H. emphasisingthatrecenteventsandthesystematicunwillingnesstoimplementdemocraticreformhave
prevented further integration of Belarus into the economic and political structures of Europe,
I. whereas an OSCE Assistance and Monitoring Group has made constant efforts to promote the re-
establishment of democratic structures and dialogue between the opposition and the government;whereas access to the state-owned media for the opposition is a central issue in the negotiations,
J. whereas the TACIS civil society development programme put into place to strengthen the NGOS and
the independent media has still to be accepted by the Belarusian Interior Minister,
1. Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to do everything in their power to locate Tamara Vinnikova,
General Yuri Zakharenko and Victor Gonchar, andtoensure their safety, andexpects early results ofsuch
investigations;
2. CallsupontheBelarusianauthoritiestoreleaseimmediatelyallthosewhoareinprisonforexercising
their right to freedom of expression, especially Members of Parliament Andry Klimov and Vladimir Kudi-nov,
3. CallsontheBelarusianauthoritiestorestoreinternationalstandardsinthefieldsofhumanrightsand
freedomofthepressandofspeech,asprovidedbytheInternationalCovenantonCivilandPoliticalRightsas well as the Paris Charter for a new Europe, to which Belarus is a signatory, and which is also the basisfor the Partnership Agreement between Belarus and the EU,
4. Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to fulfil immediately the necessary conditions for an improve-
mentinrelationsbetween theEuropean UnionandBelarus bytakingthe necessary stepsintheprocessofeconomic and democratic reform and respecting international standards in the field of good governanceand respect for human rights, and not to hinder the implementation of the TACIS civil society develop-
ment programme; emphasises again that nofurther cooperation between the European UnionandBelarus
maybeundertakenuntilclearstepstowardsrespect forhumanrightsanddemocraticandlegalreformaretaken by the Belarusian Government,
5. Gives its full support to the OSCE efforts to urge the president and the opposition to engage in
dialogue so as to avoid deeper divisions,
6. CallsuponPresidentLukashenkotoallowfreeandfairpresidentialelectionsin1999andparliament-
ary elections in 2000, in accordance with OSCE commitments, and to meet the necessary preconditions,such as unhindered access to the mass media for the opposition,
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the OSCE,
the government of Belarus and the democratically elected Parliament of Belarus.
6. Human rights: Situation of the Roma people in Kosovo
B5-0147, 0151, 0166 and0174/1999
Resolution on abuses against Roma andother minorities in the new Kosovo
The European Parliament,
Kdash having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Kosovoand the former Yugoslavia,Kdash having regard to the military technical agreement reached on 9 June 1999 between the international
security force (KFOR) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic ofSerbia,
Kdash having regard to the Stability Pact for south-east Europe signed by the Council on 10 June 1999,C 107/108 EN13.4.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 7 October 1999
Kdash having regard to the UNHCR/OSCE assessment of the situation of ethnic minorities in Kosovo of
6 September 1999,
Kdash having regard to the report of 7 September 1999 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
on the situation of human rights in Kosovo,
A. noting with great concern that a large part of the Roma population in Kosovo are, or have been,
the victim of serious human rights violations since the end of the Kosovo conflict, being accused of‘complicity’ with the Serb forces during the conflict,
B. notingthat as a consequence ofthese acts andthreats ofviolence since the middleofJune more than
half of Kosovo’s12 000 to 15 000 estimated Roma population has fled Kosovo,
C. deploring that there has been a spate of abductions and murders of members of other minorities in
Kosovo, in particular Serbs, since the end of the conflict,
D. notingthecontinuingpersecutionofRomaniciviliansandotherethnicminorities,amongstwhichthe
Serbs, in Kosovo, and aware that the international security forces inside Kosovo are making an efforttogive protectiontotheRomaandotherethnic minoritiesinKosovo,butthatthisisnotsufficientatthis moment to offer security for the ethnic minorities in Kosovo,
E. notingthat Kosovo’sminorities have movedtoRomaor Serb enclaves under KFOR protection within
Kosovo,
F. stressing that serious problems exist for the Roma people in most of the countries of central and
eastern Europe and for that reason they merit a special approach,
1. Calls on the KFOR to give adequate response to criminal activity against Romani citizens in Kosovo
and to increase their efforts, in the sector where they are assigned, to protect the civilians of the ethnicminorities;
