MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on South Soudan
16.5.2017 - (2017/2683(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Xabier Benito Ziluaga, Tania González Peñas, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Marina Albiol Guzmán, Merja Kyllönen, Neoklis Sylikiotis, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Barbara Spinelli, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Malin Björk, Javier Couso Permuy on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0358/2017
The European Parliament,
having regard to its previous resolutions on South Sudan,
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- having regard to the October 2014 Joint Communique of the Republic of South Sudan and the UN on the Prevention of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence,
- having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions on South Sudan,
- having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,
- having regard to the UN statements on South Sudan,
- having regard to the Statement by the Troika (the UK, US and Norway) and EU on the security situation in South Sudan of 8 May 2017,
– having regard to Rule 135 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the he Republic of South Sudan, which has a multi-cultural population, became independent on 9 July 2011, as a result of a referendum held in the south of Sudan; whereas South Sudan's independence was the final stage of a 6 year peace agreement after decades of civil war, whereas following internal disagreements in the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, President Salva Kiir Mayardit dissolved his entire cabinet and removed Vice-President Riek Machar from office in July 2013; points out that contrary to expectations, the partition of Sudan has not resolved the situation;
B. whereas this conflict became a civil war; whereas lack of accountability for decades of violence during Sudan’s long civil war continues to fuel the conflict, and despite a fragile peace agreement in 2015, leaders on all sides have failed to reduce abuses by their forces and hold them to account; whereas thousands of civilians have been killed, often because of their ethnicity or perceived political alliances in South Sudan’s ongoing conflict;
C. whereas more than 3 million South Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes; whereas Half a million people are still sheltering in United Nations compounds, and hundreds of thousands in refugee camps;
D. The government has also become increasingly intolerant and repressive, arbitrarily arresting politicians, members of civil society and journalists for extended periods, sometimes years; Government soldiers and allied militias deliberately killed at least 16 civilians in South Sudan’s western town of Wau on 10 April 2017, in what appears to be an act of collective punishment; whereas the attacks were against people presumed to support the opposition because of their ethnicity;
E. whereas Government forces continue to target civilians in violation of the law of armed conflict; whereas these actions stand in direct conflict with the Government's stated aim of a political solution to the conflict, and severely undermine the prospect of any credible national dialogue
F. whereas United Nations has declared several actions in this conflict as crimes against humanity were committed;
G. whereas the belt of insecurity, under-development and poor governance across the Sahel to the Horn of Africa can only be addressed if the root causes are tackled such as: extreme poverty, climate change, EU and international geostrategic and economic interests as well as interventions, unfair distribution of wealth and exploitation of natural resources;
H. whereas South Sudan is facing a severe man-made food crisis which will not be solved without addressing the human rights violations that led to it in the first place; whereas South Sudan has abundant fertile agricultural land and natural resources besides petroleum which include iron ore, copper, diamonds and gold;
I. whereas, on 28 November 2015, ministers in the EU-28 and several African states, including South Sudan, 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 travelling to Europe under the pretext of the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling; whereas the Khartoum Process also means international legitimacy and financial support to the South Sudanese Government; whereas the Khartoum Process has been promoted with the objective of combating human trafficking, migrant smuggling and the root causes of migration; whereas South Sudan can be the beneficiary of actions under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and can receive additional funding channelled through the European Instruments for Democracy and Human Rights;
1. Is deeply worried by the ongoing rise in inter-ethnic conflictivity within South Sudan the increase in violence and severe breaches of human rights ; deplores the loss of lives in the conflict, expresses deep concern over the developing conflict, which is causing many deaths among civilians in particular among women and children;
2. Strongly calls all parties to end all military operations immediately; calls, in addition, on President Kiir to immediately implement his commitment to a unilateral ceasefire as conveyed to IGAD heads of state on 25 March,
3. Underlines that there is no military solution to the conflict; calls for a negotiated equitable and sustainable solution that will allow South Sudan's leaders to resolve their differences peacefully and democratically and for a national reconciliation process in the interest of the South Sudanese population as a whole; expresses its support for an impartial/neutral mediation;
4. Urges the international community to make diplomatic efforts to convince all sides of the conflict to end fighting and to start negotiating towards a peaceful, equitable and sustainable solution of the conflict and the initiation of DDR-programmes (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration);
5. Urges for an immediate stop of the delivery of weapons and munitions to South Sudan and the whole region; supports the existing EU arms embargo on South Sudan; calls for a comprehensive international arms embargo;
6. Supports the participation of civil society in peace negotiations as essential;
7. Underlines the need for the country's natural resources, particularly oil production, to be under state control and for the state to use them for the benefit of its people wellbeing;
8. Calls on to give the South Sudanese women a full role in the peace-talks and to support women at grassroots level to make a measurable difference in the quality of peace negotiations by turning the tide of suspicion and build trust and promote reconciliation; Urges the Commission, the Member States and the South Sudanese authorities to work with communities and women’s rights organisations to provide and promote access to quality education and sexual and reproductive rights and healthcare services for girls and women, including access to full range of SRHR and HIV/AIDS testing and treatment;
9. Underlines the importance of accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and calls for the publication and dissemination of the AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan report (AUCISS);
10. Urges the European Commission and its Member States scaling up the non-military humanitarian support and to give access to resources for the local farmers and producers to produce enough food for their populations in an environmentally sustainable manner, to stop land grabbing, to promote access to clean water, healthcare and sanitation to the population of South Sudan;
11. Highlights that South Sudan is experiencing one of the worst droughts in the last years, which is having devastating effects on local farmers, cattle breeders, and groundwater levels as direct causes of climate change; notes with concern the additional pressure the consequences of climate change can exert over livelihoods and local economies, worsening the existing social and political crisis South Sudan is already experiencing
12. Strongly condemns the Khartoum Process which legitimates governments who are themselves the source of 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 campaigns’ which in reality legitimise authoritarian regimes and dictatorships without changing any of the internal policies of countries such as South Sudan;
13. Calls for EU aid to be aligned with internationally agreed development effectiveness principles, be human-rights centred, environmentally sustainable, promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and focus on tackling the root problems of inequality and poverty in order to achieve the recently approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); stresses further that development aid must not be made conditional on cooperation in migration matters such as border management or readmission agreements; recalls its concerns about the increasing use of trust funds, such as limited transparency, lack of consultation and regional ownership
14. Instructs its President to forward his resolution to the Council, the Commission, the EEAS, the Government of South Sudan, the African Union, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the UN Secretary-General,