European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Date: 2005-12-01
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, administrative reform, governance, human rights, institutional reform, the EU's international role

22.11.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 285 E/129

Thursday 1 December 2005

Further topics

20.
Calls on the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference also to make substantial progress on various further
topics; stresses the importance of trade facilitation for enhancing the exchange of goods and services among
countries, notably developing countries; insists on clarification of, and a significant reduction of red tape in,
customs procedures;

21.
Emphasises the importance of concrete results as regards the creation of stronger multilateral rules in
the area of anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, taking into account the needs of devel-
oping countries and LDCs; calls for progress in the area of TRIPs and for action against counterfeiting and
piracy; considers that the fulfilment of these goals will strengthen the multilateral trade system;

Insists on the importance of taking into account non-trade concerns such as social, environmental
22.
and cultural issues in the Doha Round; stresses that the absence of a debate on employment and social
issues in the trade negotiations could negatively affect support among citizens in WTO member states for
progress in Hong Kong;

Calls for the negotiations on trade and the environment to lead to the establishment of appropriate
23.
ways to ensure that all trade rulings are consistent with the trade-related measures contained in Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs);

WTO reform and transparency

24.
Calls on the Commission to keep it fully informed, before and during the Ministerial Conference in
Hong Kong and throughout the negotiations, and to engage in a regular dialogue on the essential elements
of the EU negotiating mandate; recalls the right acquired at the end of the Uruguay Round to subject the
conclusion of the results of the subsequent rounds to the European Parliament's assent;

25.
Stresses the importance of maintaining public and political support for the WTO multilateral trade
system; underlines the urgent need to ensure that the public are better informed and that discussion takes
place on the reform of the WTO organisation;

26.
Insists on a much-needed WTO reform, including an improvement of the negotiating procedures, in
order to improve efficiency and transparency and to reach a degree of consensus among WTO members;
equally underlines the importance of reforming the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism;

*

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

27.
and parliaments of the Member States and the Director-General of the WTO.

P6_TA(2005)0462

Human rights

European Parliament resolution on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the EU Annual Report on Human Rights 2005,

— having regard to its earlier resolutions on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and, in particular, its resolution

of 28 April 2005 on human rights in the world 2004 (1),

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0150.

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Thursday 1 December 2005

— having regard to the cooperation agreements of 1997 between the European Community on the one
hand and the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic on the other, and the
cooperation agreement of 1995 between the EU and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,

— having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, approved by the Council on 14 June

2004,

— having regard to Article 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

B.

C.

recognising the important progress made in recent years by the three countries in economic devel-
opment, and supporting their efforts to engage with regional and non-regional partners in multilateral
fora,

supporting the actions taken by the European Union, its Member States and other members of the
international community to assist their governments' programmes to reduce poverty,

regretting that economic and social reforms are not yet matched by adequate political and civil rights
reforms,

D. welcoming the holding of the first meetings in June 2005 of the EU-Vietnam and EU-Laos Working
Groups on Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Governance and Human Rights, but taking the
view that the fundamental rights situation remains a matter of concern.

CAMBODIA

E. whereas on 3 February 2005 the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia waived the parlia-
mentary immunity of three members of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), namely its chairman, Sam Rainsy,
and Chea Poch and Cheam Channy,

F. whereas Cheam Channy and his deputy Khom Piseth were tried by a military tribunal despite the fact

that, under Cambodian national law, civilians cannot be brought before military courts,

G. whereas the rights of the defence were not observed by this military tribunal and whereas Cheam
Channy was sentenced to a seven-year prison term and subsequently deprived of his parliamentary seat,

H. whereas the situation of women in Cambodia is especially worrying as they face discrimination and
extreme difficulties in various areas, as stated in its resolution of 13 January 2005 on trafficking of
women and children in Cambodia (1),

I. whereas the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of those three opposition Members of Parliament,
the recent arrest and detention of journalists (Mam Sonando, director of Beehive radio station) and
teachers (Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association) and the charges
brought against Chea Mony, the President of the Free Trade Union Workers, Men Nath, the President of
the Civil Servants Association and Ea Channa, a member of the Student's Movement for Democracy, are
symptomatic of a general deterioration in respect for civil liberties in Cambodia and of a crackdown on
political dissidents,

J. whereas there is no guarantee as to the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, and therefore as
to its ability to conduct the trials of the Khmer Rouge leaders in the specially-created court without
political interference.