2. Calls on the leaders of the Albanian community in Kosovo to take responsibility for preventing
continued harassment and violence against the Roma in Kosovo;
3. Callsonallparties tocooperate fullywith KFOR in the implementation ofUNSCR1244(1999)and
therefore to cease all ethnic violence from whatever quarter and to work towards reconciliation betweenall sections of society;
4. Urges the UN Security Council to apply the necessary pressure, so that KFOR makes full implemen-
tation of its mandate to disarm all the military and paramilitary groups;
5. Callsonthe UNaswellasontheUNMIKtogive KFOR troopsinKosovoeffective empowermentto
protect the civilian population from racist acts and other criminal acts perpetrated by paramilitary troops;
6. Urges the UNHCR, the KFOR and the UNMIK to oppose and refuse any contingency plan or canto-
nization;
7. Callsonthe UN,NATO, the OSCEandthe EU toaccelerate the processofcreating aKosovarpolice
force representing all parts of the civilian society;
8. Recognises the urgent need to bring to justice any perpetrator of atrocities from whatever quarter,
inordertorebuildintheregion thecommonsenseofrule oflaw,respect forcultural andethnic diversityand human rights and thereby to establish the basis for interethnic reconciliation;
9. RegretsthattheprosecutoroftheInternationalCriminalTribunalfortheformerYugoslavia(ICTY)is
mandated only to investigate crimes committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo;
10. Insists that the UNMIK, which is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of offences
through the UN international police assistedby KFOR, keep the ICTYregularly informedabout the natureand status of investigations being conducted in Kosovo;13.4.2000 EN C 107/109 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 7 October 1999
11. CallsontheCouncil,theCommissionandthe European BankforReconstructionandDevelopment
to give priority in the allocation of reconstruction aid to those municipalities that protect and preventviolence and discrimination against ethnic minorities and persons on the grounds of their political affilia-tion;
12. Calls on the Commission and the Council to offer specific support for programmes facilitating a
dialogue between representatives of the Albanian majority in Kosovo and representatives of minoritygroups, such as the Roma, as well as to other confidence-building measures;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN and the
UN Interim Civil Administration in Kosovo, OSCE, NATO and to the Secretary General’s Deputy Special
Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo.
7. Aviation accident at Ustica
B5-0148, 0156, 0160, 0162 and0176/1999
Resolution on the air disaster at Ustica
The European Parliament,
A. whereas on 27 June 1980 a DC9 aeroplane flying from Bologna to Palermo with 81 passengers on
board was shot down in unknown circumstances,
B. whereas the European public has monitored developments in this affair with great interest; whereas
the‘AssociationoffamiliesofthevictimsoftheUsticadisaster’hasplayedatirelesspartinthesearch
for the truth on the matter,
C. whereas it isofvitalimportance tothe future safetyofallEUcitizens andtheir continuedtrustinthe
civilian and military authorities for the truth on a matter such as this to be brought to light,
D. whereas for many years no progress could be made in the enquiries and investigations conducted by
Italian magistrates, owing inter aliato a lack of cooperation on the part of some authorities in Italy
and other countries, and in NATO,
E. whereasoverrecentweekstheItalianmagistrateshavesubmittedthefindingsoffurtherinvestigations,F. whereas itisimperative thatfullcooperationfromthe relevant authorities inFrance, theUnitedKing-
dom, the United States and NATO and, possibly, other States identified or to be identified, is secured
in order to determine exactly who is responsible for the air disaster,
G. noting the Italian Government’s decision to forward to the countries concerned those parts of the
findings which refer specifically to their role, with a view to making an official request for cooper-ation,
1. Calls on all the States concerned, starting with those referred to directly in the legal documents, to
provide the Italian magistrates with the assistance they require in order to complete the investigations;calls furthermore on the Council, in accordance with the principle of transparency that is an integral partof the Treaties, to request such cooperation from the States concerned;
2. Calls on the Council and the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to undertake
coordinated action in order to enforce more effective rules to ensure the safety of civilian air traffic inrelation to NATO and national military activity;
3. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,the Commission,the governmentsof
the Member States, the Government of the United States and the Secretary-General of NATO.C 107/110 EN13.4.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 7 October 1999