MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Somalia
13.9.2016 - (2016/2881(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Kateřina Konečná, Tania González Peñas, Xabier Benito Ziluaga, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Paloma López Bermejo, Merja Kyllönen, Barbara Spinelli, Jiří Maštálka, Ángela Vallina, Stelios Kouloglou, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Neoklis Sylikiotis, Javier Couso Permuy, Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Curzio Maltese on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Roadmap for EU-Africa cooperation (2014-2017), adopted at the Fourth EU-Africa Summit in April 2014,
– having regard to the first EU Pan-African Programme for the period 2014-2020,
– having regard to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, in particular to the UN Security Council Resolution 733/1992 establishing an arms embargo on Somalia which has been reaffirmed by several UNSC Resolutions, as the latest 2182/2014,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
– having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,
– having regard to the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples of 1981,
– having regard to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention to which Kenya is a party,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. Whereas Somalia’s long-running armed conflict continued to take a heavy toll on civilians in much of south-central Somalia; whereas warring parties continued to kill, wound, and forcibly displace civilians; whereas restrictions on humanitarian access exacerbated the human rights and humanitarian crises;
B. Whereas ongoing political infighting and three government reshuffles in three years, along with political manoeuvring around implementation of federalism; whereas tensions over creation of a new interim regional administration in central Somalia led to open conflict between clan militias and government forces, resulting in abuses against civilians;
C. Whereas European Development Fund allocation of €286 million for the period 2014-2020 focuses on implementing the "Compact" focussing on state and peace building, food security, resilience and education;
D. Whereas peace remains the key challenge in Somalia due to the presence of Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) has been present in Somalia since 2007; whereas the EU has supported the mission since its launch through a specific instrument – Africa Peace Facility, mostly by providing funds for stipends of the troops; whereas by the end of 2015 the EU committed over €1B to support AMISOM;
E. Whereas AMISOM forces have killed civilians during operations; whereas soldiers from Uganda and Burundi deployed with AMISOM sexually exploited and assaulted women and girls on their bases in Mogadishu;
F. whereas the full scope of sexual violence remains unknown, internally displaced women and girls are clearly particularly vulnerable to rape by armed men, including government soldiers and militia members;
G. Whereas targeted attacks on humanitarian organizations persisted;
H. Whereas LGBTI rights in Somalia fall under the scope of Somalia's federal laws, which establishes homosexuality as illegal and as punishable; whereas in some parts of Somalia homosexuality is punished by death;
I. Whereas Somalia has 1.1 million internally displaced people, primarily women and children, remained extremely vulnerable and reliant on assistance;
J. Whereas, on 28 November 2015, ministers in the EU-28 and several African states, including Somalia, as well as the European and African Union launched the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, also known as the ‘Khartoum Process’, which aims to externalise EU border control and limit the number of migrants and people in need of international protection travelling to Europe under the pretext of the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling;
1. Strongly condemns the dramatic situation of human rights and civilian killings from all parties of the Somalian conflict and calls for a fair and sustainable peace;
2. Recalls that only lasting stability and peace can be achieved through social inclusion, sustainable development and good governance based on the democratic principles and rule of law in which peoples’ dignity and rights are fully respected;
3. Strongly condemns both the AMISOM´s forces murders of civilians and the repeated AMISIOM´s soldiers sexual exploitation and harassment of women and girls; Calls, therefore, the EU to suspend its collaboration with AMISOM;
4. Deplores that in several cases the fight against terrorism is used as an excuse to ensure the military presence in different parts of the world due to geostrategic objectives; condemns, in this regard, the role of the United States of America in the region and the bombings made by US drones against innocent civilians with the purpose of fighting terrorism; underlines that these bombings already contributed to hundreds of deaths of innocent civilians; condemns in the same way the EUNAVFOR mission in Somalia that with the pretext of fighting piracy contributed to destroy and attack small fishermen's of the region and just to defend the interests of big European shipping companies;
5. Its deeply concern of the attacks against humanitarian actors in Somalia; reiterates the essential importance of humanitarian assistance to deliver, under the principles of independence and neutrality, to people in need;
6. Reiterates its paramount concern on women's rights; calls on the Somalian Authorities to promote gender equality and women's empowerment through boosting women and women rights organisations participation in public and political life and combatting all forms of violence against women;
7. Condemns the illegalisation of homosexuality in Somalia the criminalization of LGTBI people; calls on the Somalian Authorities to eliminate discriminatory laws and policies, decriminalization, and combating the death penalty for same-sex relations, to promote equality and non-discrimination at all policies, to actively combat violence by the state or by individuals against LGBTI persons;
8. Deplores the increasing tendency to use Official Development Aid (ODA) to fund security policies; recalls for the development focus and nature of ODAs to be protected, including a transparent and accountable reporting system; recalls the ODA’s unique role in achieving effective development results; calls for EU aid to be aligned with internationally agreed development effectiveness principles, be human-rights centred, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and focus on tackling the root problems of inequality, poverty and chronic malnutrition in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;
9. Strongly condemns the Khartoum Process which legitimates governments who are themselves the source of forced migration; condemns the financial support of the EU for policies whose aim it is to externalise border controls under the pretext of the fight against trafficking and to create ‘information campaign’ which in reality legitimise authoritarian regimes and dictatorships without changing the current situation of the people in need in those countries;
10. Calls for ensuring rights and a save passage to both migrants and displaced;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the ACP-EU Council, the East African Community and the government of its member states, the institutions of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations;