JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
10.10.2005
- –Michael Gahler and Jana Hybášková, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Véronique De Keyser, Pasqualina Napoletano and Lilli Gruber, on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, on behalf of the ALDE Group
- –Romano Maria La Russa, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis and Gintaras Didžiokas, on behalf of the UEN Group
- –ALDE (B6‑0537/2005)
- –PPE-DE (B6‑0538/2005)
- –PSE (B6‑0539/2005)
- –UEN (B6‑0546/2005)
European Parliament resolution on Iran
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably resolution P6_TA (2004) 0049 of 28 October 2004 and resolution P6_TA(2005)0011 of 13 January 2005 regarding torture and human rights in Iran,
– having regard to the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue that took place until recently and at which the Government of Iran expressed its commitment to strengthening respect for human rights and the rule of law,
– having regard to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a party,
– having regard to Iran's decision of 1 August 2005 to resume uranium conversion activities in contravention of the Paris Agreement obligations and whereas on 10 August Iran removed the seals from its Uranium Tetra-Fluoride (UF4) production lines at its Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) near Isfahan and has resumed nuclear fuel cycle activities,
– having regard to the resolution adopted by the Board of Governors on 11 August 2005 on 'Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran' urging Iran to re-establish full suspension of all enrichment-related activities on the same voluntary, non-legally-binding basis as requested in previous Board resolutions, and to permit the Director General to reinstate the seals that had been removed at that facility without referring to the question of whether Iran is in breach of the NPT,
– having regard to the resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors of 24 September 2005,
– having regard to the conclusions of the European Council on Iran, notably those of 16 March 2005 and 3 October 2005,
– having regard to the EU Annual Report on Human Rights issued on 3 October 2005,
– having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) stipulates that nothing in the Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with Articles I and II of the Treaty,
B. whereas Iran has conceded to the EU 3 that it will apply the Additional Protocol even without having ratified it,
C. whereas, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran failed in a number of instances over an extended period of time to meet its obligations under the NPT Safeguards Agreement with respect to the reporting of nuclear material, its processing and its use, as well as the declaration of facilities where such material had been processed and stored,
D. whereas in its past resolutions the IAEA expressed its uncertainty about Iran's motives in failing to make important declarations and underlined its concern about the continuing gaps in its understanding of many proliferation-sensitive aspects of Iran's nuclear programme,
E. whereas the IAEA pointed out that the full and sustained implementation of Iran's suspension of all enrichment-related activities notified to the IAEA on 14 November 2004 as a voluntary, non-legally-binding confidence building measure, to be verified by the Agency, is essential to addressing outstanding issues,
F. whereas after the suspension of its talks with the EU 3 in August 2005 Iran resumed its uranium conversion activities at its uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, removing the seals placed by the IAEA Director General on the process lines at this facility, but has maintained a freeze on uranium enrichment itself,
G. whereas, in its resolution of 24 September 2005, the Board of Governors of the IAEA, while finding that concerns related to the Iran Nuclear Programme are within the competence of the UN Security Council, requests its Director General to continue his efforts to implement the previous decision and to work for further developments in the negotiations with Iran,
H. whereas EU relations with Iran in recent years have been based on a threefold approach characterised by negotiations on a trade and cooperation agreement, political dialogue and a human rights dialogue and whereas these three aspects cannot be separated,
I. whereas the situation in Iran regarding the exercise of civil rights and political freedoms has further deteriorated since the presidential elections of June 2005 despite several commitments by the Government of Iran to promote universal values,
J. whereas Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have increasingly reported human rights violations in Iran during the last few months,
K. whereas there are increasing reports regarding executions and death sentences, especially against juvenile offenders and members of minorities, which apparently violate internationally recognised criteria and standards,
L. particularly concerned about the increasing reports regarding arbitrary arrests and threatening of journalists, cyberjournalists and webloggers, notably Ahmand Seraajee, who was arrested on 30 June 2005, while also recalling the continued imprisonment of other journalists for the mere exercise of their right to freedom of expression, notably Akbar Ganji, who was imprisoned over five years ago together with 17 other Iranian journalists and who has been in extremely poor health due to a 60-day hunger strike but whose wife has been denied access to him,
M. also concerned about the solitary confinement of the lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, detained since 30 July 2005, who was a guest speaker in the EP in his capacity as a founder member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC),
N. whereas Iran is still not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
O. deeply concerned at Iran's lack of cooperation with regard to the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue that took place until recently and that there are no signs of the enforcement of Iran's commitment within this dialogue to strengthen respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iran,
Nuclear Issue
1. Gives its full support to the resolution adopted on 24 September 2005 by the IAEA Board of Governors, criticising Iran for non-compliance with the Agency's Statute and underlining the resulting absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes;
2. Urges Iran to re-establish full and sustained suspension of all aspects of its uranium enrichment activities including through tests or production at the Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan and to permit the IAEA Director General to reinstate the seals that have been removed at that facility;
