ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
P8_TA(2018)0185

The violation of human rights and the rule of law in the case of two Greek soldiers arrested and detained in Turkey

European Parliament resolution of 19 April 2018 on the violation of human rights and the rule of law in the case of two Greek soldiers arrested and detained in Turkey (2018/2670(RSP))

(2019/C 390/17)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the arrest on 1 March 2018 and continued detention by the Turkish authorities of two Greek soldiers who stated that they lost their way in bad weather,

— having regard to the fact that that particular part of the border, in the forest area of Kastanies along the Evros/Meriç River, is a major crossing point for migrants, refugees and traffickers, and that the lieutenant and sergeant in question were on a regular patrol tour of the border,

— having regard to the calls from EU and NATO officials for the soldiers’ release, not least from the European Council on 22 March 2018 and during the EU-Turkey Leaders’ Meeting of 26 March 2018,

— having regard to the Greek Government’s efforts to secure the release and return of the soldiers,

— having regard to Article 5(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that ‘Everyone who is arrested shall be informed promptly, in a language which he understands, of the reasons for his arrest and of any charge against him’,

— having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 4 March 2018 a Turkish court in Edirne ruled that the two soldiers, who are currently being held in maximum security detention and are accused of illegally entering Turkey, would continue to be detained;

B. whereas the two Greek soldiers have been held in a Turkish prison for more than one month without charges being brought against them, leaving them unaware of the crime of which they are accused;

C. whereas previous cases of similar accidental crossings of the border by either Greek or Turkish soldiers were settled in the past on the spot at the level of the local military authorities of both sides;

1. Calls on the Turkish authorities to swiftly conclude the judicial process and release the two Greek soldiers and return them to Greece;

2. Calls on the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service and all EU Member States to show solidarity with Greece and call for the immediate release of the two Greek soldiers in any contacts or communications with Turkish leaders and authorities, in the spirit of international law and good neighbourly relations;

3. Calls on the Turkish authorities to scrupulously follow legal proceedings and fully respect, for all those concerned, the human rights enshrined in international law, including the Geneva Convention;
15.

Takes note of the ongoing negotiations on EU-Belarus Partnership Priorities and looks forward to their swift conclusion, which will broaden the scope of bilateral cooperation for the benefit of citizens on both sides and allow Belarus access to a wider scope of financial assistance and cooperation, conditional on it taking clear and tangible steps towards democratisation and openness, including, as a priority, comprehensive election reform; welcomes, in this context, the Commission’s plan to increase the allocation of financial assistance for the period 2018-2020; insists on clearer reform commitments by the Belarusian Government and recommends the setting up of a roadmap for closer EU-Belarus relations in the form of benchmarks and a timeline for the implementation of such commitments;
8.

Calls on the EEAS and the Member States to seek accountability in multilateral fora for the perpetrators of crimes in Myanmar; calls for the EU and the Member States to take the lead in the UNSC on the requested reaction to refer the situation to the ICC, as well as to take the lead in the UN General Assembly and at the upcoming 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council, and to increase their efforts towards the urgent establishment of an international, impartial, and independent accountability mechanism to support investigations into alleged atrocity crimes and the prosecution of those responsible;
20.

Stresses that national parliaments could better cope with the information sent to them either by virtue of the EWS, or under their right to information, if the IPEX platform was given the relevance of an Agora, or forum, for an informal permanent dialogue among national parliaments and between these and the European institutions; resolves, therefore, to promote the use of the platform for the enhancement of political dialogue; recommends that national parliaments use the IPEX platform in a timely fashion to ensure an early start to the national scrutiny mechanism; recommends using IPEX as a channel for the systematic sharing of information and the early flagging of subsidiarity concerns; sees the potential for developing IPEX as the main channel for communication and the transmission of relevant documents from the EU institutions to national parliaments and vice versa, and, in this context, undertakes to offer assistance to national parliamentary chambers’ administrations on how to work with the platform; encourages, in addition, the establishment of more exchanges between the officials of institutions and political groups within the administrations of the European Parliament and national parliaments;
49.

