European Parliament resolution on Bangladesh
Date: 2005-04-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Bangladesh, EU relations, cooperation agreement (EU), human rights, political situation, protection of minorities, public safety, religious discrimination, religious fundamentalism, terrorism

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Thursday 14 April 2005

Believes that any definition of cultural

17.
industries in the Convention should include not only the
production but also the creation, publication, promotion, distribution, exhibition, provision, sale, collection,
storage and preservation of cultural goods and services;

Believes that the Convention should recognise the importance of both direct and indirect public

18.
financial aid and that States Parties may determine the nature, amount and beneficiaries of such aid;

19.
Believes that States should retain the right to organise, fund and define the remit of public service
institutions devoted to safeguarding cultural diversity and media pluralism, notably that of public service
broadcasters, in order to ensure their democratic and social relevance for their societies, and that this must
also apply in the digital knowledge age;

Believes, therefore, that the Convention must protect the rights of States Parties to extend their
20.
cultural policies to new media content and new means of distribution and that the principle of technologi-
cal neutrality must be explicitly mentioned in the Convention;

21. Welcomes the proposal for a Cultural Diversity Observatory within Unesco, which must operate in
collaboration with the professional organisations;

22.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States and of the accession countries, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic
and Social Committee, the Council of Europe and Unesco.

P6_TA(2005)0136

Bangladesh

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Bangladesh

— having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the People's

Republic of Bangladesh on partnership and development (1),

— having regard to the mounting criticism of numerous and worsening abuses of human rights by
official forces and fundamentalist religious organisations expressed by the Economic and Social Coun-
cil of the United Nations in February 2005 (E/CN.4/2005/NGO/32), the US Department of State also
in February 2005 (Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bangladesh 2004) and Amnesty
International (for example, Urgent Action 061/2005),

— having regard to the Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on the attack in Habiganj,

Bangladesh, on 29 January 2005,

— having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

B.

concerned about repeated bomb attacks on key opposition politicians, minority religious groups, jour-
nalists and NGO representatives, in particular about the two recent grenade attacks where two promi-
nent opposition politicians were targeted — Sheikh Hasina, Head of the Awami League and former
Prime Minister, on 21 August 2004, and Shah Mohammad Kibria,
former Finance Minister, on
27 January 2005, who was assassinated,

concerned about recent political developments in Bangladesh, where the risk of fundamentalism seems
to be growing and where poor governance, corruption and nepotism have severely undermined the
rule of law, including safeguards in the constitution to protect fundamental rights in Bangladesh,

(1) OJ L 118, 27.4.2001, p. 48.

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C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

concerned that the Government of Bangladesh had limited success in curtailing outbreaks of violence
and that threats from extremist groups are continuing; noting that paramilitary groups are continuing
to operate in the countryside with the support — in some cases — of local authorities,

concerned to note that religious minorities, including Hindus, but also moderate Muslim groups as
well as women's rights organisations, have fallen victim to a number of violent attacks and intimi-
dation in recent years,

recognising that the ensuing climate of fear has been created by the misuse of power on the part of
Muslim fundamentalist parties in government,

whereas, while Bangladesh has made some progress in socio-economic sectors including health, sani-
tation, education, empowerment of women, family planning and self-sufficiency of food, it has lagged
behind in improving the overall governance issues and promotion of human rights, which, if imple-
mented, could further boost socio-economic progress for its people,

concerned about the failure of the Government of Bangladesh so far to bring to justice those who
perpetrate these attacks and about the general deterioration in law and order in Bangladesh over the
last year; noting, however, that on 22 February 2005 the Government of Bangladesh banned the
activities and froze the assets of two Muslim criminal organisations,

emphasising that the EC-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement is based on respect for human rights and
democratic principles, and that the violation of Article 1 is a breach capable of threatening the con-
tinuation of the Agreement,

whereas the Commission must ensure that the human rights situation in Bangladesh is monitored and
that Parliament is kept informed of it,

emphasising that Bangladesh has obligations under international
law as a State Party to both the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Tor-
ture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but has yet not passed any
enabling legislation,

1.
Condemns the repeated bomb attacks and urges the Government of Bangladesh to ensure that inter-
national investigators assisting Bangladesh's intelligence forces will have full access to all evidence regarding
the attacks in accordance with the government's own promises, and urges the Government of Bangladesh to
publish the investigation report in full;

2.
Urges the Government of Bangladesh to respect the instructions given by its High Court to avoid
abuse of legal instruments in detaining opposition demonstrators and to refrain from repressing peaceful
political protests through means of detention and torture;

3.
Urges the Government of Bangladesh, in particular, to put an end to the anti-crime operations by the
paramilitary forces RAB (Rapid Action Battalion), which come down to extrajudicial killings; points out that
the reputed human rights organisation Odhikar has stated that there were 90 publicly reported custodial
deaths due to torture in 2004;

Encourages the Government of Bangladesh to enable the population to participate in traditional cul-
4.
tural events and to provide security measures in order that these events, which reflect a tradition of toler-
ance and secularism, can take place safely;

Urges the Government of Bangladesh to take preventive steps against Muslim paramilitary groups,

5.
which have spread violence and intimidation in rural areas of Bangladesh;

Reiterates its support for the demand that those known to have participated in the massacre of Bang-

6.
ladeshi citizens and other war crimes during the Bangladeshi liberation war of 1971 be brought to trial;

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7.
Considers that, with a view to the parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2006/early 2007, systemic
reforms are necessary in order to re-establish the principles of good governance, so that the election com-
mission and the caretaker government can operate independently;

Considers that a coordinated approach by all donors worldwide will be necessary to support such

8.
reforms;

9.
Calls on all sides to refrain from undemocratic practices and to enter into an all-party dialogue
through full participation in the democratic process in parliament; calls, in particular, on the opposition
parties to end the boycott of parliamentary activity, since agitation and violence cause suffering to the
people of Bangladesh;

Expresses its support for the principled steps which EU representatives have taken during the last
10.
year in defence of the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, such as their physical presence at a
complex of
in October 2004, when fundamentalists had prepared to stage
a mass assault on the complex;

the Ahmadiyya Muslims,

11.
Calls on the Council to review the application of the human rights and democracy clause of the
EC-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement and to ascertain whether the Government of Bangladesh is making
sufficiently strong efforts to fundamentally improve the human rights situation;

12.
Notes recent modest steps taken by the Government of Bangladesh to improve the political situation
in the country, will encourage the Government of Bangladesh to establish a situation respectful of law and
order and will support any substantial progress on issues like good governance, freedom of press, the fight
against corruption and respect for human rights;

13.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council, the Council, the Commis-
sion, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries, the Secretary-General
of the United Nations and the Government of Bangladesh.

P6_TA(2005)0137

Humanitarian assistance to refugees from Western Sahara

European Parliament resolution on humanitarian aid to Sahrawi refugees

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolution of 16 March 2000 on Western Sahara (1), in which it ‘asks the Com-
mission to step up humanitarian aid to the Sahrawi refugees and more especially calls on it to increase
humanitarian aid to the Sahrawi people, particularly in the areas of food, health and education’,

— having regard to its resolution of 23 October 2003 on the draft general budget of the European
Union for the financial year 2004, Section III: Commission (2), which calls on the Commission to
provide guarantees of substantial, uninterrupted humanitarian aid for Sahrawi refugees,

— having regard to UN Secretary-General's Reports of 20 October 2004 on the possible reduction of
Minurso staff, including civilian and administrative personnel (S/2004/827) and of 27 January 2005
on the situation concerning Western Sahara (S/2005/49) calling on the international community to
continue its humanitarian aid to the Sahrawi refugees until the conflict in Western Sahara has been
resolved,

(1) OJ C 377, 29.12.2000, p. 354.
(2) OJ C 82 E, 1.4.2004, p. 457.