1. Tibet
The next item is the debate on six motions for resolutions on Tibet.
author. - (PL) Mr President, Tibet has been under Chinese occupation for over 50 years. The Chinese authorities have been pursuing a policy of discrimination and persecution, aimed at marginalising Tibetans in their own homeland. The Chinese army has recently carried out yet another barbaric killing. On this occasion a defenceless Tibetan nun was murdered crossing the border into Nepal. China denies that shots were fired at Tibetan refugees attempting to enter Nepal, but the entire incident was caught on film.
The House cannot remain silent and indifferent to these latest events. The policy of force and repression imposed on the people of Tibet by the Chinese authorities can no longer be tolerated.
I hereby call on the Government of the People's Republic of China to stop violating the human rights of the Tibetan nation and of other minorities. I also appeal to the Chinese Government to guarantee that it will respect international law, international human rights standards and freedom of religion. Tibet must be granted genuine autonomy and the Tibetan people must be allowed freedom of religion and education.
I also call on the Government of the People's Republic of China to accelerate the dialogue begun with representatives of the Dalai Lama, and to seek to arrive, without further delay, at a solution to the issue of Tibet that is acceptable to both parties.
author. - (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, China's representatives described the events of 30 September on that country's border in terms suggesting that they had been attacked by a band of Tibetans and had had - and with difficulty - to defend themselves.
On this occasion - unlike in many other instances - a video is in existence to clearly demonstrate that the opposite is the case. This video shows that the Tibetan refugees did not attack; that, on the contrary, the group of people trying to cross the border was composed of young people, children, nuns and monks. The European Union must firmly repudiate the Chinese account of what happened, and demand clarification of the matter.
It must also demand clarification as to what has become of the children that the Chinese troops took into custody, the present whereabouts and state of these children and refugees and the manner in which such situations on the border are, as a rule, handled. We in the European Union must make it abundantly plain that Tibet must be accorded autonomy within China's borders, but real autonomy nonetheless, in line with the 'Middle Way' proposed by the Dalai Lama.
author. - (DE) Mr President, there has been another incident with fatal consequences at the border between China and Nepal. When, on 30 September, a group of Tibetans - all of them unarmed civilians - attempted to flee over the Nangpa Pass to Nepal, Chinese border guards opened fire on them. Kelsang Namtso, a seventeen-year-old nun, was killed; many people were wounded, and thirty arrested, among them women and nine children.
I wish to echo what was said by the previous speakers. This tragedy would never have come to light had it not been for a Romanian camera crew that was on the scene by chance and filmed what happened. The pictures they took appeared on Dutch television at peak viewing time. Despite this documentation, Peking maintains that there were injuries but no deaths and that, moreover, it had been the Tibetans who had opened fire and the Chinese had been obliged to defend themselves.
We condemn this brutal action on the part of the Chinese security forces and call on the authorities to treat their captives in a humane manner and in compliance with international agreements, for China is a signatory to the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child, which protects minors from arrest and from arbitrary treatment on the part of the state.
What happened at the Nangpa Pass must be investigated with the minimum possible delay, and those responsible must be called to account for their actions. These attacks on defenceless civilians must be put on the agenda for the next EU/China dialogue on human rights.
I urge those representing the Commission to get an idea for themselves of what is going on, to go to the Tibetan Welfare Centre in Katmandu, as our ad hoc delegation from this House did in July when we went to Nepal, to ask the refugees arriving there about the things they have had to endure, and to do something about it!
(Applause)
author. - (NL) Mr President, this Parliament is right in once more expressing its indignation, and the unfortunate fact is that I expect it will have to do so many times more. The situation in Tibet is getting worse rather than better, and we may actually be to blame for this. Even before 1951, the European countries accepted that Tibet should be part of China, even though it was not described as such on maps. That is how it stayed when in the 50s, the People's Republic of China actually brought this inhospitable region under its control with military means, and the Dalai Lama fled to India.