Welcomes the fact that one of the six priority areas for the Commission’s action in the field of public procurement is the improvement of access to procurement markets; stresses that improving access to public procurement markets in third countries, including at sub-national level, constitutes a strong offensive interest for the EU in trade negotiations, given that many EU companies are highly competitive in various sectors; stresses that government procurement should be included in each future trade agreement with a view to maximising the participation of European companies in foreign tenders; calls on the Commission to ensure compliance with and proper implementation of the provisions concerning public procurement markets contained in the EU’s free trade agreements; recalls that trade agreements should be used to improve access to third countries’ public procurement markets and that improved market access to third-country procurement markets, and enhanced rules for modern, efficient and transparent procurement procedures, which are crucial to obtaining better value for public money, should be key elements of any trade agreement to be concluded by the EU, while fully respecting the legitimate public policy objectives enshrined in the Union’s public procurement directives; stresses that third-country economic operators must comply with European social and environmental criteria in order to qualify for public procurement contracts, as laid out in Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU, and encourages, in line with this, the use of MEAT (most economically advantageous tenders) criteria for the award of such contracts; notes that bilateral and sub-regional free trade agreements do not always guarantee full access to procurement markets; asks the Commission to negotiate the greatest possible access to public procurement markets in third countries;
17.

Highlights that the credibility of the PPP authorisation system strongly depends on public trust in European agencies, which provide the scientific opinions that are the basis for approval and risk management; underlines that transparency in the scientific assessment process is important to maintain public trust; calls, therefore, for the relevant agencies to be adequately funded and have the necessary staff to ensure an independent, transparent and timely authorisation process; further welcomes EFSA’s continuous efforts to improve its system in order to ensure independence and the management of potential conflicts of interest, which was praised by the Court of Auditors as the most advanced system of the audited agencies in 2012, and which was recently updated in June 2017; calls on the Commission to propose improvements to further enhance the transparency of the regulatory process, including on access to the data in safety studies submitted by producers as part of their applications for market authorisation of PPPs in the EU; recognises the need to review the procedure in order to improve evaluations, increase the independence of the authorities tasked with carrying out studies, avoid conflicts of interest and make the procedure more transparent;
4.

Calls on both the government and opposition to adopt without further delay a macroeconomic stabilisation plan together with the international financial institutions to address the numerous challenges the country is faced with, such as the humanitarian crisis caused by hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods and medicines; reiterates its call on the Venezuelan Government to allow humanitarian aid into the country;
A.

whereas since 15 May 2018 Saudi authorities have arrested seven women – Loujain al-Hathloul, Aisha al-Mana, Madeha al-Ajroush, Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Youssef, Hessah al-Sheikh, Walaa al-Shubbar – and four men – Ibrahim Fahad Al-Nafjan, Ibrahim al-Modeimigh, Mohammed al-Rabiah and Abdulaziz al-Meshaal – for their women’s rights activism; whereas the arrested human rights defenders have since been charged with supporting the activities of foreign circles, recruiting persons in charge of sensitive government positions and providing foreign circles with money with the aim of destabilising the Kingdom; whereas these activists are known for their campaign against the ban on women driving and in favour of abolishing the male guardianship system; whereas they were arrested ahead of the anticipated lifting of the ban on women driving on 24 June 2018;
8.

Calls on the judiciary to respect the principles of fair trial and due process and to grant suspects access to legal counsel, consular visits and visits by the UN and humanitarian organisations, as well as full access to medical treatment and healthcare services in accordance with Iran’s international obligations; calls on Iran to take the necessary steps with a view to revision of the law in order to ensure fair trials and access to a lawyer during the investigative phases and to put an end to forced confessions made as a result of torture;
8.

Recalls that any sanctions adopted by the international community should be targeted and reversible and do no harm whatsoever to the Venezuelan population; welcomes the swift adoption of additional targeted and revocable sanctions, as well as the arms embargo imposed in November 2017; reiterates that these sanctions have been imposed on high-ranking officials for grave human rights violations, for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela and for conducting the illegitimate elections of 20 May 2018, which were given no international recognition and which took place without an agreement on the date or conditions, and in circumstances which did not allow the participation of all political parties on an equal footing; recalls the possibility of extending these sanctions to those responsible for the heightened political, social, economic and humanitarian crisis, in particular President Nicolás Maduro, in accordance with its previous resolutions;
6.

Believes it to be critically important to address key drivers of biodiversity loss and deterioration with a long-term strategic approach and to develop and implement effective decisions and measures ranging from identifying and conserving protected areas based on the sensitivity of those areas, the presence of endangered species or identified knowledge gaps and/or effective management, to limiting losses of biodiversity and negative impacts on indigenous and local communities’ territories and livelihoods, restoring ecosystems and their services also outside protected areas, mainstreaming biodiversity into other sectors such as agriculture, forestry, land use planning, development cooperation, research and innovation, transport, mining and health, and eliminating perverse subsidies; considers it essential also to contain biodiversity loss and its negative impact on the land and on the means of subsistence of local and indigenous communities;
9.