LAOS

K. whereas the authorities of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, despite strong representations from
the European Union, international organisations and other members of the international community,
continue to take measures that limit the freedoms of expression, the press, association, assembly and
religion,

(1) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 161.

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L. whereas the international media and human rights organisations continue to report abuses against the

Lao-Hmong people, whose humanitarian situation remains appalling,

Thursday 1 December 2005

M. whereas the main leaders of the peaceful Movement of 26 October 1999, who called for democratic
reforms, Thongpraseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phengphanh, Bouavanh Chanmanivong and Keochay,
are still in detention and another of its leaders, Khamphouvieng Sisa-At, died in prison following ill-
treatment and deprivation,

N. whereas foreign observers, in particular those from Amnesty International, have been denied free access

to the territory of Laos.

VIETNAM

O. welcoming the adoption by Vietnam in June 2005 of the Masterplan and action plan for development
of EU-Vietnam relations towards 2010 as well as the government's increased willingness to discuss
human rights issues,

P.

recognising the substantial progress made by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam towards economic and
social rights, as indicated by social indicators and the UNDP Human Development Index,

Q. whereas the Vietnamese authorities are still putting restrictions on freedom of expression and the free-
in particular by establishing a police force in 2004 to censor the Internet and
including Nguyen Dan Que, Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Vu Binh and

dom of the press,
imprisoning cyber-dissidents,
Nguyen Khac Toan, for espionage, simply for having circulated information on the Internet,

R. whereas the indigenous minorities of the high plateaux (Centre and North), in particular the Montag-
lands or religious

nards, suffer from discrimination and measures such as confiscation of ancestral
repression,

S. whereas since 1975 the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has been systematically persecuted
for its commitment to religious freedom, human rights and democratic reform, whereas it has been
banned since 1981, its property confiscated and its schools, universities and social and cultural institu-
tions destroyed, and whereas UBCV Patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, and his Deputy, Thich Quang Do,
have been arbitrarily detained for almost twenty-five years,

T. whereas the members of UBCV local committees set up in 2005 in nine provinces of central and
southern Vietnam have been systematically harassed by police for providing aid to people in those
poor provinces, and whereas UBCV monk, Thich Vien Phuong, has been sentenced to pay a fine equiv-
alent to 43 months basic wage simply for filming an appeal for human rights and democracy in
Vietnam, which was sent by Thich Quang Do to the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2005,

U.

taking note of the testimony given by the Buddhist monk, Thich Thien Minh, who recently left a re-
education camp after 26 years in detention, concerning the terrible conditions endured by prisoners in
the Z30A camp in Xuan Loc, in particular the Roman Catholic priests, Pham Minh Tri and Nguyen Duc
Vinh, who have been held for more than 18 years, and a member of the Buddhist Hoa Hao sect, Ngo
Quang Vinh, aged 87,

V.

taking note that, despite a new Act on Belief and Religion being introduced in 2004 to codify all
aspects of religious life, numerous restrictions on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the
Protestant Churches, including the Mennonite Church, have remained in place,

W. whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee has made recommendations (ref. CCPR/CO/75/
VNM of 26 July 2002) to the Vietnamese authorities with regard to the Legal System Development
Strategy, a 10-year plan partly funded by donor countries, including some Member States,

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CAMBODIA

1.
Expresses its support for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Human Rights in
Cambodia and insists that the independent Khmer Rouge Tribunal be established as soon as possible, as
agreed with the UN in June 2003;

2.