Tibet has now become more easily accessible from China via the world's highest railway line. Foreign mountaineers witnessed recently how inhabitants who tried to flee the country were simply gunned down. The government, and probably the majority of public opinion in China, consider Tibet, above all, as a region that is still virtually empty and that needs to be colonised by Chinese people from the most densely populated areas. Since the Chinese economy is more than ever intertwined with the European economy, Europe has a powerful lever. The question is whether we are prepared to use this lever. Oppression will persist if we do not bring any pressure to bear.
author. - Mr President, China's Communist occupation of Tibet is a long-standing scourge on democracy and an open wound on the principles of justice and freedom. Time and again, we have strongly condemned the thoroughly indefensible and brutal way the Chinese regime has been treating a small peace-loving nation, isolated at the roof of the world.
In the latest incident, China's occupation forces opened fire on a group of unarmed, defenceless civilians who were attempting in desperation to flee their country through the glacial pass at Nangpa, situated at a height of almost 19 000 feet. The group included many women and children. A 17-year old nun was killed; a 20-year old was seriously injured; some individuals are missing and 29 people, including 14 children, were arrested. Some succeeded in escaping to neighbouring Nepal. Luckily and thankfully, the incident was witnessed by a number of foreign mountaineers, whose independent and trustworthy accounts, including a video, utterly contradicted the ridiculous lies about what happened put forward in an official statement by the Chinese authorities.
We in Europe have a lot to say when it comes to condemning actions of totalitarian and oppressive regimes, but in practice the severity of our words is not matched by our deeds. Apart from being regrettable, this is also highly hypocritical, in my view. The colonial-style occupation of Tibet by China, as, indeed, any colonial occupation of one country by another, has to end forthwith. To demonstrate that we mean what we say, we must take tangible measures against China. Yes, we have an arms embargo against that country, but it has little effect. What would really be effective is if we had a trade import ban on China; that would really cause headaches to the Communist leaders in Beijing and would lead to some sensible responses to our demands for freedom for Tibet.
(Applause)
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - Mr President, it is clear that bold action is needed to improve the human rights situation in China. This recent incident gives us a clear reason why that should be a priority for the European Union. I find it absolutely appalling that the Chinese state media Xinhua reported the shooting as self-defence, while video footage clearly shows the Tibetan refugees were shot from a distance and in the back. No force, threat or resistance was offered to the Chinese border guards. None of the refugees had a weapon of any kind, not even a knife.
I would like to thank the Finnish Presidency and draw attention to its work in the human rights dialogue. Last week, on 20 October, the Finnish Presidency issued an official statement condemning the incident. I would like to thank the Presidency for that.
Finally, as indicated in the joint resolution on Tibet, we must continue to encourage high-level talks between the Dalai Lama and the Government of China. I would like to reiterate that this is the only way to find a peaceful and sustainable solution for real autonomy for the Tibetan nation.
on behalf of the PSE Group. - (PL) Mr President, despite the fact that official relations between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama were restored in 2002, human rights continue to be infringed in Tibet on a regular basis. It is estimated that every year 2 500 people decide to escape from repression and undertake the dangerous journey to Nepal, lasting several days. The acts of violence perpetrated against unarmed civilians have given rise to particular concern. These acts include the shots fired at refugees by Chinese border guards in the Nangpa La pass in September of this year. The group of fugitives concerned was attempting to cross the Tibetan border and included women, children and monks. To date, the Chinese authorities have not accepted responsibility for this incident, in which one person was killed. The fate of several children detained by the military is still unknown.
It is incumbent upon international institutions to take decisive and effective action to compel the Government of the People's Republic of China to put an end to its repression of the people of Tibet, its inhumane treatment of prisoners, its use of torture and its extra-judicial executions. We appeal once again, from the floor of this House, for fundamental human rights to be respected in Tibet. These rights include freedom of expression and association. We also call for a genuine dialogue between both parties, aimed at achieving understanding and respect for the religious, political and cultural rights of the Tibetan people.