Calls for the EU to make every effort to encourage the pursuit of a sustained and constructive dialogue between the central authority and the authorities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in particular after the September 2017 referendum held in Kurdistan, with a view to establishing stable relations which satisfy both parties, fostering inclusive decision-making at the highest level and fully respecting the country’s diversity and the rights of all parts of Iraqi society, as well as the principles of the Iraqi Constitution and the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq; stresses the need to solve the demarcation of the boundary between the Kurdish region and the rest of Iraq through dialogue with UN support; believes that Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government should be able to benefit from oil exports without outside interference; calls also for the EU to promote stronger cooperation between federal and local authorities to effectively rebuild the country and reach long-term stability and a peaceful coexistence; stresses the urgent need for the Kurdistan region of Iraq to implement the necessary political and economic reforms, combat corruption and enable the emergence of functioning new parties and guarantee genuine and competitive elections to the regional parliament in 2018;
C.

whereas the human rights dialogue between the EU and Cuba, led by the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, began in 2015; whereas on 9 October 2018 the parties in the fourth EU-Cuba human rights dialogue addressed, among other matters, the topic of citizens’ participation in public affairs, including in the context of recent electoral processes, as well as freedom of association and expression and the possibility for human rights defenders and other sectors of civil society to freely associate, express their views and participate in public life; whereas it is unclear to Parliament if this meeting was in any respect conclusive; whereas no tangible results have been achieved as concerns human rights in Cuba, despite the setting up of the Human Rights Dialogue and Cuba’s re-election to the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2017-2019; whereas the political dialogue must include direct and intensive dialogue with civil society and the opposition without any restrictions;
G.

whereas, as reported by Europol, the EU Security Commissioner Sir Julian King, speaking at an event on 22 March 2017 to commemorate the 2016 Brussels attacks, highlighted the growing menace of right-wing violent extremism, stating that he was not aware of a single EU Member State that is not affected by the phenomenon in some way, specifically citing the 2011 Norway attacks, the assassination of British MP Jo Cox, and attacks on asylum centres and mosques across Europe to highlight what he warned was a ‘less reported’ threat to security; whereas neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups manifest themselves in a variety of forms; whereas most of these groups exclude certain individuals or groups from society; whereas these organisations often use aggressive language towards minority groups and seek to justify their doing so by invoking the principle of freedom of speech; whereas the right to freedom of speech is not absolute;
13.

Recalls that the Court of Justice of the European Union has stated, in paragraph 161 of its Opinion 2/15 of 16 May 2017 on the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, that trade and sustainable development chapters have a direct and immediate effect on trade and that a breach of sustainable development provisions authorises the other party to terminate or suspend the liberalisation provided for in the other provisions of the Free Trade Agreement; welcomes the inclusion of a review clause in the chapter on trade and sustainable development and calls on both parties to make good and timely use of this clause in order to uphold the commitments made and improve the enforceability and effectiveness of labour and environmental provisions, including the consideration of, among various enforcement methods, a sanctions-based mechanism as a last resort; calls on both parties not to wait until the review clause is triggered to take steps towards effective implementation, so as to ensure that this EPA is a front-running agreement providing the highest protection possible; calls on the Commission to monitor the commitments undertaken in the trade and sustainable development chapter and to cooperate with Japan on their implementation, building on the Commission’s 15-point non-paper on trade and sustainable development implementation;
3.

Points out that, despite the increase in internet penetration, many developing countries and emerging economies lag behind in benefiting from digitalisation, many people still have no access to ICTs, and major disparities exist both between countries and between urban and rural areas; recalls that digital technology remains a tool and not an end, and considers that given financial constraints priority should be assigned to the most effective means of achieving the SDGs, and that in some countries, even though digitalisation may be useful, it is still necessary to ensure the fulfilment of basic human needs, notably in terms of access to food, energy, water and sanitation, education and health, as highlighted by the UN report on the SDGs of 2017; considers, however, that the conditions for digital development must be provided for at the design stage of infrastructure, even if implementation takes place at a later stage;
18.