Calls on the Cambodian authorities to:

— release immediately and unconditionally Cheam Channy, return his parliamentary mandate and restore
the parliamentary immunity of Sam Rainsy and the two other representatives of his party, as requested
by Parliament in its resolution of 10 March 2005 on Cambodia (1) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in
its resolution of 19 October 2005;

— engage in political and institutional reforms to build a democratic state governed by the rule of law and

founded on respect for fundamental freedoms;

— demonstrate their will to combat effectively the endemic scourges of corruption, massive deforestation
resulting in the displacement of people, and the sex tourism industry, to refuse the current culture of
impunity and to bring to justice all those involved in such activities;

3.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to establish a Working Group on Institution Building,
Administrative Reform, Governance and Human Rights and to report its results to the European Parliament;

4.
Suggests, inter alia, that an ad hoc EP Delegation visit Cambodia as soon as possible to evaluate the
situation of detained parliamentarians, media representatives and trade union leaders in the country and that
an end be brought to the detention of all political prisoners.

LAOS

5.

Calls on the Laotian authorities to:

— release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including the leaders of the Movement of
26 October 1999, Christians imprisoned for not having renounced their faith, the Hmong and,
in
particular, Thao Moua and Pa Phue Khang, the guides employed by visiting European journalists and
arrested in 2003;

— draw up and implement as soon as possible all the necessary reforms required to democratize the
country, guarantee the peaceful expression of political opposition and ensure a speedy holding of multi-
party elections under international monitoring with a view to national reconciliation;

— implement programmes allowing the integration of the Lao-Hmong population and other ethnic and
religious minorities into Laotian society, while preserving their social and political rights so as to
urgently improve their human rights and living conditions;

— allow specialised UN agencies and representatives of humanitarian organisations unrestricted access, so
that they can visit political prisoners, the Hmong population, and all ethnic and religious minorities in
Laos;

— ratify without delay the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Calls on the Commission closely to monitor the situation of the Lao-Hmong community and the

6.
government's programmes designed for ethnic minorities.

VIETNAM

7.

Calls on the Vietnamese authorities to:

— pursue on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war a genuine dialogue
involving all sections of the population in the economic, social, intellectual and political development
of Vietnam;

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0081.

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— undertake political and institutional reforms leading to democracy and the rule of law, starting by
allowing a multi-party system and guaranteeing the right of all currents of opinion to express their
views;

— apply the Legal System Development Strategy in accordance with the recommendations made by the
UN Human Rights Committee and with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights;

— end all forms of repression of members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and officially

recognise its existence and that of other non-recognised Churches in the country;

— release all Vietnamese political prisoners and prisoners of conscience detained for having legitimately
and peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press
and freedom of religion, in particular Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do, who are regarded by
the United Nations as victims of arbitrary detention (1);

— guarantee full enjoyment of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular by allowing the creation of a genu-
inely free press;

— ensure the safe repatriation, under the Cambodia-Vietnam-UNHCR agreement, of the Montagnards who
fled Vietnam, and allow proper monitoring of the situation of the returnees by the UNHCR and inter-
national NGOs.

GENERAL

8.
Supports the projects to be funded by the Commission to promote the development of journalism
and to support capacity-building programmes at the National Assembly in Laos as well as the activities in
Vietnam that emerge from the Working Group on Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Governance
and Human Rights;

9.
Calls on the Council and Commission to fully involve Parliament in the work of the EU-Vietnam and
EU-Laos Working Groups on Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Governance and Human Rights;

10.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to make a detailed assessment of the implementation
policies conducted in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam since the signing of the association and cooperation
agreements, mindful of Article 1 of these agreements, which reiterates that respect for democratic principles
and fundamental rights is an essential element of the agreements, and to report back to Parliament;

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Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-Gen-

11.
eral of the United Nations and the governments and parliaments of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

(1) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion 18/2005, 26 May 2005.

P6_TA(2005)0463

Olympic truce

European Parliament resolution on The Olympic Truce — Turin Winter Olympics 2006

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolution of 1 April 2004 on the Olympic Truce (1),

— having regard to the resolution adopted unanimously by the UN in 2003 entitled ‘Building a peaceful

and better world through sport and the Olympic ideals’,

(1) OJ C 103 E, 29.4.2004, p. 816.