(Applause)
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. - (ES) Mr President, in the two and a half years that I have been an MEP, this must the third time, or perhaps there have been more, that we have had to discuss human rights violations in Tibet, and I fear that it will not be the last. The difference this time compared to previous occasions, however, is that we have filmed evidence demonstrating that the Chinese authorities' attempts to deny these events are deceitful and that, at the same time, the Xinhua news agency's attempts to show that this action was in self-defence is entirely without foundation.
We are therefore dealing with an event that clearly requires investigation, as other speakers have said. I agree with that and I support it, but, furthermore, it also deserves to be treated as a fundamental issue within the framework of European Union-China dialogue. I would insist that this is not the first time, but it is really becoming rather sad that, since we have the opportunity to hold this dialogue with China, and on the eve of the 2008 Olympic Games, we do not stress over and over again that the Tibet situation could be resolved if there were truly a little political will on the part of the Chinese authorities. So far we have not seen any such will.
on behalf of the UEN Group. - (PL) Mr President, we are today debating human rights in China. We are doing so in the wake of a tragic and terrifying border incident. On this occasion, people throughout the world were able to see for themselves how China deals with defenceless individuals who do not present any kind of threat to the Communist authorities. These poor people are simply shot at without compunction.
The incident we are currently debating, and which has rightly triggered discussion of this subject in the European Parliament, reminds us of a bitter truth. Human rights are being systematically violated in China in almost every aspect of life. The human, economic and religious rights of the citizens of the People's Republic of China are being infringed. Unfortunately, we have to admit the sad and unpalatable truth that, all too often, the governments of individual European Union Member States remain hypocritically silent about what is happening in China. The same applies to the European Union institutions. If the common values that unite us in this House and across Europe really are common, it is incumbent on us to call, loudly and clearly, for human rights to be respected in the People's Republic of China.
on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. - Mr President, I am very glad that Parliament is showing such concern for the people of Tibet. I do not question the genuineness of it, but I do question the genuineness of the way in which this Parliament acts on such concerns. Today in the budget vote we rejected three amendments that would have removed EU development funding from government and organisational programmes that included coercive abortion, involuntary sterilisation and infanticide.
Why do Tibetans try to escape from China? It is because of these very barbaric practices, in addition to religious persecution and political persecution. This is what blights the life of all minorities and conquered peoples within the territory that China now claims to rule.
I ask you, Commissioner - and I would like an answer - what part does our development aid play in this kind of suffering?
Mr President, I wish to begin by saying to Mrs Sinnott that it is clouding the issue to raise points like that, which are entirely separate from what we are discussing here today.
Approximately 2500 Tibetans - possibly more - annually flee across the border from the Himalayas into exile. They are certainly escaping from the brutality of China's occupation, but it is not necessarily as Mrs Sinnott suggests.
It is difficult to know how many are caught or shot by the Chinese border authorities, because the allegations have generally remained uninvestigated. This particularly horrendous shooting incident on 30 September is in violation of the basic UN principles on the use of force and firearms by law-enforcement officials. It is interesting that there are guidelines as to when law-enforcement officials can shoot, but these require that they should not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury. Those of us who have seen the video clips of this incident know that the situation was not one involving grave threats to life. It appeared to be an unprovoked attack.
That is why the motion for a resolution before us is very important, in particular paragraph 8, which urges the Council and the Commission to reiterate their position regarding dialogue between the appropriate authorities. That is a position we must echo this afternoon: dialogue to resolve this situation.
(PL) Mr President, the resolution we are to vote on today concerns the events of 30 September, when Chinese policemen shot at a group of Tibetan refugees seeking freedom beyond the People's Republic of China. It was certainly not the first incident of its kind. It was unusual, however, in that this barbaric behaviour was caught on film. Television and the Internet enabled us all, along with millions of others around the world, to see for ourselves what the Chinese policy on Tibet actually amounts to.
The fate of the Tibetan people is particularly unfortunate because they are one of the most peace-loving nations in the world. The Dalai Lama is not demanding independence for Tibet. The Tibetans are prepared to exist within the framework laid down in the Chinese constitution. How can it be possible to shoot at such people? How can they be persecuted and killed, simply because of their desire for a small measure of freedom and for the protection of their cultural heritage? Can this tragic course of events be halted? It can be, if orders are issued to ban the shooting of people fleeing from a country they do not wish to live in. This happened in the past, rather closer to home, on the border between East and West Germany. Great nations cannot and must not base their authority on the massacre of defenceless refugees.
(PL) Mr President, much has been said in the House today about the situation in Tibet. The Chinese authorities claim to respect Tibet's autonomy, but their actions tell quite a different story.
I would like to take this opportunity to draw Parliament's attention to the report by Human Rights Watch published on 9 October 2006. This report mentions how an Internet blog created by Woeser, a leading Tibetan intellectual, was shut down. The blog was one of the most interesting political and cultural developments in contemporary China. It told the truth about the situation in Tibet, describing the damage to the environment and to Tibetan culture. Woeser is one of the most distinguished female intellectuals in contemporary China, and her blog gave a true account of current events in Tibet.
We simply cannot tolerate a situation in which the Chinese authorities claim to have granted autonomy to a particular province, whereas in practice they are closing down leading intellectual online blogs.
Member of the Commission. Mr President, the Commission fully shares the concerns expressed by the honourable Members of Parliament regarding the recent shooting by China's People's Liberation Army of Tibetan refugees at the border between the People's Republic of China and Nepal, the subsequent death of one of them and the imprisonment of some of those refugees.
The matter has been formally taken up by the European Union in the framework of the last session of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, held in Beijing on 19 October, as rightly mentioned by the honourable Member from Finland. On that occasion, the European Union refuted the claim by China that the shooting had been in self-defence, urged the Chinese Government to undertake a thorough investigation of the incident and insisted that the imprisoned refugees be treated in compliance with international humanitarian standards.
More generally, the Commission is very concerned about the human rights situation in Tibet, and in particular the preservation of the cultural, religious and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people. This issue has been regularly addressed during the bilateral dialogue on human rights as well as at the highest level, during bilateral summits.
The European Union is particularly concerned about the number of Tibetans from religious backgrounds who are in prison for political reasons, and has repeatedly asked for their immediate release. Several of these people are on the list of individual cases regularly submitted to the Chinese authorities on the margins of these dialogues.
The Commission believes that China's policy in Tibet is not consistent with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The early ratification by China of this covenant ranks among the top priorities of the European Union in the field of human rights and we have left China in no doubt as to the need to fully respect the spirit of that covenant, once it has been signed and even before it is ratified.
As part of its overall policy vis-à-vis Tibet, the European Union has consistently taken the view that establishing a direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities is the only realistic way to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the question of Tibet. We have therefore welcomed and closely monitored the five rounds of talks so far held between the special envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government.
The Commission urges both sides to continue this dialogue and use these talks to try to make substantive progress.
The debate is closed.
The vote will take place today, at the end of the debates.


3. North-Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo)
The next item is the debate on six motions for a resolution concerning North Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
author. - (NL) Mr President, this Parliament is rightly paying great attention to what is going on in the former Belgian colony of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in particular to the continued fighting, forcible displacement, rape and mass assassination in the east of that vast country. These horrors have been part of the conflict in the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Internationally recognised state borders have little meaning for groups of people who must seek new territories as a result of being expelled or the continuing lack of means of existence. Everything is in motion in this region, and the thing is that the slightest movement one way or the other potentially stirs up either violence or horror. Warlords who acquire respect, power and wealth by their innate love of conflict increase the already existing problems and make them even more difficult to solve.
