European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2007 on Syria
Date: 2007-05-24
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Syria, cooperation agreement (EU), freedom of expression, human rights, political prisoner, right to justice, the EU's international role, torture

24.4.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 102 E/485

Thursday 24 May 2007

3.
Calls for a dialogue between the Venezuelan Government and the country's private media, while
strongly deploring the Government's total unwillingness to engage in dialogue in general, and in the case
of RCTV in particular;

4.

Calls, therefore, on the relevant delegations and committees of Parliament to examine this issue;

5.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-General
of the Organization of American States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Mercosur
Parliament and the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

P6_TA(2007)0217

Human rights in Syria

European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2007 on Syria

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

— having regard to Article 11(1) of the Treaty on European Union, which establishes the promotion of
human rights as an objective of Common Foreign and Security Policy and Article 177 of the Treaty
establishing the European Communities,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Syria and the Middle East and to its resolution of 26 Octo-
ber 2006 containing its recommendation to the Council on the conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean
Association Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and
the Syrian Arab Republic, of the other part (1),

— having regard to the EU Presidency statement of 14 May 2007 on the sentencing of the intellectual

Michel Kilo and the political activist Mahmoud Issa in Syria,

— having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was ratified by Syria on

21 April 1969,

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

A. whereas respect for human rights is an essential part of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, manifested
in a Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Syria and an Euro-Mediterranean Association Agree-
ment between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Syrian Arab
Republic, of the other part still to be finalised,

B. whereas the European Parliament and its President have already intervened several times to obtain the

release of human rights activists, politicians and parliamentarians detained in Syrian prisons,

C. whereas Michel Kilo, a militant pro-democracy writer, who was arrested on 14 May 2006, mainly
because of his position on the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, and Mahmoud Issa were sentenced on
13 May 2007 to a three-year prison term,

D. whereas Suleiman Al-Shamar,

Hussein, President of
10 years' imprisonment for ‘weakening the national ethic’ and ‘conspiring with a foreign country’,

the Public Relations Office at

leading member of the Democratic National Community, and Khalil
the Kurd Future Trend, were sentenced to

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0459.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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24.4.2008

Thursday 24 May 2007

E. whereas Fayek El Mir and Aref Dalila, members of various human rights organisations in Syria, have

been detained in solitary confinement for six years now,

F. whereas Syrian security forces arrested Kamal al-Labwani, a physician and co-founder of the Democratic
Liberal Gathering, on 8 November 2005 upon his return from a trip to Europe, the United States and
Egypt, and he has now been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment with hard labour on politically
motivated charges,

G. whereas Anwar Al Bunni, a founding member of the Syrian Human Rights Organisation and a lawyer
specialising in human rights issues, was arrested on the streets of Damascus in 2006 when he was on
the verge of taking up a post as director of a human rights centre financed by the European Union
and has now been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for ‘spreading false information harmful to
the state’;

Expresses its great concern at the recent verdicts handed down to political prisoners and human rights

1.
activists in Syria which affect every political trend of the opposition;

2.
Is deeply concerned at the restrictions imposed on, and the charges made against, Mahmoud Issa,
Fayek El Mir, Aref Dalila, Kamal al-Labwani, Anwar Al Bunni, Michel Kilo, Suleiman Al-Shamar and Khalil
Hussein for exercising their democratic rights and engaging in peaceful activities;

3.
Urges the Syrian authorities to comply strictly with international human rights law and, in particular,
with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as with the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by Syria in 1969 and 2004
respectively;

4.

Calls on Syria to respect freedom of opinion and the right to a fair trial;

5.

(a)

Urges the Syrian authorities to take note of the UN Human Rights Committee's concerns and to:

ensure that the abovementioned detainees are treated well and not subjected to torture or other ill-
treatment,

(b) ensure that detained or imprisoned persons are given prompt and regular access to their lawyers,

doctors and families;

Urges the relevant Syrian bodies to reverse the abovementioned judgments, drop the charges still
6.
pending in the Military Court of Damascus and release all the abovementioned prisoners of conscience
and political prisoners;

Calls for the abrogation of the state of emergency in Syria, which was established more than 40 years

7.
ago;

8.
Calls in particular on the Community institutions to provide all necessary support to Syrian civil
society activists through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and the newly
adopted European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), including by implementing with-
out delay the so-called ad hoc measures dedicated to human rights defenders;

Asks Syria, which could play an important role in promoting peace in the region, to improve and

9.
support human rights and freedom of expression in the country;

10.
Calls on Syria to support the setting up of a penal tribunal of international nature once the enquiry
being led by Judge Brammertz, Commissioner of the UN International Independent Investigation Commis-
sion, in Lebanon is completed;

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

11.
and the Parliament of the Syrian Arab Republic.