P6_TA(2004)0012

Humanitarian situation in Sudan

European Parliament resolution on the Darfur region in the Sudan

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 [1],

- having regard to the Constitution of the Republic of the Sudan adopted on 30 June 1998,

- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted on 16 December 1966, ratified by the Republic of the Sudan on 18 June 1986,

- having regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted on 16 December 1966, ratified by the Republic of the Sudan on 18 June 1986,

- having regard to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted on 20 November 1989, ratified by the Republic of the Sudan on 2 September 1990,

- having regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted on 21 December 1965, ratified by the Republic of the Sudan on 20 April 1977,

- having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights adopted on 27 June 1981 and ratified by the Republic of the Sudan on 18 February 1986,

- having regard to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted on 9 December 1948,

- having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on 12 September 2003,

- having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 1547 (2004), adopted on 11 June 2004, and 1556 (2004), adopted on 30 July 2004, on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan, and to Resolution 1502 (2003) of 26 August 2003 on the protection of United Nations personnel, associated personnel and humanitarian personnel in conflict zones,

- having regard to the Darfur Plan of Action agreed between the UN and the Government of the Sudan on 5 August 2004,

- having regard to the report of the UN Secretary-General of 1 September 2004,

- having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 131/2004 of 26 January 2004 concerning certain restrictive measures in respect of Sudan [2],

- having regard to the Protocol between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) of 26 May 2004,

- having regard to the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement signed in N'djamena in Chad on 8 April 2004 and the Agreement on the Modalities for the establishment of the Ceasefire Commission and the Deployment of Observers in the Darfur, agreed in Addis Ababa on 28 May 2004, under the auspices of the African Union,

- having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas it sent a delegation to Khartoum and the region of Darfur in the Sudan, as well as to Abéché in Chad, from 2 to 7 September 2004,

B. whereas the region of Darfur has suffered persistent underdevelopment and economic and political marginalisation,

C. whereas in February 2003 a rebellion, led by the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), began in Darfur against the government and, as a counter-measure, the government started to arm civilians from certain nomadic tribes and to use air strikes; whereas fighting, including attacks on civilians and indiscriminate bombing, resulted in at least 30000 killings, more than one million internally displaced people (IDP) within the Sudan and more than 200000 refugeesin Chad,

D. whereas there have been claims that the Eritrean Government has been helping to train and arm the SLA and JEM,

E. whereas, despite the ceasefire signed on 8 April 2004, the Government of the Sudan continued to support militias and so-called "Popular Defence Forces" despite their killing of civilians, the use of sexual violence against women, looting and general harassment,

F. whereas government forces continued to use aircraft such as rocket helicopters and Antonov or MIG planes, in breach of the ceasefire agreement, to support the militias fighting on the ground and to terrorise civilians in villages and IDP camps by flying at low altitude and even shooting; whereas its delegation was able to see the results of two recent impacts of helicopter rockets on the ground close to the village of Gallab, North Darfur, in an SLA-controlled area,

G. whereas the refugees and IDPs its delegation met in Chad said that they all belonged to non-Arab tribes, an observation confirmed by reports of INGOs working on the ground,

H. whereas, under Article II of the Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group,

I. whereas the Government of the Sudan justifies new movement and increased deployment of troops by claiming that the UN action plan allows it to create "safe areas", but these troop movements are in fact a breach of the Ceasefire Agreement,

J. whereas the Government of the Sudan has recently imported MIG air planes and is maintaining inordinately high military expenditure, to the detriment of investment in social services and humanitarian aid,

K. whereas it emerged from the meetings between its delegation and the Ceasefire Commission that a substantial increase in ceasefire observers is needed rather than an increase in the observers' military protectors,

L. whereas the EU has mobilised financial resources for humanitarian assistance, the political process and the observer mission in Darfur to a total of EUR 287,8 million: EUR 107 million from Community funds and EUR 180,8 million in bilateral contributions provided by the Member States,

M. whereas the African Union has played a very positive role in trying to put an end to the conflict, and obtaining a ceasefire agreement and an agreement on humanitarian issues, still to be signed,

N. whereas although access for aid in Government-controlled areas is generally improving, notably through the easing of a number of administrative obstacles, a high percentage of the population in Darfur, especially in rebel-held areas, cannot be reached by humanitarian workers because of absence of security, lack of guarantees, lack of logistic capacity and heavy rains,

O. whereas the refugees and IDPs met by its delegation in Chad mistrust the Sudanese authorities and are afraid to return as long as their security is not guaranteed,

P. whereas traditional mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts between tribes are not appropriate in the context of the atrocities which have been committed in Darfur,

Q. whereas traditional native mechanisms are no longer in place as they once used to be, which prevents conflict resolution from taking place, because the Government of the Sudan has replaced these mechanisms with its own rule,

R. whereas procedures devised by the Government of the Sudan for women who are victims of sexual violence in Darfur are inadequate,

1. Condemns the Government of the Sudan for its deliberate support in Darfur of the targeting of civilians from certain communities - in villages and also later in centres for displaced persons - which includes killings, the use of sexual violence against women, looting and general harassment;

2. Considers that the governance of the Sudan has, for decades, been characterised by persistent mismanagement, by underdevelopment and by the economic and political marginalisation of certain communities and regions and that this situation is at the root of the conflict in Darfur, as is the undemocratic nature of the present regime;

3. Calls for a political solution rather that a military one as the only way to put an end to the conflict;

4. Calls therefore on the Government of the Sudan, the SLM/A and the JEM to engage more actively in the Abuja (Nigeria) peace process under the auspices of the African Union, and to respect strictly the Ceasefire Agreement;

5. Draws attention to the political importance of the Naivasha (Kenya) peace process between the Government of the Sudan and the SPLM/A in bringing to an end one of the longest-running conflicts in Africa, which has claimed almost two million lives and displaced four million people; urges the Government of the Sudan, therefore, to move to finalise this peace agreement on the basis of the substantial progress already made;

6. Calls for a coordination of the Abuja and Naivasha processes, leading eventually to a global and inclusive agreement, under the auspices of the international community, providing for democracy as well as sharing of power and resources throughout the Sudan;

7. Congratulates the Commission and Council on having been in the forefront of international action in facing up to the crisis in Darfur, especially in brokering the Ceasefire Agreement, participating in the AU-led ceasefire monitoring mission, providing humanitarian aid and developing a political process to resolve the conflict;

8. Stresses the need for the rapid disbursement of the EU funding for the humanitarian assistance operation and for the African Union;

9. Welcomes the appointment of a Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Sudan to monitor the situation in Darfur, as called for in Parliament's resolution of 31 March 2004 on the Sudan [3];

10. Asks the UN and the African Union to coordinate their plans better in order to avoid a situation where the establishment of so called "safe areas" under the UN action plan could allow movements of Government troops, thus jeopardising the Ceasefire Agreement; and believes that any movement of troops is in any case to be considered as a breach of the Ceasefire Agreement;

11. Calls on the UN to ensure that, when any future plans or measures for Darfur are drawn up, all parties to the conflict are consulted, including the SLA/M and JEM, and also to ensure consultation and coordination with the Ceasefire Commission;

12. Calls for a substantial increase in the number of ceasefire observers as a first step towards enhancing the monitoring capacity of the AU Ceasefire Commission;

13. Calls on the Council and Commission to reinforce the military and civilian staff of the African Union in Addis Ababa — including the recruitment and training of planning officers and the improvement of the chain of command — and its liaison office in Khartoum;

14. Calls on the Government of the Sudan to ground all military aircraft in Darfur immediately;

15. Calls upon the Government of the Sudan to immediately release all prisoners of conscience, including those opposition members and human rights activists who were identified in a letter the European Parliament delegation handed to the Minister of the Interior;

16. Urges the Sudanese authorities to end impunity and to bring to justice immediately the planners and perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights violations, which can be construed as tantamount to genocide; considers that, should the Sudan fail to exercise its sovereign jurisdiction, the international community will have to find a way of ensuring they are brought to justice, including those responsible in the present Sudanese regime; calls on the Council and the Member States to request the United Nations Security Council to exercise its referral powers pursuant to Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

17. Calls on the Government of the Sudan to repeal Article 48 of the Criminal Law, to ensure that women who have been raped are able to receive treatment before or upon reporting of the incident and to ensure that every effort is made to train police in sexual and gender-based violence issues;

18. Calls on the UN Security Council to consider a global arms embargo on the Sudan and other targeted sanctions against those responsible for massive abuses of human rights and other atrocities and to ensure that any such sanctions do not add to the suffering of the population of Sudan;

19. Calls on the Government of the Sudan to agree to increase the number of human rights monitors from UNHCHR;

20. Calls on the Government of the Sudan to agree to the establishment of an international human rights commission which can independently assess the crimes committed in the Darfur region since April 2003;

21. Calls for consideration to be given to the establishment of an international police force to increase protection and security for civilians at risk and with a view to advising and supporting the Sudanese police and to restoring civilians' confidence and sense of security;

22. Asks the Government of the Sudan to further speed up its issuing of visas for humanitarian aid workers travelling to Khartoum and beyond;

23. Condemns the kidnapping and holding by the SLA of six aid workers from 28 August until 6 September and calls upon all armed groups in the region to stop targeting those involved in humanitarian work and to allow them to do their duty without fear of intimidation;

24. Welcomes the agreement between the UNHCR and the Chadian Government to deploy policemen around the refugee camps in Chad in order to ensure their security;

25. Calls on the EU Member States to coordinate their offers of support to the African Union rather than acting bilaterally in order to lessen the bureaucratic burden on the African Union at a time of such heavy pressure;

26. Calls on all parties involved in the conflict to refrain from the recruitment and use of child soldiers under the age of 18, and calls on the Sudanese authorities to protect displaced children, especially unaccompanied minors, as laid down in the relevant Conventions;

27. Urges the Government of Eritrea to refrain from providing any direct or indirect support to those involved in the conflict in Darfur;

28. Calls on the Governments of Chad, Libya and the Central African Republic to control the trade in small arms in the region more closely;

29. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of the Sudan, the African Union, the Governments of the EU Member States, the United States of America, Norway, Chad, Libya, Eritrea, Egypt and China, the UN Secretary-General, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the ACP Council.

[1] OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.

[2] OJ L 21, 28.1.2004, p. 1.

[3] P5_TA(2004)0225.

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