Very recently, on 17 January, we discussed the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo here in this House and adopted a resolution that stated our wish to see all horrors cease. I fear that we could adopt many more resolutions on this matter without any solutions coming of it. The expectation that last year's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo could solve the problems has ended in disappointment. The incumbent president, Kabila, has won, but he represents different points of view from the movement from which he originated, and the outcomes of both the presidential and parliamentary elections were controversial for the opposition.
The question is, how is such a large country with poor lines of communication and a wide range of peoples to function in a way that is supported by its whole population and all its divergent political forces. It does not seem that this is likely to succeed in an area like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where life-threatening diseases reign, the environment and the land are over-exploited, and people remain completely without rights. The question is whether the armistice of 23 January for North and South Kivu, which takes for granted the disarmament of the warring factions and the return of refugees to their places of residence, is feasible, and whether the United Nations can contribute on the ground to this end. It will not succeed by electing parties in the midst of conflict but possibly by persuading parties, the warring party for example, to abandon sexual violence and allow doctors in.
author. - (FR) Mr President, I do not intend to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in its entirety, but rather the north-east of the country, and the Kivu region, where a vile war has been raging for years, and even more intensely in recent months.
You might say that all wars are vile, but I feel this one is much more so. This war has produced, and continues to produce, hundreds of thousands of victims, deaths and displaced persons, but hundreds and thousands of women, little girls and grandmothers have also suffered what is now called sexual violence. It is more than that, however; it is the use of rape as a genuine weapon of war, and this goes on amid a certain amount of indifference in public opinion and the international community, and more specifically European public opinion.
This vile war has been raging for two years between rival factions: the rebel troops led by Laurent Nkunda, a dissident Congolese general, the former perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda who were imported after the end of the campaign in 1994, but also, unfortunately, certain elements of the recently dismantled Congolese army. That is enough. Fortunately a peace conference was held there recently, attended by all the factions involved, and it led to a cease-fire. Unfortunately, Mr President, the cease-fire is extremely fragile and tension is again mounting.
We therefore propose two essential priorities: the first concern is protection for civilians, to provide means for the MONUC mission on the ground to defend them. In accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter it can use weapons to carry out the mission, for these massacres simply must stop. The second priority is to support the peace efforts discussed there, because the solution to the problem in the Great Lakes region would be a political solution involving all parties, including Rwanda, which must honour its commitments to repatriate its nationals operating in Kivu.
author, (PL) Mr President, since the end of the Second World War, no other conflict has been as cruel and barbaric as that in the Congo. Armed conflict in North Kivu province has continued with variable intensity for the last 10 years. It has resulted in more than five million victims. Some 1 500 people are dying every day as a result of the fighting.
Mass killings, the rape of young girls and mothers, and forced conscription of civilians and children into the armed forces are the order of the day. Many other serious violations of human rights have also taken place in recent months in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have been committed by the rebel groups loyal to Laurent Nkunda, by the fighters of the democratic forces attempting to liberate Rwanda, and by the Congolese army itself. The eastern part of Congo is in need of immediate medical aid and food supplies, as recent events have forced most humanitarian organisations to suspend their activities.
I therefore call on the Council and the European Commission to make crisis funding available in view of the unusually grave humanitarian situation in this region.
author. - (DE) Mr President, anyone who has ever seen the Great Lakes region of East Africa from the air might think that it was paradise. In reality, it is often more like hell on earth. It is a region of fantastic natural beauty and a wealth of natural resources, on the one hand, and appalling suffering, on the other: natural disasters, war, expulsion, famine, disease, massacres, mass rape and ethnic conflicts - worse than almost anywhere else. There are 800 000 internally displaced persons in North Kivu alone.
It is important to recognise that this problem of expulsion exists on both sides of the border. In Africa, there is a phenomenon which does not exist in this form anywhere else, namely that people are not just displaced from one specific side of the border to the other. Instead, each country expels people from its side of the border into the other country, so there are refugees and displaced persons on both sides. As a result, the countries are completely unstable. That is why we need to provide humanitarian aid, and we need a massive presence here in order to help the people.
