P6_TA(2007)0489#Pakistan#European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2007 on Pakistan
Date: 2007-10-25
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Pakistan, cooperation agreement (EU), democracy, human rights, parliamentary election, political crisis, threat to national security

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16.10.2008

Thursday 25 October 2007

15.
Calls on the Iranian authorities to unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, notably the
journalists Emaddedin Baghi, Ako Kurdnasab, Ejlal Ghavami, Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand, Said Matin-
pour, Adnan Hassanpour, Abdolvahed Botimar, Kaveh Javanmard and Mohammad Hassan Fallahieh, the
unionists Mansour Osanlou, Ebrahim Madadi and Mahmoud Salehi, and the students Ehsan Mansouri,
Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghassaban; condemns the arrest and imprisonment of human rights defender
Dr Sohrab Razzaghi on 24 October 2007 and calls for his immediate and unconditional release;

16.
Urges the United Nations General Assembly to vote on a resolution explicitly and decisively con-
demning the violation of fundamental human rights in Iran and to adopt urgent measures to halt the recent
wave of executions in Iran;

17.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to closely monitor developments in Iran and also to raise
concrete cases of human rights abuses; calls on the Council and the Commission to report on the monitor-
ing of the situation in Iran;

18.

Proposes to restart the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue, which has been interrupted since June 2004;

Reaffirms its support for all those organisations and individuals in Iran that pursue dialogue in their

19.
struggle for democratic rights;

Calls on the Commission to do its best to support civil society, academic, socio-economic and cul-
20.
tural exchanges between Europe and Iran in the interests of an open dialogue, notably through the new
Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights;

Calls on the EU Member States to refrain from expulsions of Iranian asylum-seekers, including those
21.
persecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation, and calls on Greece not to return Mohammad Hassan
Talebi, Mohammad Hossein Jaafari and Vahid Shokoohi Nia to Iran;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Represen-
22.
tative for the CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council, the Head of the State Supreme Court of Iran and the
Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

P6_TA(2007)0489

Pakistan

European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2007 on Pakistan

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Pakistan, in particular its resolution of 12 July 2007 (1),

— having regard to the Cooperation Agreement of 24 November 2001 between the European Community

and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Partnership and Development,

— having regard to its resolution of 24 May 2007 on Kashmir (2),

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

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0351.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0214.

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Thursday 25 October 2007

A. whereas Benazir Bhutto, the Life Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) returned to Pakistan
on 18 October 2007; whereas Mrs Bhutto's return to Karachi was marked by a horrific bomb attack
which resulted in the deaths of more than 130 people and the injuring of more than 500 people; and
whereas the already fragile pre-electoral climate in Pakistan has been further inflamed by this attack,

B. whereas an attempt by Nawaz Sharif, President of the Pakistan Muslim League, to return to Pakistan

also failed, as he was forced to leave the country immediately on arrival,

C. whereas there are clear signs of a militarisation of Pakistan and a growing role for the secret services,
who continue to exert a very considerable influence on the politics, government and economy of
Pakistan,

D. whereas the current parliamentary term ends on 15 November 2007 and general elections have been

announced in Pakistan for mid-January 2008,

E. whereas the restoration of democracy requires power to be transferred back to a civilian government,

F. whereas on 17 October 2007 the Supreme Court of Pakistan resumed its hearing on the question of
whether the election of President Musharraf was constitutional, and is expected to give its ruling
shortly,

G. whereas the European Union provides significant funding to Pakistan for poverty alleviation, health and

state education,

Strongly condemns the suicide bombing attack against the opposition leader and civilians; demands
1.
that the government of Pakistan take immediate action to pursue a thorough and independent investigation
into this attack in order to bring all those responsible to trial;

Extends its deepest sympathy to the people of Pakistan and especially to the families of all those killed

2.
and injured by this despicable act;

3.
Reaffirms its solidarity with the people of Pakistan who share the objectives of democratic governance
and transparent, accountable rule and who act with courage and determination in the face of terrorist and
criminal violence;

Urges Pakistan to uphold all the principles enshrined in the abovementioned Cooperation Agreement,

4.
in particular the democracy and human rights clause;

Strongly condemns the forced departure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia on

5.
10 September 2007 despite a ruling by Pakistan's Supreme Court allowing his return to Pakistan;

6.
Asks the government of Pakistan, as a pre-condition for democratic elections, to allow the return of all
political leaders to counter the extremist forces in the country and contribute to establishing a legitimate
government through free and fair elections, replacing the current military dictatorship;

7.
Reiterates its demand that the caretaker government to be put in place must be neutral and again
expresses its concern about the fact that the composition of the caretaker government is to be decided by
President Musharraf alone;

