European Parliament resolution on the situation concerning human rights and democracy in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Date: 2004-04-22
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Pakistan, cooperation policy, democracy, foreign policy, human rights, political situation, the EU's international role

C 104 E/1040

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

30.4.2004

Thursday 22 April 2004

87.

Invites the Italian Parliament to:

(cid:1) accelerate its work on the reform of the audiovisual sector in accordance with the recommendations
of the Italian constitutional court and the President of the Republic, taking account of the provisions
in the Gasparri Bill which are incompatible with Community law, as noted by those authorities;

(cid:1) to find a genuine and appropriate solution to the problem of a conflict of interest of the President of
the Italian Council of Ministers who also directly controls the principal provider of private and, indi-
rectly, public television, the main advertising franchise holder and many other activities connected
with the audiovisual and media sector,

(cid:1) to take measures to ensure the independence of the public service broadcaster;

*

*

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Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Council of

88.
Europe and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the accession countries.

P5_TA(2004)0374

Situation in Pakistan

European Parliament resolution on the situation concerning human rights and democracy in the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commercial Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Commun-
ity and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan of 21 June 1976 (Council Regulation (EEC) No 1503/76) (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Agreement for Commercial, Economic and Development Cooperation between
the European Economic Community and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan of 22 April 1986 (Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1196/86) (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the Council Decision of 15 July 1996 whereby the Council authorised the Commis-
sion to open negotiations with Pakistan with the task of concluding a Cooperation Agreement
between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Partnership and Devel-
opment
(8108/1999 (cid:1)
COM(1998) 357 (cid:1) C5-0659/2001)) (3) and adopting directives to that end,

third Generation Cooperation Agreement

(also referred to as

the

(cid:1) having regard to the fact that, while the text was initialled on 22 April 1998, signature was repeatedly
postponed due to Pakistan conducting nuclear tests, human rights abuses, the Kargil fighting, and the
military take-over of 12 October 1999,

(cid:1) having regard to the fact that the Agreement was finally signed by President Musharraf, Council Presi-

dent Verhofstadt and Commission President Prodi in Islamabad on 24 November 2001,

(cid:1) having regard to Article 1 of this Agreement which stipulates that ‘respect for human rights and

democratic principles … constitutes an essential element of [the] Agreement’,

(cid:1) having regard to its numerous previous resolutions on human rights, in particular its resolutions of

25 April 2002 (4) and of 10 February 2004 (5),

(1) OJ L 168, 28.6.1976, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 108, 25.4.1986, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 17, 22.1.1999, p. 6.
(4) OJ C 131 E, 5.6.2003, p. 147.
(5) P5_TA(2004)0079.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(cid:1) having regard to the military coup of 1999, under the direction of General Pervez Musharraf, over-

throwing the democratically-elected government of Nawaz Sharif,

Thursday 22 April 2004

(cid:1) having regard to the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court that General Musharraf was to prepare
the country for a return to democracy within three years, in keeping with a roadmap for the restor-
ation of democracy,

(cid:1) having regard to the referendum held on 30 April 2002 aimed at reconfirming President General
Musharraf in power for a further five years, which was criticised as both unconstitutional and invol-
ving massive electoral malpractice,

(cid:1) having regard to the general election held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002, which was considered by

the EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to be seriously flawed,

(cid:1) having regard to Pakistan’s continuing exclusion from the decision-making councils of the Common-

wealth,

(cid:1) having regard to the positive outcome of the SAARC Summit held in Islamabad in January 2004,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 37(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas there are still a number of key issues regarding the extent to which Pakistan is respecting

democratic principles and human rights which give rise for concern,

B. whereas Parliament has strongly and consistently supported human rights clauses in trade and coop-
eration agreements and believes that the best way of exerting pressure on Pakistan to improve its
human rights record and to make much greater progress on restoring democracy is by maintaining
open lines of dialogue in every possible field,

C. whereas the European Union, under EC-Pakistan development cooperation, provides significant fund-
ing to Pakistan for poverty alleviation and social sector development; whereas there are a number of
sectoral agreements between the European Community and Pakistan; whereas the EU signed an agree-
ment contributing EUR 5 million to a Cooperation Programme on Trade-related Technical Assistance
for Pakistan during the February 2004 Troika visit to Islamabad,