In essence, however, that is merely tinkering with the symptoms. Unless we can establish reasonably viable state and rule-of-law structures, the disaster will never end, no matter how much assistance we provide. That is why it is extremely important for us to play a major role, also politically. The cease-fire of 23 January is extremely fragile and only really exists on paper. That is why we need to force all the parties, as a matter of urgency, to get round the table and talk to each other, but it also means that we have to play our part.
Regrettably, Europeans often profit from these disasters. That is why the call for us to take certificates of origin more seriously, e.g. for natural resources, is justified, for often it is the Europeans who brutally exploit the people's suffering for their own economic interests. We have a responsibility here too, and we should not be content with making pretty speeches and applying sticking plaster solutions.
author. - (ES) Mr President, we have a new episode today in this tragic serial set in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In this case the scene is North Kivu, but the plot and the victims are the same, as covered by an emergency resolution in the January part-session.
Almost five and a half million people have died in the war since 1998, and forty-five thousand more die every month, directly or indirectly due to the war. The upshot of this is that one thousand five hundred people die every day: in other words, since we started this part-session on Monday, six thousand people have died already in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The last few months, moreover, particularly in the east of the country, have seen an increase in massacres, rape of little girls and women, and forced recruitment of girls and boys. Both Laurent Nkunda's rebel troops and the soldiers fighting in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda are responsible for all this.
We also ought to remember that the MONUC mandate is based on Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, giving it the authority to use all necessary means to dissuade any attempt to use force that jeopardises the life or integrity of civilians or constitutes a threat to the political process.
To date, however, the MONUC presence has proved totally insufficient to bring an end to these barbaric acts. We must therefore again appeal to the Security Council to react and provide all available means to curtail these massacres.
Moreover, although we must welcome the Goma Conference paving the way towards political negotiation, its agreements, especially agreements concerning demobilisation, remain ambiguous, and their application is unclear.
Lastly, this is another chance, as Mr Posselt has already said, to again call for control mechanisms to be activated and implemented such as the Kimberley Process for diamonds producing certificates of origin for natural resources imported by the EU.
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - (PL) Mr President, Joseph Conrad referred to Congo as the heart of darkness. From the beginning of its existence, that is to say from 1960 onwards, Congo has been the scene of horrific pogroms, killings and civil wars. As a result, Congo has never been able to stand on its own two feet despite being endowed with abundant natural resources. The conflict in the area is the most cruel and barbarous to have occurred since the end of the Second World War. Sadly, it is still ongoing, claiming the lives of almost 50 000 human beings every month. Half of the victims are children under the age of five. The passage of the armies is accompanied by all kinds of crimes against the civilian population: rapes, looting and murder. That is why we welcome the outcome of the Goma peace conference and have such high hopes of it. It could mean the end of armed conflict in the Kivu region, but whether it does will depend partly on us too.
It may, however, prove impossible to resolve this conflict without support from the international community and neighbouring countries. It is important for international support not to be limited to political declarations, but to focus first and foremost on providing appropriate financial, organisational and technical assistance.
on behalf of the PSE Group. - (DE) Mr President, according to the aid agencies, the situation in North Kivu is in some respects even worse than in Darfur. North Kivu is not in the spotlight, however, and no one in the international community is taking notice of what is happening there. Since the official peace agreement in 2002, Kabila's government has attempted to integrate the regional militia into a national army, so far without much success. The civilian population is still vulnerable to the impacts of the armed conflicts. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) highlights the difficulties facing relief workers in gaining access to the civilian population due to the continued fighting and says that malnutrition is another major threat to the population in North Kivu.
