MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on situation in the Maldives
3.10.2017 - (2017/2870(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Dubravka Šuica, Sven Schulze, Tunne Kelam, Lefteris Christoforou, Ivan Štefanec, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Mairead McGuinness, David McAllister, Marijana Petir, Pavel Svoboda, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Tomáš Zdechovský, Elisabetta Gardini, Claude Rolin, Jaromír Štětina, Milan Zver, Csaba Sógor, József Nagy, Brian Hayes, Adam Szejnfeld, Luděk Niedermayer, Patricija Šulin, Cristian Dan Preda, Sandra Kalniete, Anna Záborská, Jiří Pospíšil, Deirdre Clune, Seán Kelly, Andrey Kovatchev, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0549/2017
The European Parliament,
-having regard to its previous resolutions on situation in the Maldives of 30 April and 17 December 2015,
-having regard to the statement by UN Secretary General - Antonio Guterres -from 27 July 2017,
-having regard to the Joint Local Statement of 25 July 2017 on the situation in the Maldives issued by the EU Delegation in agreement with the Embassies of EU Member States and the Embassies of Norway, Switzerland, Canada and the United States of America in Colombo accredited to the Maldives,
-having regard to Opinion No. 59/2016 (on Mohamed Nazim - The Maldives) of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention from 25 November 2016,
- having regard to the statements by UN experts from 9 May 2017 on murder of journalist Yameen Rasheed and from 3 August on death penalty,
-having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Yameen Rasheed, a liberal blogger advocating human rights and freedom of speech was stabbed to death in the Maldives' capital Male on 23 April 2017;
B. whereas on 22 August 2017 security forces forcibly close the Parliament (Majlis) in what opposition lawmakers described as an attempt to block a motion to impeach the speaker of the house;
C. whereas after the incident harassment and intimidation and arrest of elected MPs continues;
D. whereas 56 lawyers, including all those defending dissidents, have been indefinitely suspended by the Department of Judicial Administration for submitting a petition questioning the independence of the judiciary and calling for its reform;
E. whereas intensifying crackdown on human rights includes plans to resume death penalty for the first time in more than 60 years; whereas the religious intolerance is one of the most rigid worldwide;
1. Calls on the Government of the Maldives to stop immediately all acts that result in the harassment, intimidation or arrest of Members of Parliament;
2. Calls on the Supreme Court of the Maldives to immediately revoke the suspension of the 56 lawyers and ensure justice and lawfulness at all times;
3. Urges the Government of the Maldives to ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference and shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economics or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics;
4. Calls on the Government to guarantee impartial and independent investigation into the death of Yameen Rasheed in order to identify all those responsible and bring them to justice;
5. Reiterates its call on the Government to ensure the full impartiality of the judiciary and to guarantee to all citizens the right to fair, transparent and free of political influence justice; calls, moreover, on dropping all charges against all political prisoners and release them, including former President Mohamed Nasheed;
6. Calls on the Government of the Maldives to halt its first executions planned in more than 60 years and preserve its reassuring death penalty record;
7. Strongly criticizes that the practice of other than Muslim faith is severely punishable in the country;
8. Calls on the European External Action Service to monitor closely the human rights and political situation in the Maldives;
9. Calls on the EU to make full use of all instruments at its disposal in order to promote the respect of human rights and democratic principles in the Maldives, including by considering the possibility of introducing temporary individual targeted sanctions against those undermining human rights;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Member States and the Government and Parliament of the Maldives.