A4-0468/98

Resolution on respect for human rights in the European Union (1997)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

- having regard to the United Nations Covenants on civil and political rights and on economic, social and cultural rights and the protocols thereto,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women,

- having regard to the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees, as well as the recommendations of the UNHCR,

- having regard to the Convention on migrations in abusive conditions and the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment of migrant workers (Geneva, 1975),

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (New York, 1989),

- having regard to fundamental human rights, guaranteed by the constitutions of the Member States and the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (ECHR) and the protocols thereto,

- having regard to the 1987 European Convention for the prevention of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

- having regard to the principles of international and European law relating to human rights,

- having regard to the past decisions of the European Court of Human Rights,

- having regard to opinion 2/94 of the Court of Justice of the European Communities of 28 March 1996 on the accession of the European Community to the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

- having regard to the Community Charter of fundamental social rights,

- having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

- having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

- having regard to the draft Treaty of Amsterdam,

- having regard to its resolution of 12 April 1989 adopting the Declaration of fundamental rights and freedoms ((OJ C 120, 16.5.1989, p. 51.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 9 July 1991 on human rights ((OJ C 240, 16.9.1991, p. 45.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 12 March 1992 on the death penalty ((OJ C 94, 13.4.1992, p. 277.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 July 1992 on a European Charter of Rights of the Child ((OJ C 241, 21.9.1992, p. 67.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 11 March 1993 on respect for human rights in the European Community ((OJ C 115, 26.4.1993, p. 178.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 January 1994 on conscientious objection in the Member States of the Community ((OJ C 44, 14.2.1994, p. 103.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 8 February 1994 on equal rights for homosexuals and lesbians in the EC ((OJ C 61, 28.2.1994, p. 40.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 27 April 1995 on racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism ((OJ C 126, 22.5.1995, p. 75.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 January 1996 on trafficking in human beings ((OJ C 32, 5.2.1996, p. 88.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 January 1996 on poor conditions in prisons in the European Union ((OJ C 32, 5.2.1996, p. 102.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 29 February 1996 on cults in Europe ((OJ C 78, 18.3.1996, p. 31.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 9 May 1996 on the communication from the Commission on racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism ((OJ C 152, 27.5.1996, p. 57.)),

- having regard to its opinion of 9 May 1996 on the Commission proposal for a Council Decision designating 1997 as European Year Against Racism ((OJ C 152, 27.5.1996, p. 62.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 17 September 1996 on respect for human rights in the European Union (1994) ((OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p. 36)),

- having regard to its resolution of 12 December 1996 on measures to protect minors in the European Union ((OJ C 20, 20.01.1997, p. 170)),

- having regard to its resolution of 8 April 1997 on respect for human rights in the European Union (1995) ((OJ C 132, 28.4.1997, 31.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1997 on the need to establish a European Union wide campaign for zero tolerance of violence against women ((OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 55.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 6 November 1997 on combating child sex tourism and reinforcing the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation of children ((OJ C 358, 24.11.1997, p. 37.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 17 February 1998 on respect for human rights in the European Union (1996) ((OJ C 80, 16.3.1998, p. 43.)),

- having regard to the following petitions:

a) 16/97 by the Amnesty International Group in Dampremy, bearing 5 signatures, on the situation of conscientious objectors in Greece,

b) 48/97 by Mrs Marlies Mosiek-Urbahn, MEP (German) on the incorporation of a 'v-chip' in television sets to block programmes containing pornography or violence,

c) 67/97 by Mr Heinrich Lenz (German) concerning the withdrawal of his severely disabled persons card,

d) 79/97 by Mr Robbert Maris (Dutch) concerning residence permits for EU citizens,

e) 183/97 by Mr Giovanni Campano (Italian) on his expulsion from Germany,

f) 266/97 by Mr Hamza Yigit (Turkish) concerning political asylum in Germany,

g) 287/97 by Mr John Simms (British) concerning the right to vote for nationals of one Member State who are resident in another Member State,

h) 430/97 by Mr Jean-Pierre Perrin-Martin (French) on behalf of the association FASTI on the situation of refugees in Europe,