We therefore urge the Council and the Commission to provide aid immediately and to launch comprehensive medical assistance programmes for the civilian population in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo without delay. We also urge the Council and the Commission to ensure that the recent strengthening of the UN mission leads to substantial improvements in the security of the population.
on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. - (PL) Mr President, despite the agreement reached in Goma on improving security and development in Congo, human rights are still being violated in Kivu province. Three hundred thousand individuals have been forced to leave their homes due to rising violence since the end of 2006 alone. The violence affects women and children in particular. They become the victims of rape or are forced to join armed groups. To date, six million individuals have been displaced, and five million have died as a result of conflict and war fuelled by economic interest groups and supported by governments eager to benefit from the riches available there.
That is why what is needed is more than debates and resolutions in the European Parliament and humanitarian assistance to the inhabitants of Congo. The predatory exploitation of natural resources has to be stopped, together with the speculative activities of international businesses that are enriching themselves at the expense of the life and health of the region's inhabitants.
. - (NL) Mr President, we know that our words here will probably not get us much further forward. We can only hope that all parties will permanently adhere to the agreement made at the Goma Conference and that the madness which has already gripped North Kivu for too long can come to an end. According to the UN, since the start of the conflict 800 000 people have fled their homes. Thousands and thousands of women and young girls have become the victims of vicious rapes, and children are forced to take part in the fighting.
Furthermore, we must not forget that the members of the Nkunda militia are not the only ones responsible for massive cruelties. No, all parties, including the government soldiers, have systematically committed crimes against humanity. There are not many 'good guys' in North Kivu. Ultimately, therefore, the same number of culprits must be tried. They must answer for their atrocities. It is not only the responsibility of the International Court of Human Rights to pass judgment, it is primarily the responsibility of the Congolese leaders and of Joseph Kabila.
(PL) Mr President, as Mr Posselt has stated, large areas of the Congo are hell on earth. This has been exacerbated by certain entities not all of which are Congolese. I wish to draw attention to a situation I have seen for myself, namely the high numbers of children orphaned in the area as a result of the conflict. In my view the funding should go to missionaries to enable them to care for those children, especially the boys, so that they are not conscripted into the armies. Once the boys are conscripted they become incapable of anything except shooting and raping. Allow me to reiterate, Commissioner, that funds are needed to teach and care for those unfortunate individuals.
(CS) Commissioner, I appeal to the Commission here in Strasbourg to release funds reserved for crisis situations now and to start immediately reconstruction projects, notably with a wide-ranging programme of general medical support for civilians in North-Kivu.
The recent earthquake just worsened what already was a humanitarian disaster. All of us here also ask the Commission and the Council to initiate immediately an Africa-wide coalition to find a political solution to the conflict.
Member of the Commission. - Mr President, the Commission remains very concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in the Kivus, and North Kivu in particular, where the number of internally displaced people - currently exceeding 800 000 in North Kivu alone - has as much as doubled in the course of 2007, thus alarmingly increasing the vulnerability of the population already suffering hardship.
At the same time, we are aware of, and condemn, the severe human rights abuses - including recruitment of child soldiers and widespread sexual violence - taking place in the region.
Yet, in this context, it is important to remember that today's critical situation in North Kivu, while exacerbated by the fighting taking place in the second half of 2007, is a result of years of war in the region. The root causes of the Kivu conflict can be traced all the way to the Rwandan genocide at the beginning of the 1990s, while also bearing in mind that there are several local components - such as insufficient political representation of ethnic minorities, pillaging of natural resources and land tenure issues - that significantly contribute to the instability and insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
That is why the Commission welcomes the recent Goma Peace Conference and the following cease-fire as positive steps towards solving the enduring conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Conference restored President Kabila's credibility after the army's defeat against General Nkunda's troops at the end of 2007, and launched an inter-provincial dialogue process - something that the Commission has always advocated.
Moreover, along the lines of the commitments made by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in their Nairobi Joint Communiqué in November 2007, the Goma Conference also re-emphasised the need to tackle the problem of the ex-FAR as a priority. At the same time, it was made clear that there is a need to address the root causes of the conflict, while restoring the State authority in the east.