3. Urges Iran further to fully cooperate with the IAEA inspectors and to implement transparency measures which extend beyond the formal requirements of the Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol and include access to individuals, documentation relating to procurement, dual use equipment, certain military-owned workshops and research and development sites;
4. Urges Iran furthermore to reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water and to promptly ratify and implement in full the Additional Protocol, as these measures would help build further confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme;
5. Urges Iran to use the time before the next IAEA Board of Governors meeting in November to restart talks with the EU 3 in good faith free of duress and devoid of threats;
6. Strongly supports the conclusions of the Council of the European Union on Iran of 3 October 2005 and especially the EU's continuing support for a diplomatic solution to international concerns over Iran's nuclear programme;
7. Welcomes the statement made by British Foreign Secretary and President-in-Office of the Council Jack Straw on 28 September 2005 in Brighton that, despite US President George Bush's remark that 'all options are open', neither the US nor Europe is considering military action against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme because it would not resolve the issue;
8. Considers that Iran has the right to develop a nuclear programme according to Article IV of the NPT and supports the proposals of the EU for cooperation with Iran in the nuclear field for peaceful use;
9. Stresses the importance of cooperation with the US, Russia, China and non-aligned countries in order to achieve a comprehensive agreement with Iran on its nuclear facilities and their use and taking into account Iran's security concerns; reaffirms that no military options should be taken into consideration in order to reach a solution to the present crisis;
10. Considers that this comprehensive agreement should be useful for a sustainable regional security system comprising India, Pakistan and other nuclear powers and believes that Iran should assume its responsibilities as a regional player and contribute to a Middle East free of Weapons of Mass Destruction;
11. Calls on the Council to launch an initiative on a security dimension for the whole region in order to prevent proliferation and any sources of conflict;
12. Recognises Iran's legitimate security concerns, considering that it is surrounded by states or military bases with nuclear weapons capacities, including such states as Pakistan, Israel, India and Afghanistan;
13. Underlines that the conclusion of a cooperation and trade agreement between Iran and the EU depends on the substantial improvement of Iran's human rights situation as well as on Iran's full cooperation with the IAEA and proof of the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme;
Human Rights
14. Strongly condemns the death sentences against and execution of juvenile offenders and calls upon the Iranian authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards, inter alia with regard to minors;
15. Calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions of juvenile offenders and to prevent any further application of the death penalty, especially to minors, and, notably, not to execute the minors Milad Bakhtiari aged 17, Hussein Haghi aged 16, Hussein Taranj aged 17, Farshad Saeedi aged 17 and Saeed Khorrami aged 16;
16. Urges the Iranian authorities to respect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provide that capital punishment shall not be imposed for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offence, and therefore demands that the legal age of majority in Iran be changed to 18 years;
17. Condemns the treatment of minorities such as the Kurds, who amount to 9 per cent of the total population and who are discriminated against and harassed due to their religious beliefs and ethnic background, and the inhabitants of the area around Ahwaz city, the provincial capital of the ethnic Arab-dominated Khuzestan province, who are being displaced from their villages according to statements by Miloon Kothari, UN Rapporteur on Adequate Housing;
18. Condemns the arrests and imprisonment of cyberjournalists and webloggers and the parallel censorship of several online publications, weblogs and internet sites as well as the recent arbitrary arrests of journalists and severe restriction of the media in Iran and therefore calls on the Iranian authorities, especially the Iranian Parliament, to fulfil their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and notably to allow the free expression of opinion on internet sites and in weblogs and the press;
19. Calls on the Presidency of the Council and the Member States’ diplomatic representatives in Iran urgently to undertake concerted action with regard to the abovementioned concerns, in particular the immediate release of the journalists, cyberjournalists and webloggers prosecuted or sentenced for press- and opinion-related offences;
20. Calls on the Iranian authorities notably to unconditionally release Akbar Ganji, who is in poor health after more than five years of imprisonment and a hunger strike of 60 days, having served five and a half years of his six-year sentence for a press- and opinion-related offence, and also to release the lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, detained since 30 July 2005;
21. Urges Iran to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and condemns the increasing arrests and punishment of women on grounds of 'improper veiling';
22. Calls on Iran to recommence the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue with the European Union and, further, calls upon the Council and Commission to closely monitor developments in Iran and also too raise concrete cases of human rights abuses within the framework of the dialogue;
23. Calls on the Commission to make effective use of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights in order to intensify contacts and cooperation with Iranian civil society and independent media and to furthermore support democracy and respect for human rights in Iran together with the European Parliament;
24. Calls on the Council to examine the way in which Parliament may become involved in the process of regular updating of Council Common Position No 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, taking into account developments from 2001 onwards;
25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative for the CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States and the countries referred to in this resolution, the Director of the IAEA, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Head of the Supreme Court in Iran and the Government and Majlis of Iran.