i) 436/97 by Mr V. Sorani (Italian) on behalf of 'Solidarité européenne' - Union of Commission officials in Luxembourg bearing 1 178 signatures, concerning measures to combat paedophilia,

j) 506/97 by Mr C. Verbraeken (Belgian) concerning the smuggling of women from Eastern Europe into the EU for the purposes of prostitution,

k) 680/97 by Mrs Judy Wall (British) concerning student maintenance grants in the United Kingdom,

l) 872/97 by Mr Joesoe Maatrijk (Dutch) concerning the right of migrants to vote in elections to municipal and district councils in the Netherlands,

m) 920/97 by Mr Charles Payne (American) on alleged racial discrimination in Denmark against his son,

n) 963/97 by Mr Adolfo Pablo Lapi (Italian and Argentinian) concerning discrimination against homosexuals in Italy and infringement of their human rights,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs (A4-0468/98),

A. whereas respect for human rights, which are inseparable from human dignity, is a basic principle which all the Member States have endorsed by establishing the requisite institutions and mechanisms to ensure effective protection of these rights, which is guaranteed in the European Union by democratic and pluralist political systems with genuine parliamentary institutions and independent judicial systems,

B. having regard to the relevant United Nations and Council of Europe resolutions and the proposals of NGOs relating to the protection of and respect for human rights,

C. concerned that, in certain Member States, specific situations have arisen in 1997 which contravene basic human rights principles,

D. whereas its role within the European Union and as part of an active policy of protecting human rights should include highlighting and condemning human rights violations needing to be counteracted,

Human rights, the European Union and its Member States

1. Observes that human rights are the natural rights of every single individual and are not conditional upon duties or prior actions of any kind whatever;

2. Stresses the need for the Member States to adopt or strengthen the provisions required to guarantee the effective protection of the fundamental rights of individuals in the European Union, and stresses the importance of such provisions with reference to the credibility and consistency of European Union external action in this sphere;

3. Urges the Union to ensure that its own human rights commitments, and those of its Member States are translated into strong political action, and to this end asks that

- from the coming into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the Commission give one of its Members responsibility for issues concerning human rights, and likewise for the area of freedom, security and justice;

- the Parliament committee which is responsible for civil liberties and internal affairs periodically review the human rights situation in the Member States and the progress made in the area of freedom, security and justice;

- the remit of the racism monitoring centre in Vienna be expanded to include human rights in the European Union, since the centre has a special role to play in providing the EU institutions with regular information concerning racism, xenophobia and human rights in the Member States;

4. Believes that it has a duty, as a democratically elected Community institution, to ensure that basic rights and freedoms are upheld and promoted in the European Union and as a result regrets that 11 of the 15 Member States of the Union are cited in Amnesty International's 1997 Annual Report;

5. Welcomes the fact that the draft Treaty of Amsterdam includes Articles 6, 11, 49 and 177 on respect for human rights both within and outwith the European Union;

6. Maintains that respect for human rights is an essential aspect of any democratic society and should be one of the fundamental pillars of the Union's domestic and foreign policy; stresses that the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an ideal opportunity to promote world-wide political debate and action aimed at promoting respect for these rights and the instruments designed to uphold them;

7. Reaffirms that the right to life and the right not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatments are absolute and inviolable rights, which cannot be left to the judgement and discretion of States;

8. Affirms that the right to life and the right to health imply the right to live in an environment protected from pollution, and involve answerability to present and future generations; calls to this end for damage to the environment to be penalised by applying the principle that 'the polluter pays';

9. Calls on Member States which have not yet done so to sign and/or ratify the Second Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

10. Stresses that European Union accession is out of the question for states which do not respect fundamental human rights, and calls on the Commission and Council to lay particular stress on the rights of minorities (ethnic, linguistic, religious, homosexual etc.) at the time of enlargement negotiations;

Access to care

11. Considers that the right to life implies the right to care, which should be granted to all individuals, irrespective of their situation, state of health, age, sex, race, ethnic origin, religion and opinions;

12. Believes that everyone should have the right to live his or her last days with dignity, calls for a ban on any active intervention intended to curtail the life of newborn babies, the disabled, the elderly and patients in a prolonged coma and calls on the Member States to give priority to setting up palliative care units, employing all available means to reduce suffering, so as to enable the dying to spend their last days with dignity and be spared pointless further treatment;

13. Fearful of the dangers of a new eugenics movement, opposes any moves to permit experiments which could result either directly or indirectly in the modification of heritable genetic characteristics (germ-line genetic engineering) or in the production of genetically-enhanced human beings or human research models by cloning or other equivalent techniques;

Right to safety - the rule of law and the fight against terrorism

14. Considers it vitally important that persons resident in the European Union should be able to live without fearing for their personal safety, the safety of their families and that of their possessions;

15. Condemns murders, kidnappings, extortion of money and acts of violence and physical and psychological torture perpetrated by terrorist organisations; believes that no political reasons or claims can justify terrorist acts, and that terrorism must be resolutely combated; further believes that no State or representative thereof is entitled to use murder, torture or cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment as a means to oppress its own people; urges the Member States to continue to collaborate closely in the fight against terrorism by stepping up cooperation between European courts and police forces; believes that any response to violations of human rights must, however resolute, go hand-in-hand with scrupulous respect for the standards required by the rule of law and that, in particular, the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial and the rights of defendants must be guaranteed;

Judicial procedures

16. Recalls that the European Court of Human Rights has on several occasions sentenced Member States to restore the rights of citizens unfairly dealt with by the judicial system, in particular as a result of the slowness of proceedings and the violation of the rights of the defence; calls therefore on the States concerned to remedy dysfunctions in their judicial systems and, in particular, to ensure that proceedings are concluded in reasonable time, as advocated by the ECHR, and to incorporate this principle into their legal systems; calls on the Member States to examine ways of speeding up legal procedures, and to restrict to a minimum the use of detention on remand, which should be applied only in exceptional cases;

17. Observes that detention on remand actually involves not only anticipating the result of a possible sentence and the causing of undeniable personal prejudice, but also sacrifices the basic right to the presumption of innocence; as a result, it is only legitimate when it is absolutely necessary, well-founded and appropriate to the objective of providing pre-emptive protection of the interests, rights and values covered by substantive criminal provisions;

18. Firmly reiterates its support for the general principle that those subject to criminal proceedings are free and in full possession of their rights;

19. Stresses the particular importance, amongst the various general principles of law which underpin the Member States' legal systems, of the principle of the independence of the judiciary, the principle of 'non bis in idem' and the principle of presumption of innocence, whereby it is not the accused who has to prove his innocence, but the courts which have to prove his guilt;

20. Calls on the Member States to take all possible measures to restore the balance between the prosecution and the defence in court proceedings, and to ensure that the means of action available to both parties are equal in range and quality;

Civil and political rights

21. Deplores the fact that not all the Member States have yet incorporated into their national legislation Council Directive 94/80/EC laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals ((OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 38.)); stresses the importance of this political right as a means of achieving the social integration of citizens of the Union residing in another Member State, and calls on the Member States which have not yet done so to take the appropriate steps as soon as possible;

22. Calls furthermore on the Member States to adjust their legislation as soon as possible in order to extend the right to vote in local elections to non-Community immigrants who have legally lived on their territory for more than five years;

Respect for private life

23. Stresses that the right to respect for one's private and family life, residence and correspondence, and the protection of personal data are fundamental rights which States are required to uphold and that any optical, acoustic or computer surveillance measures must therefore be subject to the strictest possible respect for such rights and without exception go hand in hand with legal guarantees;

24. Stresses that databanks such as the SIS, EIS, CIS and the Europol databanks are subject to respect for private life and the principle of equality of treatment and non-discrimination;

25. Calls on the Member States to establish rapid and flexible ways of exercising the right of reply in the event of the unjustified divulgence of personal information or the making of defamatory allegations by the press;

26. Considers that the right to freedom from discrimination (in health care, insurance, employment or otherwise) on the grounds of an individual's genetic inheritance or predisposition is paramount and that an individual's genetic data should only be transmitted to a third party with the prior, informed and written consent of that individual or his legal representative;

Freedom of expression and other freedoms

27. Reaffirms that freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of association are among the basic rights of EU citizens;

