JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
29.5.2006
- –Pasqualina Napoletano, Panagiotis Beglitis and Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Elizabeth Lynne, on behalf of the ALDE Group
- –Kathalijne Maria Buitenweg, Jean Lambert, Cem Özdemir, Hélène Flautre, Angelika Beer, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Monica Frassoni and Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Giusto Catania, Vittorio Agnoletto and André Brie, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –GUE/NGL (B6‑0296/2006)
- –Green/EFA (B6‑0298/2006)
- –ALDE (B6‑0299/2006)
- –PSE (B6‑0300/2006)
European Parliament resolution on the situation of prisoners in Guantánamo
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution of 25 April 2005 on the lawfulness of detentions by the United States in Guantánamo Bay,
– having regard to the report by the Commission on Human Rights of 15 February 2006 on Guantánamo, calling for the Guantánamo detention centre to be shut down without further delay and for the remaining detainees to be either tried or released,
– having regard to the conclusions and recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture concerning the United States of America published on 19 May 2006, which criticise the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and call for its closure,
– having regard to the publication of the list of 759 past and present prisoners of Guantánamo Bay by the US Pentagon on 15 May 2006, approximately 490 of whom remain imprisoned, with no indication as to whether the list contains all the detainees,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the rights of detainees at Guantánamo to a fair trial and, in particular, its resolution of 7 February 2002 on the detainees in Guantánamo Bay[1], its recommendation to the Council of 10 March 2004 on the Guantánamo detainees' right to a fair trial[2] and its resolution of 16 February 2006 on Guantánamo,
– having regard to its resolution of 18 May 2006 on the human rights situation in the world in 2005,
– having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984,
– having regard to the EU Guidelines on the fight against torture and on the death penalty, and its Guidelines on human rights dialogues with third countries, adopted in 2001,
– having regard to the report drawn up by five experts from the UN Commission on Human Rights on the Guantánamo Bay detention centre,
– having regard to the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers held in Vienna on 27‑28 May 2006,
– having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the German Chancellor, the British Prime Minister and the UN Secretary-General, amongst others, have called for the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention centre,
B. whereas, according to Human Rights Watch, Guantánamo currently holds almost 500 detainees, of whom only very few have so far been charged with a crime and not a single one has been tried before a court of law,
C. whereas abuse of detainees in US custody at Guantánamo Bay has been widespread and whereas the United States has taken only limited steps to investigate and punish implicated personnel,
D. mindful that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no-one should be subjected to arbitrary detention and that deprivation of liberty must be based on grounds and procedures established by law, and urging all parties to apply its provisions,
E. whereas, on 20 May, in a prison revolt leaving several people wounded, Guantánamo detainees took to violence in response to their desperate situation, and whereas there have reportedly been over 40 suicide attempts since the opening of the prison camp,
F. welcoming the fact that some detainees have been given the right to have access to private conference with independent lawyers,
1. Reiterates its call on the US Administration to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility and insists that every prisoner should be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and, if charged, tried without delay in a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial court of law;
2. Condemns all forms of torture and ill-treatment and reiterates the need to comply with international law;
3. Calls on the US authorities to implement the UNCAT recommendations and to immediately stop all 'special interrogation techniques', including methods involving sexual humiliation, 'water boarding', 'short shackling' and using dogs to induce fear, that constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
4. Calls on the US authorities to ensure that all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment involving US personnel are subject to prompt, thorough, independent and impartial civilian investigation and that the perpetrators are brought to trial;
5. Calls on the US Government to grant unimpeded access to the detainees at Guantánamo Bay for the respective UN bodies and international human rights organisations;
6. Reiterates its belief that the fight against terrorism cannot be waged at the expense of established basic, shared values such as respect for human rights and the rule of law; stresses that contemporary terrorism, provoking massive indiscriminate civilian victims by brutal, murderous and cowardly attacks, represents one of the most violent threats to basic and fundamental human rights our societies are faced with;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative for the CFSP, the parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General, the Secretary-General and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the President and Congress of the United States of America.