European Parliament resolution on Iran
Date: 2005-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Iran, cooperation policy, human rights, judicial power, nuclear policy, political violence, torture

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/159

Thursday 13 January 2005

C. whereas 26 January marks the date on which Lobsang Dhondup was executed in 2003,

D. whereas the period of suspension of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's execution will expire on 26 January

2005,

E. whereas under Chinese law the death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if the accused

does not break the law again during the two-year suspension period,

F. whereas, at the request of the then European Council, the Council

is currently re-examining the

embargo on arms sales to China which was decided and implemented in 1989,

G. whereas the Chinese Government recently received representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,

Reiterates its support for the rule of law and urges the Chinese government immediately to commute

1.
the death sentence handed down to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche;

Affirms its call for the abolition of the death penalty and an immediate moratorium on capital pun-

2.
ishment in China;

3. Welcomes the statement by the Chinese authorities according to which anyone who is sentenced to
death with a suspension of execution and commits no crime of intent during the period of suspension shall
have their punishment commuted to life imprisonment on the expiration of the two-year period; calls on
the Chinese judicial authorities to put this statement into practice through an official ruling;

Calls once more on the Government of the People's Republic of China to stop its continued violation
4.
of the human rights of the Tibetan people and other minorities and to ensure that it respects international
standards of human rights and humanitarian law, as well as religious rights;

5.
Calls on the Council and the Member States to maintain the EU embargo on trade in arms with the
People's Republic of China and not to weaken the existing national limitations on such arms sales; considers
that this embargo should be maintained until such time as the EU has adopted a legally binding Code of
Conduct on Arms Exports and the People's Republic of China has taken concrete steps towards improving
the human rights situation, inter alia by ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and by fully respecting the rights of minorities;

6.
Calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China to step up the ongoing dialogue with the
representatives of the Dalai Lama so as to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibet issue without
further delay;

7.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary-
General, the Chinese Government, the Governor of Sichuan Province, and the Chief Prosecutor of the
Sichuan Provincial People's Procuratorate.

P6_TA(2005)0011

Torture in Iran

European Parliament resolution on Iran

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

— having regard to the EU-Iran human rights dialogue, and in particular the fourth round which took
place on 14/15 June 2004 in Tehran, at which the government of Iran expressed its commitment to
strengthening respect for human rights and the rule of law,

C 247 E/160

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.10.2005

Thursday 13 January 2005

— having regard to the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a
State Party,

— having regard to the recommendation by the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to
judges in December 2002 that they choose alternative punishment in cases where the sentence of
stoning would otherwise be imposed, and to his announcement in April 2004 of the ban on torture
and the subsequent passage of related legislation by the Iranian Parliament, which was approved by the
Guardian Council in May 2004,

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of 16/17 December 2004,

— having regard to its decision of 10 March 2004 (1) to set up an interparliamentary delegation for

relations with Iran,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas reports are multiplying of executions being carried out or death sentences being imposed with
juvenile

including sentences against

apparent disrespect
for internationally recognised safeguards,
offenders, pregnant women and mentally handicapped persons,

B. whereas the UN General Assembly Resolution of 20 December 2004 refers to the worsening situation
with regard to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the media, especially the increased
persecution for the peaceful expression of political views, including arbitrary arrest and detention with-
out charge or trial,

C. whereas reports speak of arbitrary arrests of journalists, cyberjournalists and webloggers, the blocking
of online publications and the threatening of those journalists who report on torture with lengthy
prison sentences by the Iranian judiciary, thus cracking down on the Iranian public's only remaining
means of access to uncensored information,

D. whereas the UN Special Rapporteur Ambeyi Ligabo found that the Iranian press law and penal code do
not conform to the permissible restrictions listed in Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights,

E. whereas Iran is still not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women, and its parliament recently rejected draft legislation on gender equality,

F. whereas the Council, on 13/14 December 2004, gave its support to a negotiating process for a long-
term EU-Iran arrangement, after having taken note of the International Atomic Energy Agency's con-
firmation of full suspension of all nuclear enrichment-related and reprocessing activities by Iran and
with the aim of resuming negotiations on a trade and cooperation agreement and the provision of
objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes;

1.
Reiterates its general opposition to the death penalty, and in particular strongly condemns the death
sentences against and/or the execution of juvenile offenders, pregnant women and mentally handicapped
persons;

Calls on the Iranian authorities to give evidence that they are implementing their declared moratorium
2.
on stoning, and demands the immediate implementation of the ban on torture as announced, passed by the
Iranian Parliament and approved by the Guardian Council;

Condemns the campaign by the judiciary against journalists, cyberjournalists and webloggers leading
3.
to the closure of publications, imprisonment, and, according to reports, widespread torture and forced false
confessions, and calls on the authorities to release all those detained, prosecuted or sentenced for non-viol-
ent press- and opinion-related offences;

(1) P5_TA(2004)0166.

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/161

Thursday 13 January 2005

4.
4 Calls on the Iranian Parliament to adapt the Iranian press law and penal code in the light of Iran's
obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and, notably, to repeal all crimi-
nal law provisions concerning the peaceful expression of opinion, including in the press;

Calls upon the authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards, inter alia with regard

5.
to persons belonging to religious minorities, officially recognised or otherwise;

6. Welcomes the stay of execution concerning Hajieh Esmailvand, and reports that Leyla Moafi's case has
been referred to forensic psychiatrists ‘to examine her mental condition’; insists, however, that their alleged
‘crimes’ are not internationally recognisable criminal offences and that their prosecution does not comply
with international human rights standards;

Insists that adult consensual sexual activity in private is covered by the concept of ‘privacy’ and calls

7.
for the immediate release of all persons held for such activity;

8. Welcomes and supports the EU-Iran negotiating process on nuclear issues, also as an occasion to
promote progress in the EU-Iran political and human rights dialogues and EU-Iran economic and trade
relations, and supports the Council in expecting action by Iran to address also other concerns of the EU,
such as ending its support for terrorist organisations, improving respect for human rights and altering its
approach to the Middle East peace process;

9.
Asks its Committees on Foreign Affairs and Civil Liberties to examine the way in which Parliament
may become involved in the process of regular updating of the Council Common Position No. 2001/931/
CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism (1), taking into
account developments from 2001 onwards,

Hopes that the setting-up of its interparliamentary delegation for relations with Iran will enable it to

10.
engage in productive discussions with the Iranian Parliament and also with Iranian civil society;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the CFSP High
Representative, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States, and the Government and Parlia-
ment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(1) OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 93.

P6_TA(2005)0012

Trafficking of women and children in Cambodia

European Parliament resolution on trafficking of women and children in Cambodia

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Cambodia, and in particular those of 13 March 2003 (1)

and 12 February 2004 (2),

— having regard to the cooperation agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of

Cambodia (3), which entered in force on 1 November 1999,

— having regard to the 2000-2003 EC-Cambodia Strategy Document and the 2005-2006 National Indi-

cative Programme,

— having regard to the statement made by the Local Presidency of the European Union on behalf of the
EU Heads of Missions in Phnom Penh on the attack on a shelter for victims of human trafficking
operated by the Association ‘Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire’ (Afesip),

(1) OJ C 61 E, 10.3.2004, p. 417.
(2) P5_TA(2004)0101.
(3) OJ L 269, 19.10.1999, p. 18.