28. Recalls nonetheless that freedom of expression is bounded by respect for the law, and particularly for anti-racist legislation;

29. Stresses that the European Commission of Human Rights believes that negationism contravenes the fundamental principles of the Convention, particularly the principles of justice and peace, and provides support for racial and religious discrimination; believes therefore that restrictions imposed by the Member States on the voicing of negationist theories are measures required by the demands of public safety and the protection of law and order and the rights and freedoms of others;

30. Strongly condemns moves to reduce freedom of the press and the pressure and even threats to which journalists are sometimes subjected;

Religious freedom

31. Condemns all violations of the right to freedom of religious belief, and calls for persons holding minority religious beliefs to be allowed to practise their religion free from discrimination;

32. Calls on the Member States to take the measures required to combat, with full respect for the principles of the rule of law, the attacks on personal rights perpetrated by certain sects which should be denied the status of religious or cultural organisations under which they enjoy tax benefits and a degree of legal protection;

33. Calls on all the Member States to comply with the Council of Europe recommendation and UN Human Rights Commission Resolution 1993-84 by fully recognising conscientious objection and the possibility of carrying out an alternative civilian service whose demands are comparable to those of military service;

34. Welcomes the fact that Greece has passed a law recognising the right to conscientious objection; trusts, however, that all provisions governing the new civilian service which are punitive in nature will be amended, and that conscientious objectors experiencing particular hardship will be exempt from service; calls for the release of conscientious objectors being held in custody; calls on Greece to take similar steps to remove all references to religion from personal identity cards, as this represents a violation of personal privacy and may lead to discrimination;

Economic and social rights

35. Recalls the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which recognises economic and social rights as basic human rights under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights;

36. Welcomes the fact that the United Kingdom has finally accepted the 1989 Charter of Social Rights;

37. Believes that economic, social, trade union and cultural rights need to be respected and recognised as having the status of basic rights, particularly the right to work, housing, education, social protection and culture;

38. Considers that poverty and exclusion are unworthy of democratic and prosperous societies; considers it unacceptable that more than 50 million people are living below the poverty line in the European Union and that many of them enjoy no social protection whatever;

39. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to make the campaign against social exclusion and poverty a political priority;

40. Deplores the Council's failure to adopt the programme of measures to combat poverty and reiterates its request that the Council adopt the programme rapidly;

41. Calls on the Member States to adopt and implement, in close collaboration with humanitarian organisations, laws to prevent and combat exclusion, particularly access to the labour market, health care, social security, housing, education and the courts;

42. Stresses that one of the hallmarks of European society is the principle of protecting the elderly; supports their right to fair and adequate pensions and social security benefits;

43. Stresses that freedom of assembly, as provided in Article 11 of the ECHR, protects the right of citizens to defend their interests collectively and to join trade unions democratically set up in their place of work; condemns infringements of trade union rights, discrimination against trade union representatives, and attacks on the right to strike in the private and public sectors; calls for adequate protection of trade union representatives from any kind of discrimination;

44. Voices its concern at the increase in violence in the workplace in several Member States, revealed by an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report which states that the violence in question ranges from scuffles and ragging to sexual harassment and physical aggression; endorses the findings of the report by the European Foundation for Improving Working Conditions that violence in the workplace affects those in precarious employment above all; calls on the Member States to implement forthwith the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, particularly as regards hard labour, freedom of association and the right to strike, all of which are covered by the European Social Charter;

45. Voices its disgust at the conditions of semi-slavery in which a not inconsiderable number of domestic servants, frequently of foreign origin, are kept by employers - who sometimes enjoy diplomatic immunity - who exploit their economic dependence and their social vulnerability;

Cultural rights

46. Considers that culture should be given a more important role in relation to job creation by including it in development strategies and not limiting it to the preservation of heritage but linking it to all forms of investments in artistic and audiovisual creation;

47. Calls on the Member States to recognise and promote their regional languages, especially through education and the media, by signing and ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;

48. Condemns all forms of cultural censorship and any attack on freedom of expression and creation;

49. Considers that the principle of transparency, which means access for citizens to all kind of information except personal data and information related to national security, is an excellent instrument for promoting democracy and combating fraud, and considers that this principle should be officially recognized within the EU and the Member States;

50. Condemns in particular the way in which certain local or regional government leaders censure cultural activities and certain libraries, either directly or by withholding funds;

Fighting discrimination - women's rights - rights of the child - protecting the family

51. Welcomes the fact that the draft Treaty of Amsterdam includes provisions (Articles 12 and 13) making it possible to combat all forms of discrimination based on sex, race, nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion or belief, or sexual orientation;

52. Welcomes the fact that certain Member States, alongside their legislation on civil or religious marriage, have introduced legislative provisions for relationships between individuals who wish to establish a personal link recognised in law;

53. Calls on those Member States which have not yet done so to eliminate all discrimination against homosexuals; calls on Austria, Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom in particular to abolish the difference in the age of consent for homosexuals and heterosexuals;

54. Calls once again for the elimination of all unfair treatment of homosexuals and lesbians, particularly as regards the age of consent, civil rights, the right to work, social and economic rights, etc.;

55. Recalls that the 1993 Vienna Conference and the 1995 Beijing Conference stressed that women's rights constitute an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of human rights, and deplores the fact that much still remains to be done within the European Union to ensure that principles such as non-discrimination on grounds of gender are fully implemented;

56. Notes that women are still victims of discrimination, particularly in terms of pay, and still do not enjoy genuinely equal treatment;

57. Calls on the Member States to combat all forms of unequal treatment between men and women and to provide positive identification models for women;

58. Calls on the Member States to take the necessary measures to improve equal treatment and equal opportunities for women and to ensure that they are allowed effective and equal involvement in public life and decision-making processes in all areas; reiterates its conviction that positive action is essential if this is to be achieved;

59. Deplores the fact that certain Member States forbid and limit favourable information concerning voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP); condemns the attitude of the anti-VTP groups rampant in certain Member States such as France, and calls for activities of these groups to be severely punished, for the right of access to information on VTP to be guaranteed, and for the role of associations in this area to be recognised;

60. Calls again on the Commission and the Member States to support the proposal that 1999 be designated 'European Year to Stop Violence Against Women';

61. Condemns the practice of female sexual mutilation; calls on the Community institutions and the Member States, in collaboration with the countries concerned, to support information campaigns and educational activities designed to put an end to this practice;

62. Considers that the Member States should refuse to establish and apply bilateral agreements with countries which permit violations of fundamental rights, particularly those of women and children; recalls in this connection the existence in all agreements with third countries of a conditionality clause referring to human rights, and calls for its enforcement;

63. Reaffirms that the rights of the child are human rights and calls on the Member States to endeavour to implement the aims of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child; calls on the Commission to integrate the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into its work by assessing all draft European Union legislation, policy and programmes for their impact on children, using the aforesaid Convention on the rights of the child as a basis for assessment;

64. Deplores the fact that, despite the adoption of a specific directive, children are still made to work in certain Member States, and calls for the ban on child labour to be respected throughout the European Union without delay;

65. Welcomes the measures taken at national and Community levels to combat trafficking in children, child prostitution and child pornography, whether the pornography is carried out directly or through new technologies;

66. Encourages all the Member States to take legislative measures on extra-territoriality in order to prosecute within their territory those responsible for acts of sexual abuse committed against children in a third country;

67. Reiterates its appeal to the Member States to step up measures to prevent and eliminate gross negligence with regard to children, whether such negligence is the responsibility of private bodies or - even more so - of establishments under the direct or indirect responsibility of central or local government;

68. Calls on the Member States to apply in its entirety the joint action adopted on 24 February 1997 on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union concerning action to combat trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children ((OJ L 63, 4.3.1997, p. 2.)) and to implement in full the commitments made in the statement issued by the Ministerial Conference of 24, 25 and 26 April 1997 in the Hague on the fight against trafficking in women;

69. Believes that the family must be protected, as the setting most likely to foster the full and harmonious development of the child and considers that children, whatever their nationality, have a permanent right to a family, which constitutes the natural environment for their growth and well-being, as stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; calls on the Member States to ensure that, with regard to the right of custody where the parents are separated, children will no longer be the focus of interminable legal wrangles;

70. Calls on those Member States which have not yet done so to make it possible for single persons to adopt children who have been unable to find a place within a family;

71. Notes that disabled people are still discriminated against in their day to day lives and at work; calls therefore on the Member States to adopt measures to improve their situation, especially with regard to employment and integration into working life;

72. Calls on the Member States to recognise the specific situation of nomad minorities and to respect their culture, guarantee their protection, refrain from all forms of discrimination and combat any prejudices against them; calls for the legal obligation to provide suitable reception points for these population groups to be respected (or established);

73. Recalls that no one should be subject to prejudice or discrimination as a result of belonging to a national, linguistic, religious or ethnic minority, or because of his or her sex, or because of his or her political, religious or philosophical opinions or sexual orientation, provided that the latter neither involve nor encourage violations of human rights, and of the rights of women and children in particular;

Conditions of detention - rehabilitation

74. Deplores the fact that in the European Union, cases can occur of torture, rape and inhuman cruel and degrading treatment inflicted by the police or prison personnel on persons under arrest or held in custody, particularly when they are being held under 'forty-eight hour arrest' (garde à vue); stresses the racist nature of many of these acts;

75. Recalls and regrets that crimes of this kind have led to several European Union Member States being cited in Amnesty International's annual report;

76. Notes and protests against the fact that members of the forces of law and order responsible for such acts are rarely prosecuted or else receive light sentences; calls on the Member States to take more decisive action in this area so that no act of this kind goes unpunished;

77. Calls on the Member States to set up a 'high authority' independent of the public authorities, and to which citizens may appeal directly, with the remit of ensuring that ethical rules of conduct are observed by all those forces of law and order in whose hands citizens may find themselves;

78. Recalls that prison sentences are intended both to be corrective measures and to have a social rehabilitation function, and that in this sense, what is sought is the human and social reintegration of the prisoner; calls on the Member States to abolish 'double sentencing' which is unjust and discriminatory; stresses that the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights rejects the practice of expelling individuals who have all their family ties in their host country and none in their country of origin;

79. Stresses the importance of respecting the rights of victims and of ensuring that the wrongs done to them are made good, and trusts that legislative action to this end will be undertaken by the Member States;

80. Deplores and voices its concern at the deterioration of living conditions in prisons in many Member States, as highlighted by reports by International Prison Watch (Observatoire international des prisons), above all as a result of overcrowding, the indiscriminate mixing of those being held awaiting trial and those who have already been sentenced, and the fact that prisons frequently fail to provide work and educational, cultural and sporting activities essential to ensuring that prisoners are genuinely and properly prepared for their return to civilian life;

81. Calls once again on the Member States to ensure that under-age offenders are rehabilitated and educated rather than imprisoned, that the penal system is tailored to the needs of these offenders, and that children under 16 are never simply incorporated into the normal penal system;

82. Asks that the specific situation of certain groups of particularly vulnerable prisoners be taken into account, namely minors, women, immigrants, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and persons suffering from illnesses; urges the Member States to adopt measures to ensure that these prisoners receive individual treatment, taking each of their special situations into account;

83. Calls on the Member States to make the fullest possible use of alternatives to short-term imprisonment, while remaining fully alert to the need to protect society from dangerous criminals, and to promote particularly those alternatives which have already proved their effectiveness in certain Member States, such as community service or the wearing of electronic tagging devices;

84. Calls on the Member States to put in hand fresh legislation so that drug addiction, the spread of infectious diseases (AIDS, hepatitis, etc.) and organised crime can be combated more effectively;

Fighting racism and xenophobia

85. Repeats its condemnation of all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism and racist violence, and of the racial discrimination which is unfortunately still all too frequent in certain Member States, particularly as regards access to employment and the question of housing;

86. Voices its concern at the way in which discrimination is developing within the labour market on the basis of workers' origins, resulting in discrimination at the hiring stage and when assigning tasks, and in the blocking of promotion and salaries; further voices its concern at the intolerable behaviour of certain public services as regards the reception given to foreigners on account of their origins;

87. Calls on those Member States which have not already done so to ratify the UN Convention on Torture and to recognise the UN Committee on Torture as being competent to receive and examine individual complaints;

88. Voices its concern at the rise in the number of extreme right wing offences, particularly in Germany, where - according to the BKA (German Criminal Investigation Department) - such offences have increased dramatically;

89. Welcomes the inclusion of anti-discrimination clauses in Community documents, particularly the Amsterdam Treaty; the decision to make 1997 the European Year Against Racism and the setting up of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna; believes, nonetheless, that much remains to be done, both at national and Community level, to prevent and fight racism;

90. Calls on those Member States which have no specific anti-discrimination legislation to adopt such legislation with all due dispatch, and on those whose present legislation in this area is less than effective to revise their procedures;

91. Calls on the Member States to adopt or reinforce their laws against racism by founding them squarely on the principle that 'racism is a crime', which applies equally to acts, statements or the spreading of messages;

92. Stresses the need, particularly within the educational system and the media, for ongoing information and educational campaigns against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and in favour of tolerance, and to publicise the positive contribution made by foreigners to Europe's economy and to European culture;

93. Condemns once again all policies which encourage racism and xenophobia, and demands that political parties remove any kind of racist propaganda from their programmes;

94. With the 1999 European elections in mind, calls on the Member States' political parties to adopt and abide by the European Political Parties' Charter for a Non-Racist Society; calls on the Member States to supplement anti-racist laws by measures designed to disqualify from office any political leader or elected representative who makes racist or anti-Semitic comments; instructs its Committee on the Rules of Procedure, the Verification of Credentials and Immunities to establish penalties to be imposed on MEPs who make racist remarks;

95. Calls on Member States to put in hand programmes designed to train the police, those working in the courts, prison staff and social workers as to how they should conduct themselves with regard to the cultural particularities of persons of foreign origin or who belong to ethnic minorities;

96. Recognises that rules relating to nationality are a matter for the Member States and emphasises that the exercise of civil rights must be linked to the acquisition of nationality;

Immigration and asylum

97 Calls on the Commission and the Council to open the procedure for the adoption of a uniform immigration law within the European Union;

98. Calls on all the Member States rigorously to apply the 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees, and its 1967 protocol, the principles set out by the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the provisions of the ECHR on the right of asylum;

99. Points out that the Geneva Convention makes no distinction between victims of persecution, whether perpetrated by state institutions or other bodies;

100. Expresses its concern at the growing number of asylum seekers rejected despite Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, whose return to their country of origin, where their safety cannot be guaranteed, would clearly place them in danger; calls on the Council to adopt a specific instrument which will provide them with adequate protection;

101. Calls therefore for the adoption of supplementary legal instruments for subsidiary forms of protection such as temporary protection for the reception of refugees in cases of mass influx;

102. Condemns the all too often deplorable conditions in which applicants for asylum find themselves held in waiting areas and holding centres; deplores the fact that these centres are frequently 'rights-free zones', and calls for an end to this situation;

103. Demands that asylum seekers, independent of their status as a wife or husband, be granted entitlement in their own right;

104. Notes the growing number of requests for asylum made by single children, whose parents are either dead or under sentence in their country of origin; calls once again on the Member States to examine the grounds on which under-age asylum seekers have fled their countries of origin, under a special procedure appropriate to the age of those concerned; calls on the Member States to grant them full-blown residential status, provide appropriate reception facilities and qualified staff to provide the necessary support, and make family reunification possible for them independently of their recognition as being entitled to asylum;

105. Notes the measures taken in many Member States to regularise the position of those without identity papers;

106. Denounces the violations of the rights of individuals committed when rejected asylum seekers or illegal immigrants are being expelled;

107. Calls for emphatic action to be taken against the callous criminal organisations which traffic in human beings so that the people involved do not die a gruesome death in overcrowded container lorries or unseaworthy vessels when they attempt to find refuge on the territory of the European Union;

108. Calls on the Member States to take more effective and ruthless action against international criminal organisations which smuggle illegal workers and against networks which organise illegal working; points out that there must be respect for the human rights of the illegal workers themselves, who are the prime victims - shamelessly robbed and exploited - of these traffickers;

109. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.