8.
Deplores certain recent High Court cases in Pakistan which give rise to serious concerns about the
lack of rule of law; calls on the government of Pakistan to refrain from political interference and to respect
the independence of the judiciary;

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Thursday 25 October 2007

9.
Deplores President Musharraf's failure to relinquish his post of Chief of Army Staff before standing as
a candidate and being elected president, which he had previously agreed to do in an undertaking to the EU;
reiterates its demand that he should do so before taking office; notes that his failure to act has had a
negative effect on the credibility of the Presidency in Pakistan;

10.
Condemns the arbitrary arrest of members of the opposition when they criticised President Mush-
arraf and urges the government to accept and implement the Supreme Court's directive to put an end to the
disappearances of political opponents;

11.
Urges that Pakistan returns to democratic government by holding free, fair and transparent elections
in January 2008 and warns against the imposition of emergency rule or other measures to suppress free-
dom of speech, association, assembly or movement; urges the government of Pakistan to provide all parties
with equal access to the media;

Urges Pakistan to take immediate action to restrict the influence of the military in society as a whole;
12.
calls on the Pakistani Government to respect a transition to civilian rule and to strengthen democratic
institutions as the only possible way to answer the challenges in Pakistani society; urges the government
again to limit the role and influence of the military and other armed groups and to return power to
democratic institutions;

Is concerned about the reports of ongoing oppression of religious minorities such as Christians,

13.
Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis and the use of blasphemy laws against them;

14.
Calls for the government of Pakistan to take immediate action to cease such religious-based repres-
sion and to ensure the integrity and safety of all minorities by granting them genuine and effective legal and
political protection; calls for Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws, which are so widely misused; urges the
government of Pakistan to provide proper protection for lawyers and human rights defenders facing threats
for defending those accused of blasphemy; urges the government of Pakistan to provide proper protection
for vulnerable religious and other minority communities facing threats of forced conversion and violent
intimidation from extremists;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to repeal the Hudood Ordinances, which have led to the imprison-

15.
ment of hundreds of women;

16. Welcomes the fact that the EU will monitor the parliamentary elections in Pakistan and that Parlia-
ment will participate in the observer mission; is concerned at the possibility of Pakistani women not being
able to participate fully in the democratic process due to an academic qualification being required as a
precondition for standing for election, which will exclude 70 % of Pakistani women; calls for the removal
of this restriction;

Recognises the efforts Pakistan is making to resist the rise of terrorist groups; regrets that the settle-
17.
ment reached to prevent further conflict in Northern Waziristan was not successful; calls on the govern-
ment to combat renewed insurgency-related violence through proportionate measures and to impose the
rule of law and extend civil and political rights to this area;

18.
Demands, with particular regard to the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan, that the military refrain
from supporting Islamist parties in a bid to counter secular Baloch and moderate Pashtun forces; further
demands the release of all political prisoners, including those in the unlawful custody of intelligence agen-
cies;

19.
Stresses the importance of universal access to state education and effective monitoring of the madras-
sas to prevent control by extremists; calls on the government of Pakistan to implement its previous under-
taking with regard to the attendance of foreign students at the madrassas;

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20.

Asks the Member States fully to respect the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports;

Thursday 25 October 2007

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

21.
of Pakistan.

P6_TA(2007)0490

Sudan

European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2007 on Sudan

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Darfur,

in particular its resolution of

27 September 2007 (1),

— having regard to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly resolution on the situation in Darfur,

adopted in Wiesbaden on 28 June 2007,

— having regard to the Tripoli Consensus on the Political Process for Darfur, adopted in Tripoli on 28 and

29 April 2007,

— having regard to the African Union (AU) decision of April 2004 to establish the African Union Mission

in Sudan (AMIS),

— having regard to UN Security Council resolution 1706 proposing a 22 000-strong peace-keeping force

for Darfur,

— having regard to the Statute of the International Criminal Court with regard to international peace-

keeping missions,

— having regard to UN Security Council resolution 1778 of 25 September 2007, which provides for the
deployment of a multidimensional
international presence in eastern Chad and northeastern Central
African Republic (CAR) comprised of a UN mission (MINURCAT), a Chadian police force trained by
the UN, and a European Union military operation (EUFOR),

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

A. whereas on 30 September 2007 unidentified forces attacked an African Union (AU) base in Haskanita,
South Darfur, killing 10 AU peacekeepers and civilian police, and at least eight other personnel from
the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) were seriously injured and approximately 40 remain miss-
ing, according to AU statements,

B. whereas the loss of life was the worst suffered to date by the under-resourced AU force,

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0419.