Tomaševski, Ruža Tomašić, Mark Demesmaeker, Branislav Škripek, Arne Gericke on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0594/2016
The European Parliament,
-Having regard to the presidential elections in Djibouti of 8th April 2016,
-Having regard to the previous resolution of the European Parliament of 3rd July 2013,
-Having regard to the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Djibouti has ratified,
-Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human rights of 1948,
-Having regard to the IGAD Election Observation Mission Preliminary Statement of 9th April 2016,
-Having regard to the EEAS statement following the election of 8th April,
-Having regards to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure.
A.Whereas by virtue of its position at the tip of the horn of Africa and the entrance to the Red Sea, Djibouti and its strategic infrastructure (ports and free zones) is important for the whole region and is host to military bases of the United States, France, Japan and China with over 6000 personnel;
B.Whereas Djibouti is signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1976, as well as Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,1987;
C.Whereas throughout the Union for Presidential Majority's (UMP) rule opposition parties and activists have continually been repressed and many party activists and journalists have been subjected to legal proceedings including a BBC reporter during the 2016 presidential election campaign;
D.Whereas on 21st December 2015 in Bouljougo government forces surrounded an Issa commemorative ceremony and opened fire killing 37 people and wounding 150;
E.Whereas, on 21st December 2015 during a police raid Ahmed Houmed, president of the opposition party USN (Union pour le Salut National), Secretary General Said Robleh and Hamoud Suldan were shot and injured and medical treatment in the French military Hospital was interfered with by the authorities;
F.Whereas in an election on 8th April 2016 Ismail Omar Guellah won a fourth 5 year term as president of Djibouti with 87% of the vote, the election being contested by 6 candidates;
G.Whereas the election was monitored by AU and IGAD observers, who oversaw operations at 124 of the 456 polling stations and reported that the elections had been transparent and peaceful and that no instances of fraud or ballot box stuffing had been detected;
H.Whereas Djibouti hosts 29,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen and is a transit country for people subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking in neighbouring countries, passed Law 210, “Regarding the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” in December 2007,;
1.Calls on the Djibouti authorities to immediately cease the repression of political opponents, human rights defenders and journalists;
2.Asks the Djibouti authorities to comply without delay with its human rights obligations under international treaties it is a party to and to recognise the civil liberties, political and human rights as well as press freedoms that are based on these treaties;
3.Urges the government to continue its ongoing efforts to provide training to police and other officials to apply the Human Trafficking Act and to increase efforts to bring human traffickers to justice and to increase awareness of the issue of trafficking among the judicial, legislative and administrative authorities, civil society and non-governmental organizations operating in the country, as well as the general public;
4.Calls on the Djibouti government and the opposition parties to continue dialogue and to implement the framework agreement on political reform signed in 2015;
5.Strongly condemns the massacre of Bouljougo and demands that the culprits be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law;
6.Calls on Djibouti to thoroughly investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and that the victims are adequately compensated, and to establish an independent mechanism to investigate allegations of misconduct;
7.Calls on Djibouti to implement the recommendations of the preliminary reports of the IGAD and the African Union Election Observer Mission's that a permanent dialogue mechanism be established between the various political factions and that between elections the Independent National Electoral Commission should promote civic education of the electorate and the political actors and potential candidates;
8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Djiboutian Government, the institutions of the African Union, IGAD, the Arab League, the OIC, the Vice-President and High Representative of the European Commission, the French Minister of Defence;