European Parliament resolution on Nepal
Date: 2005-09-29
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Nepal, cease-fire, democratisation, human rights, political violence, state of emergency

C 227 E/616

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Official Journal of the European Union

21.9.2006

Thursday, 29 September 2005

— Alcolocks: notes that alcohol-related road accidents total about 10 000 every year; urges the Commis-
sion to stimulate the introduction of reliable alcolocks; sees merit in a step-by-step approach starting
with rehabilitation measures for repeat offenders, voluntary measures and commercial transports;

— eCall: recalls that eCall (emergency call) has the potential to greatly reduce the number of fatalities, the
severity of injuries and stress in post-crash situations, by speeding up the response to emergencies;
welcomes the Action Plan for equipping new cars with e-call by 2009, and calls for this to be extended,
if deemed cost-effective, to passenger vehicles and to vehicles for the transport of dangerous goods;

40.
Supports the introduction of a revised, comprehensive EuroNCAP by strengthening cooperation with
the Commission through additional financial support and more active participation in the work of the
programme; calls for EuroNCAP to incorporate other passive safety aspects, such as whiplash protection
and the compatibility of vehicles in the event of car-on-car impact; notes, furthermore, that active safety
systems (such as ESC) are still a largely untried possibility with great potential for the improvement of road
safety and that the most promising solutions should be incorporated into the EuroNCAP procedure;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern-

41.
ments and parliaments of the Member States.

P6_TA(2005)0367

Nepal

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Nepal

— having regard to its previous resolution of 24 February 2005 on Nepal (1), in which it condemned the
royal coup and urged King Gyanendra to lift the state of emergency and re-establish parliamentary
powers and democratic institutions,

— having regard to the Declaration of 6 September 2005 by the Presidency on behalf of the European
Union welcoming the ceasefire declaration by Chairman Prachanda of the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist) (CPN(M)),

— having regard to the visit to Nepal of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General of the UN, Lakhdar

Brahimi, in July 2005,

— having regard to the EU Troika visit planned for October 4 to 6 2005,

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

A. whereas on 1 February 2005 King Gyanendra, in an unconstitutional act, dismissed the government,

assumed direct power and declared a state of emergency,

B. whereas violence has escalated in Nepal since the royal coup, and the powers of the Royal Nepalese

Army have been unchecked in the absence of an elected government,

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0058.

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C. whereas the royal coup has strengthened the position of the Maoist rebel groups, which have over

15 000 fighters and many areas of Nepal under their control,

Thursday, 29 September 2005

D. whereas a seven-party alliance bringing together most mainstream political parties, which between
them had more than 190 seats in the disbanded 205-member parliament, is calling for the reinstate-
ment of the 1999 House of Representatives and for peace negotiations with the Maoists,

E. whereas meetings took place between party representatives in New Delhi in May 2005, and whereas in

August 2005 the seven-party alliance agreed to appoint a joint team for formal negotiations,

F. whereas a recent peace rally of 30 000 people in Kathmandu called for an end to the long-running

conflict which has left some 12 000 dead,

G. whereas Nepal, with a population of 23 million, is among the poorest and least developed countries in
the world, with 42 % of its population living below the poverty line, 80 % of the population living in
rural areas, and a 47 % unemployment rate,

H. whereas fundamental human rights continue to be breached, including harassment of democratic party
leaders, detention of political and human rights activists, the arrest of 140 journalists during pro-
democracy demonstrations, and restrictions on freedom of expression for trade unionists,

I. whereas media censorship and severe human rights abuses, including torture, detention, displacements,
abductions and unlawful killings committed by the police forces, the Royal Nepalese Army, as well as
the Maoist insurgents, continue and hundreds of political and human rights activists, journalists and
trade unionists remain under arrest,

J. whereas Nepal has the highest number of ‘disappearances’ of any country in the world, and impunity is
a widespread phenomenon; whereas the risk of a humanitarian crisis is rising with the increasing
number of internally displaced persons,

K. whereas the most fundamental rights of children are being routinely violated by all parties involved in

the conflict,

L. whereas the EU has condemned Nepal's Maoist rebels for using children as soldiers,

1. Welcomes the ceasefire declaration by the CPN(M) and the first steps by the seven-party alliance to
start a political process to resolve the armed conflict; calls for an indefinite extension of the Maoist cease-
fire and for King Gyanendra to reciprocate the ceasefire and engage in constructive talks with political
groups, which should include the Maoist rebels, with a view to restoring democratic processes in Nepal;

2. Calls for urgent action by the Nepalese authorities with a view to the upcoming Troika visit; asks
them to cooperate at these meetings to enable a fruitful discussion to take place, with a view to furthering
the peace process and reinstating democracy, with the guidance and encouragement of the international
community;

3. Calls on King Gyanendra to guarantee the full sovereignty of parliamentary democratic authorities;

4. Asks for the international community to establish a Contact Group, made up of Nepal's key partners
and international organisations (the EU, the US, India and the UN), to provide coordinated international
action with regard to Nepal; proposes that the European Parliament appoint a special rapporteur to
monitor the situation;

5. Welcomes the UN initiative of deploying a Special Rapporteur and a UN Office of Human Rights in
Nepal, which will carefully monitor the human rights situation;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Thursday, 29 September 2005

6. Calls for a follow-up to the 2002 London International Conference, to be organised by the Contact
Group of key partners, which should set out the principles and values needed to underpin a peace process
in Nepal and bring together all major players from the international community, as well as King
Gyanendra, the Maoist rebel groups and the main political parties;

7. Calls on the Council and the Member States to continue to suspend military aid; asks that all aid to
Nepal be monitored and that smart sanctions be imposed in order to maintain pressure on the royal
government to restore democratic governance and explore all avenues to peace talks;

8. Calls on the Commission and the administrations of the Member States to scrutinise closely all devel-
opment assistance to Nepal and to make sure that it serves its prime purpose of alleviating poverty and
addresses the underlying causes of conflict in the country;

9. Notes that municipal elections are to be held in April 2006; calls for parliamentary elections to be
held at the same time; calls for the EU to send an election observation mission to monitor these elections;
calls for all political parties to be able to participate fully in the elections;

10.
Strongly condemns violence in all forms and by all parties; stresses that basic human rights and free-
doms must be upheld in Nepal, and therefore asks that both the King and the Maoists sign human rights
accords to curb abuses;

11. Notes the release of some political prisoners, but remains deeply concerned that other political
leaders, students and human rights activists are still being detained in prison;

Stresses that any restrictions on media freedom should be lifted immediately and that all political

12.
prisoners in detention should be either released or charged;

13. Asks the King to provide rehabilitation for the 30 000 Kapilvastu villagers displaced by violent
conflict;

14. Calls firmly once again on the Nepalese Government to re-establish the Tibetan Refugee Welfare
Office in Kathmandu and to allow the representative office of the Dalai Lama to resume operations in
providing relief services to Tibetan refugees as an implementing partner of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees;

15.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, King Gyanendra,
the Governments of India and other member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Coopera-
tion, the Secretary-General of the UN and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

P6_TA(2005)0368

Tunisia

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Tunisia

— having regard to the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the European Union and

Tunisia (1), and in particular Article 2 thereof,

— having regard to the 2002, 2003 and 2004 reports on human development in the Arab world drawn

up by the United Nations Development Programme,

(1) OJ L 97, 30.3.1998, p. 2.