Summary: EU Parliament - Human Rights resolutions: Western Sahara, Uzbekistan and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche (27 October 2005: Brussels)
Human Rights resolutions: Western Sahara, Uzbekistan and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
As usual, the plenary session ended with three debates on human rights issues around the world. This time the focus was on Western Sahara, Uzbekistan and the case of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a Buddhist Lama imprisoned by China. A resolution was adopted in each case.
Western Sahara
In the resolution on Western Sahara, adopted with 98 votes in favour, none against and 1 abstention, the European Parliament welcomes the release by the Polisario Front of all Moroccan prisoners of war. It calls on the Moroccan authorities to immediately release the human rights supporters Aminattou Haidara and Ali Salem Tamek, and 35 other Sahrawi political prisoners, and to shed light on the fate of more than 500 missing Sahrawis, including those who disappeared during military
campaigns. It further calls on the two sides to cooperate fully with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with a view to ascertaining what has happened to the people who have disappeared since the conflict began.
MEPs call for the protection of the Sahrawi population, respect for their fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of movement, and express their support for a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, based on the rule of law and on international law, and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, particularly Resolution 1495.
Parliament calls on the Council and Member States to actively support the UN's efforts in calling for the preservation of the natural energy resources of Western Sahara as a non-autonomous territory, the subject of a decolonisation process as stipulated in the legal opinion (2002) by the UN's Deputy Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Hans Correl. It welcomes the appointment by the UN Secretary-General of his Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Ambassador Van Valsum, and the
designation of Francisco Bastagali as Special Representative responsible for the UN Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso), which should help to re-activate the peace process in Western Sahara.
Parliament calls on the Moroccan authorities to facilitate access to the territory of Western Sahara for independent observers and representatives of human rights defence organisations and the international press. It deplores the expulsion of several European delegations. Finally, MEPs consider that the planned visit of a EP delegation to the region will provide the European Parliament with fresh information regarding the situation there. They say they are confident that the delegation will be
able to carry out its mission unobstructed and on schedule, that is to say in January 2006.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Parliament's resolution on the case of Tenzin Delek RinpocheLobsang Dhondup. Lobsang Dhondup was executed in 2003, while Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Parliament is deeply concerned about the state of health of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and calls on the responsible authorities to take all possible steps to improve his living conditions and state of health. It demands that the Chinese Government allow Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, during his inspection visit to China from 21 November to 2 December 2005, to visit Tenzin Delek and report on his state of health.
MEPs reiterate their support for the rule of law, and appreciate the commutation of the death sentence handed down to Tenzin Delek. Parliament urges the Chinese Government, nonetheless, to cancel all sentences against Tenzin Delek and to release him immediately. It affirms its call for the abolition of the death penalty and an immediate moratorium on capital punishment in China.
MEPs regret the lack of concrete results as regards the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, and call once more on the Government of the People's Republic of China to improve the inhuman conditions of imprisonment in their jails, to cease and abolish torture of detainees, to stop the continued violation of the human rights of the Tibetan people and other minorities, and to ensure that it respects international standards of human rights and humanitarian law. They call on the Council and the Member
States to maintain the EU embargo on trade in arms with the People's Republic of China and not to weaken the existing national limitations on such arms sales.
Finally, Parliament calls on the Chinese government to step up the ongoing dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama so as to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibet issue without further delay.
Uzbekistan
In their resolution on Uzbekistan, adopted with 99 votes in favour to none against with no abstentions, MEPs urge the Commission to place the annual European Union budget for 'national projects and institution-building' in Uzbekistan in the reserve, without prejudice to humanitarian aid. They condemn the refusal by the government of Uzbekistan to provide transparency and its withdrawal from external contact, and stress how important it is for an international committee of inquiry to have the
opportunity to clarify immediately the circumstances surrounding the events of May 2005 in the Andijan region and to freely attend the trials which are under way.
Parliament reiterates the importance of EU-Uzbekistan relations and continued dialogue, and recognises the crucial role of Uzbekistan in the Central Asia region, but stresses that those relations must be based on mutual respect for the principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights as clearly laid down in the EU-Uzbekistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. It welcomes and supports the decision taken at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting on 3 October 2005
to introduce an embargo on the export of arms and military equipment and other equipment that might be used for internal repression to Uzbekistan, to implement restrictions on admission to the EU of Uzbek individuals directly responsible for the Andijan events and to suspend sine die all scheduled technical meetings under the PCA and the Commission's reorientation and reduction of its TACIS programme in order to support an increased focus on the needs of the population, democracy and human
rights as well as fostering links with Uzbek civil society.
MEPs urge the government of Uzbekistan to release all human rights activists, journalists and political opposition members who are still in detention and allow them to work freely and without fear of persecution and to put an end to the harassment of NGOs. They call for freedom of the press to be restored, which entails the abandonment of the judicial measures taken against national media and NGOs which wish to promote diversity of information; condemns all obstacles to citizens' freedom of
expression. They urge that the trial of the individuals accused of plotting to overthrow the Uzbek government fully comply with international law and be open to independent observers, who should be allowed complete access to the proceedings. Parliament notes the decision of the Uzbek authorities to allow OSCE observers to attend these trials.
Parliament expects the Uzbek authorities to facilitate a visit to Andijan and meetings between Members taking part in the 6th EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the opposition, NGOs and the independent media. Finally, it calls on the Kyrgyz authorities not to deport arrested refugees as long as the Uzbek Government cannot guarantee an independent and fair trial and grant humanitarian organisations access to those under arrest.
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