Is of the opinion that, for the purpose of optimising the use of EU funds, any transport project of common interest financed by the CEF should integrate, if necessary, the military mobility requirements at the conception phase, in order to avoid unnecessary upgrading of the infrastructure at a later stage and therefore uneconomical use of funding; considers that any contribution from the CEF military mobility envelope should, whenever possible, give priority to multimodal projects, as they bring the most opportunities for dual use, and to cross-border projects as they contribute to addressing existing missing links and bottlenecks, which are the major current physical barriers to rapid and seamless mobility both for civilians and for the transfer of troops and heavy military equipment; stresses that the process of identifying the sections of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) suitable for military transport must unconditionally maximise civilian and military synergies and comply with the dual-use principle; believes that additional investment along the network could yield significant benefits for military mobility while contributing to the completion of the TEN-T core network by 2030 and the comprehensive network by 2050; underlines that it should be possible to use funding from the military mobility envelope for adapting transport infrastructure within both the core and the comprehensive TEN-T networks;
34.

Calls on the Commission to follow developments in the area of blockchain, in particular the ongoing pilots/initiatives in the international supply chain, and the external aspects of customs and regulatory processes; invites the Commission to produce a horizontal strategy document involving relevant DGs on adopting blockchain technologies in trade and supply-chain management as well as in the area of intellectual property and in particular regarding the fight against counterfeiting; invites the Commission to assess the judicial and governance aspects of blockchain and whether blockchain offers better solutions to existing and emerging technologies that can address current challenges in EU trade policy; calls on the Commission to follow developments in the area of blockchain, in particular the ongoing pilots/initiatives in the international supply chain; invites the Commission to produce a strategy document on adopting blockchain technologies in trade and supply-chain management; believes that the aim must be to win the support of blockchain players for projects and initiatives in the international supply chain and to pursue projects on a joint basis, incorporating the identity, provenance and data storage of a variety of partners;
C.

whereas Mr Huseynov is accused of attacking a prison guard to avoid a routine check on 26 December 2018; whereas, following the alleged attack, he was placed in solitary confinement without the right to see his lawyer; whereas on 28 December Mr Huseynov started a hunger strike to protest against these attempts to extend his sentence and the potential new charges; whereas on 30 December the blogger’s health condition deteriorated and he fainted; whereas, at the insistence of his relatives, he stopped the dry hunger strike and began to take liquids; whereas on 11 January 2019 the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan was able to visit him and it was confirmed that he was receiving medical assistance;
21.

Takes the view that, in the light of the dynamic technological changes in the sector, there is a need to clarify who should bear the damage in the event of accidents caused by fully autonomous vehicles, and when the level of autonomy is such that the vehicle can operate either fully autonomously or be driven by a driver it must be established beyond a shadow of a doubt who the responsible party is in each specific scenario; stresses that there is a particular need to examine whether the view that a very small proportion of all accidents has so far been attributable to technical factors would justify a shift in liability to the manufacturer which, as a risk factor that is independent of negligence, can be linked simply to the risk posed by bringing an autonomous vehicle onto the market; stresses also that there is a further need to examine whether specific road safety obligations on the part of the vehicle owner and instruction obligations applicable to the driver in each case might adequately compensate for this liability shift; calls, therefore, on the Commission to carry out a thorough assessment, to adapt the current EU legal framework and to introduce, if necessary, new rules on the basis of which responsibility and liability are allocated; calls also on the Commission to assess and monitor the possibility of introducing additional EU instruments to keep pace with developments in artificial intelligence;
12.

Points out that this lack of information also hampers the ability of national parliaments to control the actions of national governments in the Council, which is the essential function of national parliaments in the EU’s legislative procedure, and enables members of national governments to distance themselves in the national sphere from decisions made at the European level which they shaped and took themselves; considers that this practice is in contradiction to the spirit of the Treaties and that it is irresponsible on the part of members of national governments to undermine trust in the European Union by ‘blaming Brussels’ for decisions they themselves were involved in; argues that a systematic record of the positions of Member States in the Council’s preparatory bodies would act as a disincentive to this practice, which must be ended immediately; notes that this practice plays into the hands of politicians who seek to delegitimise the EU in the eyes of the public;
21.

Calls on the government to fully implement the recommendations made by the EU EOM, especially with regard to the rule of law and an inclusive political environment; underlines the ten priority recommendations identified by the EOM and set out in the letter of 10 October 2018 from the Chief Observer to President Mnangagwa — namely, in order to create a level playing field for all political parties, to ensure a clearer and coherent legal framework; to strengthen ZEC by making it truly independent and transparent, thereby restoring confidence in the electoral process; to ensure that strengthening ZEC’s independence makes it free from governmental oversight in the approval of its regulations; and to create a more inclusive electoral process;