D. whereas the third Generation Cooperation Agreement currently under discussion does not have any
direct financial implications, but would lend greater international endorsement to General Musharraf
for the steps he has taken and encourage further movement towards the restoration of democracy,

1.
Recognises the difficult decision taken by Pakistan to join the international community in its fight
against terrorism and the important role it is playing towards strengthening global security; notes the
decisive (cid:1) but domestically unpopular (cid:1) action taken by Pakistan recently against Al Qaeda and the
resurgent Taliban in Waziristan;

Notes the desire of the EU to deepen and broaden its relationship with Pakistan; believes this can best

2.
be assisted by Pakistan making progress in human rights and democracy;

3.
Draws attention to the 2002 general election process, which was widely judged to be flawed; is
concerned, too, by the outcome of the negotiations on the Legal Framework Order (LFO), which has
resulted in the Musharraf administration sidelining the main opposition parties and in transforming Pakis-
tan’s system of governance from a parliamentary to a presidential one, where the President has the power
to dismiss Parliament;

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4.
Regrets that the military continue to exert a strong influence within politics and government in
Pakistan, and is most concerned that the LFO-sanctioned establishment of a National Security Council
which, according to the 2003 US State Department Annual Report on Human Rights, will ‘legitimise the
role of the military in politics’, goes totally against the spirit of the roadmap for the restoration of democ-
racy, which was supposed to transfer power from a military rule to a civilian administration;

5.
Is extremely disturbed by the serious, recurrent human rights abuses in Pakistan, including the treat-
ment of women (‘honour’ killings and the Hudood Laws), child labour, the treatment of religious minorities
(including the Ahmadi community and the Christian minority, who have also suffered persecution under
the blasphemy laws) and journalists, and the consistent problems related to freedom of expression, of
assembly, and from arbitrary arrest; has, on a number of occasions, registered its protest at the detention
of Javed Hashmi, leader of the opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), on charges of
criticising the army; is horrified to learn that he has now been sentenced to 23 years in jail;

6.
Takes note of the steps taken to regulate the ‘madrassas’, or religious schools, but regrets the weak
implementation of this policy, the Musharraf government having publicly reassured the clergy that it will
not interfere in the internal affairs of the madrassas;

Notes that, while President Musharraf vowed to crack down on terrorism and the ‘jihad’ culture and,
7.
post-September 11 2001, banned many extremist groups, these have simply resurfaced under different
names and their leaders have not been prosecuted under the Anti-Terrorism Act;

8.
Draws attention to the serious concerns of the international community about Pakistan’s role in the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, with the allegations and evidence against Pakistan hardening day by day;
while acknowledging that President Musharraf has been right to insist upon a detailed investigation and
that he is right when he claims that the Khan ‘incident’ happened because of the secretive nature of
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, highlights the fact that President Musharraf (and the rest of the
world) should also recognise that nuclear proliferation happened because the nuclear programme was
under the (cid:1) totally unaccountable (cid:1) control of the army;

9.
Urgently requests further information from Pakistan regarding the nuclear test of 30 May 1998 in
Baluchistan which showed traces of plutonium and which is thought by some to have been a joint test for
a North Korean nuclear weapon;

10.
Acknowledges both the bold initiative taken by Pakistan to normalise relations with India, and the
correspondingly positive response of India; welcomes, therefore, the subsequent thaw in relations between
the two countries, making the prospects of resolving the Kashmir issue much better than they have been
for years;

Recalls that politically motivated trials and sentences cannot be accepted; in this context, demands

11.
the immediate release of opposition leader Javed Hashmi;

12.
Notes that Pakistan has made a number of moves towards addressing some of the above concerns;
stresses, however, that key concerns related to democracy, human rights, the position of women, children
and minorities, the right of free expression, the nuclear proliferation issue and the role of the military in
the controversy and in Pakistan’s political life in general, as well as the permissive attitude towards extrem-
ists must not be overlooked;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments

13.
of the Member States and the government of Pakistan.