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Human rights in East Timor, Syria and North Korea

As usual, Parliament ended its session in Strasbourg with three debates on human rights issues from around the world. In this case, the focus was on East Timor, Syria and North Korea.

East Timor

In its resolution on East Timor, Parliament urges all parties to refrain from violence, to get involved in an all-inclusive dialogue to settle political differences and to participate in the democratic process within the legal and constitutional framework, thus contributing to restoring social and political stability.

It welcomes the decision by the authorities of East Timor to call for an international inquiry into the events of 28-29 April, and 23-25 May, when armed confrontations between the East Timorese armed forces and previously dismissed soldiers and their civilian supporters resulted in a disputed number of fatalities.

MEPs urge the Government and the President of the Republic of East Timor to take all the necessary steps to put an end to violence and to restore a secure and stable environment in full compliance with the Constitution. They note that the role to be played by the international community, and in particular the United Nations, including the Security Council, is of vital importance to the process of consolidation of the state of East Timor and its independence and sovereignty, and to the consolidation of democracy in this young nation.

Parliament stresses that the process of gradual reduction in the UN mission in East Timor over the last four years must be reversed and asks for the urgent deployment of a UN-led police force to help restore stability and a UN mandated peace keeping force as requested by the East Timor authorities on 13 June. It welcomes the extension of the UN's mandate and calls for peacekeeping units and civilian police units to remain in East Timor until the country's own armed forces and police can take over these tasks themselves.

Parliament also recommends, with due respect for the sovereign authorities of East Timor and the specificity of the mandate conferred on each one of the international forces currently in the country under UN supervision and monitoring, the establishment of efficient channels of horizontal communication and cooperation between international forces, in order to serve the best interests of the East Timorese people, the effective restoration of public order and a prompt return to full institutional normality.

MEPs welcome East Timor's admission to the ACP group of States and recognise its need for political, technical and financial support in rebuilding the infrastructure and administrative structures which are essential to resume the implementation of its development plan. They call on the European Union and international community to maintain and step up the support required to consolidate democracy and a democratic culture in East Timor, focusing on a multiparty culture and institution-building - namely the parliament, government, judiciary, security, defence and law enforcement forces - and to assist in the urgent extension of media coverage to the whole country, as well as in strengthening the education and health networks, with particular attention addressed to the needs of children and women.

Parliament calls on the international community to substantially increase support for effective human rights monitoring in East Timor and to provide assistance for the development of local human rights groups as well as for local services for victims of abuses. It calls on the EU Council and Commission to urge the East Timorese authorities to prohibit and disband any paramilitary groups and armed gangs, and to disarm armed civilians. It wants the EU to raise European concerns over police violence with the Government of East Timor in all official meetings and at the highest level.

MEPs call on the East Timor state representatives to uphold international human rights standards and to ensure that the police's and armed forces' treatment of citizens conforms to international human rights norms and standards. They propose to send a European Parliament ad hoc delegation to East Timor next autumn to assess the political situation and examine the adequacy of EU assistance programs.


Syria

In its resolution on Syria, Parliament notes that after signing a petition for improved Syrian-Lebanese relations in view of UN Security Council Resolution 1680, it was reported that several civil society activists were arrested and tortured, notably including the lawyer Anwar al Bunni and writer Michel Kilo as well as others such as Khalil Hussein, Dr Safwan Tayfour, Mahmoud Issa, Fateh Jammous, Prof. Suleiman Achmar, Nidal Derwiche, Suleiman Shummor, Ghalem Amer, Muhammad Mahfud, Mahmoud Meri'im, Yasser Melhem and Omar Idlibi. Anwar Al Bunni, a lawyer specialising in human rights issues, was arrested on the streets of Damascus when he was on the verge of taking up a post as Director of a Human Rights Centre financed by the European Union As long ago as November 2005, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported the arrest and risk of torture of the peaceful activist Kamal Al-Labwani, who is now facing a life sentence for expressing his views.

Parliament urges the authorities there immediately to release all activists still detained for signing a petition calling for improved Syrian-Lebanese relations. It further urges the Syrian authorities to reconsider all cases of political prisoners and immediately release all prisoners of conscience, and to:

• 
  
• ensure that the detainees are well treated and not subject to torture or other ill-treatment;
  
• ensure that detained or imprisoned persons are given prompt, regular and unrestricted access to their lawyers, doctors and families.

