Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh#European Parliament resolution of  13 March 2008  on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh
Date: 2008-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Afghanistan, communications profession, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, information society, repression

20.3.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 66 E/71

Thursday 13 March 2008

1.
Condemns the disproportionate use of force by police and riot police and militias against the demon-
strators on 3 March 2008, and calls on the authorities to investigate the incidents and to bring those
responsible to justice;

2.

Calls for the immediate release of all those demonstrators who are still detained;

Deplores in particular the fact that the run-up to the presidential election was marked by the illegal
3.
treatment of opposition candidates; regrets the failure to use the recent election to strengthen democracy
and the rule of law in Russia;

Regrets that the Russian authorities regarded the intended monitoring mission of the OSCE/ODIHR as
4.
an intrusion into internal affairs; voices its strong support for the important work of this mission and
reminds Russia of its commitments and responsibilities as a member of the OSCE and of the Council of
Europe, including the right of association and the right to peaceful demonstrations;

5. Welcomes the stated commitment by the newly elected President of Russia to guarantee the rule of
law and democracy, and expresses the hope that he will give priority to the deepening of relations with the
European Union;

Calls on the newly elected President of Russia to review the treatment of imprisoned public figures
6.
(among them Mihail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev), whose imprisonment has been assessed by most
observers as having been politically motivated; underlines that this would strengthen the credibility of the
Russian authorities and enhance an even closer partnership between Russia and the EU;

Urges the Council and Member States to make Russia's full compliance with European Court of

7.
Human Rights judgments a key priority at all levels of dialogue with Russia;

8.
Calls on the new Russian President and Government to create together with the European Union the
necessary conditions for a rapid start of the negotiations on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement
between the EU and Russia; stresses once more, in this regard, that respect for the rule of law, democracy
and human rights must be an important part of any future agreement with Russia;

9.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and
parliaments of the Member States and of the Russian Federation, as well as to the President of the Russian
Federation, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh

P6_TA(2008)0106

European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2008 on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz
Kambakhsh

(2009/C 66 E/13)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan,

— having regard to the Afghan Constitution adopted in 2004,

— having regard to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 18 December 2007 calling for a

worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty (A/RES/62/149),

C 66 E/72

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.3.2009

Thursday 13 March 2008

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

on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

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

A. whereas on 22 January 2008, a regional court in the northern Afghan province of Balkh sentenced to
death the 23-year-old Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh for circulating an article about
women's rights in Islam, which he had downloaded from the Internet; whereas the court ruled that the
article constituted blasphemy and sentenced Mr Kambakhsh to death,

B. whereas Mr Kambakhsh was denied legal representation and sentenced without a proper hearing;

whereas he was allegedly beaten and threatened with execution until he signed a confession,

C. whereas on 6 February 2008, a delegation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA)
met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, providing him with details of the case and asking him to
intervene on Mr Kambakhsh's behalf,

D. whereas Article 34 of Afghan Constitution clearly defends the right to freedom of expression in line
with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and provides: ‘freedom of expression shall be inviol-
able; every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well
as other means in accordance with provisions of this Constitution’,

E. whereas journalists in Afghanistan, especially women, are increasingly faced with intimidation, death

threats, abduction and violence,

F.

whereas the death sentence against Mr Kambakhsh was delivered in the face of the UN General
Assembly's adoption of the above-mentioned resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the
use of the death penalty and at a time when a total of 135 countries have abolished the death penalty
in law or practice,

Reaffirms its unconditional opposition to the death penalty and its commitment to respect for the rule

1.
of law;

Condemns the arrest of Mr Kambakhsh and the decision by the primary court of Balkh province to

2.
sentence him to death on charges of blasphemy; calls for Mr Kambakhsh to be released;

3.
Urgently calls on the Afghan authorities to show their commitment to human and democratic rights
by doing everything in their power to prevent his execution and to secure a review of his case; calls on
President Hamid Karzai, in the event that the court of appeal should uphold the death sentence, to exercise
his power to pardon Mr Kambakhsh;

Recalls President Karzai's assurances concerning the safety of Mr Kambakhsh, which he gave to a dele-

4.
gation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association on 6 February 2008;

5.

Expresses its solidarity with all those fighting for independent journalism in Afghanistan;

6.
Calls on the President and Parliament of Afghanistan to take appropriate steps to speed up the devel-
opment of a functional penal and judicial system based on international standards and best practices;
welcomes the announcement by the Commissioner for External Relations at the Rome conference on ‘The
rule of law in Afghanistan’ in July 2007 of immediate financial support to help Afghanistan strengthen the
rule of law and reform its judiciary;

7.
Calls on the Afghan Government to respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human
Rights to the full and to ensure that freedom of expression is guaranteed and upheld for all citizens in
Afghanistan;

8.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and
parliaments of the Member States, and to the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan.