Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and rape as a war crime European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2008 on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and rape as a war crime
Date: 2008-01-17
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: help for victims, law of war, position of women, resolution (EU), sexual violence, war, war crime, war damage

19.2.2009

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Thursday 17 January 2008

4.
Urges China not to use the 2008 Olympic Games as a pretext to arrest and illegally detain and
imprison dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists who either report on, or demonstrate against,
human rights abuses;

5.
Reiterates its opinion that human rights concerns should receive far more attention in the build-up to
the 2008 Olympic Games, and highlights the need for respect for universal fundamental ethical principles
and the promotion of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity, as enshrined in
Articles 1 and 2 of the Olympic Charter;

6.
Urges China to reform its criminal law to allow greater freedom of expression to journalists, writers,
freelancers, reporters etc., who will report to the world on such an important event as the 2008 Olympic
Games; considers that such reform will also make it possible to clarify the scope of certain unclear legal
provisions (e.g. Article 105 of China's Criminal Code), and give the world a positive signal that the Seven-
teenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party paved the way for greater respect for different
opinions;

Calls on the Chinese authorities to allow Hu Jia and all the other dissidents under arrest to receive
7.
medical assistance if necessary, and to bear in mind that detention in inappropriate conditions could
damage their health;

Urges the Chinese authorities to close the so-called ‘black jails’, places of detention set up to detain

8.
‘troublemakers’ in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games;

9.
Calls on the Council of the European Union to take action in relation to the Chinese authorities
regarding the arrest of Hu Jia and the disappearance on 22 September 2007 of Gao Zhisheng, a noted
human rights lawyer and friend of Hu Jia, who has come to represent the plight of the many thousands
of human rights defenders currently imprisoned in China;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
10.
and parliaments of the Member States and the candidate countries, the President and Prime Minister of the
People's Republic of China, and the International Olympic Committee.

Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and rape as a war crime

P6_TA(2008)0022

European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2008 on the situation in the Democratic Republic
of Congo and rape as a war crime

(2009/C 41 E/12)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC),

— having regard to the resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly of 22 November 2007 on
the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in the East of the country, and its
impact on the region',

— having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in 1998, and particu-
larly Articles 7 and 8 thereof, which define rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy
and forced sterilisation or any form of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes and
equate them with a form of torture and a serious war crime, whether or not such acts are system-
atically perpetrated during international or internal conflicts,

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Thursday 17 January 2008

— having regard to the United Nations Twenty-fourth report of the Secretary-General on the United
Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo of 14 November 2007,

— having regard to the statement issued on 27 July 2007 by the United Nations Mission in the Demo-

cratic Republic of Congo (MONUC),

— having regard to the Human Rights Watch publication entitled ‘Renewed Crisis in North Kivu’ of

October 2007,

— having regard to the Human Rights Watch publication ‘Seeking Justice: The Prosecution of Sexual

Violence in the Congo War’ of March 2005,

— having regard to the Amnesty International Report 2007,

— having regard to the UN-sponsored Democratic Republic of Congo Humanitarian Action Plan 2008 of

11 December 2007,

— having regard to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs'

Analysis’ of 13 December 2007,

‘Humanitarian News and

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

A. whereas the war and unrest in the eastern part of the DRC have resulted in sexual violence against
women on a widespread and alarming scale, committed by armed rebel groups as well as by govern-
ment, army and police forces,

B. whereas in the eastern part of the DRC women are being systematically attacked on an unprecedented
scale and whereas, according to the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs,
the sexual violence in the DRC is the worst in the world,

C. whereas rape is also being committed in displaced persons' camps, where many civilians have sought
refuge from the fighting that drove more than 400 000 people from their homes and villages in 2007
alone,

D. whereas, according to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC, atrocities
against women are structured around rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and murder, which has far-
reaching consequences including the physical and psychological destruction of women,

E. whereas, according to the DRC Humanitarian Action Plan 2008, 32 353 rapes were reported during

2007, which was most probably a fraction of the total number,

F. whereas UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) emphasises the responsibility of all states to put
an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes,
including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls,

G. whereas rape seems to be used as a way of humiliating women in front of their families and commu-

nities and thus destroying the integrity, morale and cohesion of those communities,

H. worried that women and girls who are victims of rape suffer widespread social discrimination and
rejection by their families and communities, while perpetrators enjoy impunity, this being an additional
reason why only a fraction of rape incidents are reported by victims,

I.

deeply concerned by the inadequacy of efforts to conduct thorough investigations into such crimes, the
absence of protection measures for witnesses, victims and victims' families, the lack of information
regarding cases and the lack of appropriate medical care for victims,

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J. whereas the new law on sexual violence adopted by the DRC Parliament in 2006, which was designed
to speed up the prosecution of rape cases and impose stiffer penalties, has so far had little effect,

Thursday 17 January 2008

K. whereas a Joint Statement by Rwanda and the DRC was signed in Nairobi on 10 December 2007 in
favour of a comprehensive solution to the presence of armed groups in the Kivus which are responsible
for sexual violence and other human rights violations,

L. whereas the many years of armed conflict have resulted directly and indirectly in 4 million direct and
indirect victims and caused the displacement of at least 1,5 million people, most of them women and
children, as well as the destruction of the socio-economic infrastructure of the DRC,

Strongly condemns the use of rape as a weapon of war and recalls that the International Criminal

1.
Court has jurisdiction over such acts, as does the DRC;

Urges in particular that the perpetrators of sexual violence against women be reported, identified,

2.
prosecuted and punished, in accordance with national and international criminal law;

Calls on the Government of the DRC to put an end to impunity and to implement the new law

3.
adopted by its Parliament outlawing sexual violence, which lays down stiffer penalties for perpetrators;

Urges the international community to take all necessary steps to support the relevant national autho-

4.
rities in investigating these acts and prosecuting those responsible;

Calls on the EU to allocate substantial funds to providing medical, legal and social support for victims

5.
of sexual abuse and empowering women and girls as a way of preventing further sexual abuse;

6.
Calls on all the forces participating in conflicts in the east of the DRC to respect human rights and
international humanitarian law, to cease all attacks on women and other civilians and to allow humanitarian
agencies to come to the assistance of victims;

7.
Calls on the EU and the UN formally to recognise rape, forced impregnation, sexual slavery and any
other forms of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, serious war crimes and a form of torture,
whether or not they are carried out in a systematic manner;

8.
Calls on all UN member states that send personnel on the MONUC peacekeeping mission to follow up
all claims of sexual abuse and exploitation, particularly those which concern minors, and to bring indivi-
duals who have committed sexual abuse to court as quickly as possible; calls therefore for MONUC's man-
date with respect to the protection of civilians against sexual violence to be strengthened;

9.
Calls on the UN, the African Union, the EU and the other partners of the DRC to do everything
possible to put in place an effective mechanism for the monitoring and documenting of sexual violence in
the DRC and to provide efficient and adequate aid and protection for women, particularly in the east of the
country;

10.
Expresses its deep concern at the fact that sexual violence is causing an immense rural exodus, and
stresses that systematic sexual violence and an overall ‘culture of sexual violence’ destroy all social networks
and represent a genuine national threat;

11. Welcomes the opening of the conference on peace, security and development in Goma (North Kivu)
and hopes that the cessation of hostilities during the conference is the first step in building confidence
between the belligerents; urges the participants to address the issue of sexual violence against women and
girls and to commit themselves to bringing the perpetrators to justice;

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Thursday 17 January 2008

12.
Calls on the Commission to provide support, including financial aid, for the holding of a peace
conference in Kivu with a view to enabling the population to participate in the search for lasting solutions;

Calls on the Government of the DRC and MONUC to guarantee an appropriate level of security for

13.
the members of humanitarian organisations;

14.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the governments of the EU
Member States, the governments of the DRC and of the Great Lakes countries, the African Union institu-
tions and the UN Secretary-General.

Egypt

P6_TA(2008)0023

European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2008 on the situation in Egypt

(2009/C 41 E/13)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on the Euro-Mediterranean partnership,

— having regard to its resolution of 15 November 2007 on serious events which compromise Christian

communities' existence and those of other religious communities (1),

— having regard to the Barcelona Declaration of November 1995,

— having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
of 21 May 2003 Reinvigorating EU actions on human rights and democratisation with Mediterranean
partners — strategic guidelines (COM(2003)0294),

— having regard to the first conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network held in Cairo

on 26 and 27 January 2006,

— having regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treat-

ment or Punishment of 1984,

— having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders,

— having regard to Article 19 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as ratified by

Egypt in 1982,

— having regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against

Women,

— having regard to the work programme adopted at the Barcelona Summit of Heads of State and Govern-

ment in November 2005,

— having regard to the conclusions of the 5th European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments, adopted

on 26 November 2005 in Barcelona,

— having regard to the resolutions adopted by the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) on

27 March 2006 and the declaration by its President,

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0542.