MEPs call on Syria to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. They strongly support the declaration of 19 May 2006 by the EU Presidency on behalf of the European Union regarding the recent arrests in Syria.

They point out that respect for human rights constitutes a vital component in any future EU-Syria Association Agreement and call on Syria to respect its commitments within the framework of the Barcelona Process and along the lines of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Parliament reasserts the necessity for the Commission and the Council also to do their utmost to ensure that the Association Agreement with Syria, which has not yet been signed, leads to an improvement of human rights in Syria.

Finally, MEPs call on the Commission to annually assess the human rights situation in Syria and its compliance with the obligations under the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement and to report its findings within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.


North Korea

On North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - DPRK), Parliament deplores the lack of cooperation by the DPRK with international human rights institutions, and particularly its refusal to follow the procedures of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It calls on the government of North Korea to:

• 
  
• abide by the principles set out in the international human rights treaties it has ratified (such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and incorporate these principles into domestic law;
  
• abolish the death penalty;
  
• release all people detained or imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of fundamental human rights;
  
• guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of movement for all North Koreans;
  
• review existing legislation to ensure that it conforms with international human rights standards, and introduce safeguards to provide citizens with protections and remedies against human rights violations.
  

MEPs urge the DPRK government to provide information on the case of Mr Son Jong Nam and to stop his execution. They call on the Commission and the Council to do likewise.

Parliament also calls on the North Korean authorities to review carefully the situation of all those condemned to death and to grant them a stay of execution, and calls for the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in North Korea, Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, to be allowed to visit them.

The resolution urges the government of the DPRK to end the severe human rights violations, including imprisonment and execution on account of religion or belief, against citizens not affiliated to the state-sponsored religious federations, and to allow religious believers to meet freely for worship, build and maintain places of worship and freely publish religious literature.

Parliament recognises that the EU was the first and only party to engage in Human Rights Dialogues with the DPRK, which were discontinued in 2003. It urges both sides to endeavour to restart the dialogue on Human Rights between the EU and the DPRK. It calls on the government of the DPRK to fulfil its obligations under human rights instruments to which it is a party and ensure that humanitarian organisations, independent human rights monitors, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief have free access to the country.

MEPs welcome the agreement between the World Food Programme and the government of the DPRK to support 1.9 million of the most vulnerable people, especially women and young children. They deplore, however, the ongoing and unnecessary suffering of the North Korean people as a consequence of the government's policies, stressing that there should always be targeted and fair distribution of food in the country. They urge the government of the DPRK to end discrimination in its distribution of food in favour of high-ranking Workers' Party officials and military, intelligence and police officers.

Parliament calls on the government of the DPRK to hand over finally and completely all information on the citizens of South Korea and Japan who were abducted during recent decades, and immediately to release those abductees still being held in its country. It also calls on the government of the People's Republic of China to stop repatriating North Korean citizens to the DPRK, where, regardless of their reasons for leaving, they face harsh treatment, ranging from detention to torture, long prison terms and even executions. Finally, MEPs call on the Republic of Korea (ROK) to assume its responsibility for North Korean refugees in China and on the government of the ROK to allow them to travel to South Korea.

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• Summary remarks by EUHR Solana at the press conference with Syrian FM Muallem  (15/3/2007)
• EU Presidency Statement - Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (9/11/2006)
• EU-Syria Association Agreement: Speech by European Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner  (26/10/2006)
• EU Parliamentarians condemn North Korean nuclear test in debate with Solana (12/10/2006)
• Timor-Leste: EU Commission supports stabilisation (6/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Security Council: Debate on Timor-Leste (15/8/2006)
• European Commission welcomes the appointment of José Ramos-Horta as the new Prime Minister of Timor-Leste (12/7/2006)
• Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the occasion of the final session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (27/3/2006)
• Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council (16/3/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Human Rights Council, Explanation of Vote (15/3/2006)
• EUHR Solana welcomes today's adoption of the resolution by the UN General Assembly establishing a Human Rights Council (15/3/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Human Rights in the DPRK (8/11/2005)
• EU Presidency Statement on Syria (27/10/2005)