That said, it should not be forgotten that nothing was definitively solved at Goma or Nairobi. Finding a permanent solution to the root causes of the Kivu crisis, and thus a sustainable restoration of peace in the region, will take time. Indeed, while complementing each other, the Nairobi Joint Communiqué and the Goma Conference represent an encouraging start - but only a start - of a difficult and lengthy process.
The main challenge ahead is now an effective implementation of the Nairobi and Goma commitments. It ought to be assured that all the concerned stakeholders stand by their commitments. The EU will continue to follow closely and participate actively in this process.
In this context, international action in support of the Congolese is very much needed. The Commission, together with the Member States, is ready to continue to play an important role in the Kivus. We have traditionally been one of the most important donors in the east, via our humanitarian assistance and our rehabilitation and capacity-building programmes. We are willing to further increase our support for the region, especially through European initiatives, as well as in close collaboration with the United Nations.
The debate is closed.


Opening of the sitting


5. Voluntary modulation of direct payments under the CAP (vote)
- After the vote on the Commission proposal
Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. - Mr President, I should like to ask the Commissioner whether the Commission will withdraw its proposal.
Vice-President of the Commission. (IT) I shall, of course, report back to the College of Commissioners on the outcome of today's vote.
Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. - Mr President, I do not think that the Commission has cleared it up terribly well, but I think it is not withdrawing its proposal, and so we need to clarify the legal situation. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has presented the second report on voluntary modulation after the referral of the first report back to committee in November 2006, under Rule 52(3) of the Rules of Procedure. As no agreement was possible with the Commission, the committee has had to reiterate its position, so we are dealing here not with a new report, where Rule 52(3) may be applied again, but with the confirmation of the first report.
The Legal Service of the European Parliament, with which I have consulted on this issue, has informed me that, in our specific case, the last sentence of Rule 52(4) has to be applied mutatis mutandis, which means that we have the vote on this legislative resolution and that a second referral to committee according to Rule 52(3) is not appropriate, so we are not referring it back to committee.
I propose, therefore, that the House should vote in favour of Parliament's legislative resolution because we have already rejected the Commission's legislative proposal. Therefore, the ball is now firmly in the Commission and Council's court. We await a new proposal with great interest.
(Applause)
I am going to try to summarise this clearly. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is proposing that, instead of referring the report back to committee, we take the exceptional step of proceeding directly to a roll-call vote on the draft legislative resolution, in accordance with our Rules of Procedure.


Agenda for next sitting: see Minutes


3. Draft amending budget 4/2008 (


Corrections to votes and voting intentions: see Minutes
(The sitting was suspended at 12.45 and resumed at 15.00.)


3. (
- Before the vote on Amendment 3:
rapporteur. - (FR) Mr President, I just wanted to ask Mr Tannock if the addition he is proposing is in fact an addition, or whether his aim is to remove the section on violence and ill-treatment in police custody and penitentiary institutions. If his amendment is to be an addition, I can of course support it. If, however, he wishes part of the existing text to be deleted, I can only recommend that we vote against it.
(FR) It is an addition. Thank you.
- Before the vote on Amendment 7:
rapporteur. - (FR) Mr President, in paragraph 32 we repeat the two conditions, i.e. territorial integrity and self-determination, even though they are already mentioned in paragraph 30. However, the author of the amendment has added 'self-determination of the people who live there'. I strongly recommend that we delete the words 'of the people who live there' because that would exclude the refugees and persons displaced in their own country. Therefore, if the author of the amendment agrees to delete those few words, I will be able to support the amendment; otherwise, I recommend that we reject it.
Mr President, I have agreed to that change to the oral amendment.
(Parliament agreed to accept the oral amendment)
- Before the vote on Amendment 8/rev:
Mr President, as we agreed at the beginning of the session, it will be an addition now. In the actual text it says to replace the words 'in the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline' with the words 'in the trans-Caspian energy corridor projects'. But by negotiation at the beginning of the voting session, I have already agreed this should be an addition rather than a replacement, so can we include the words 'in the trans-Caspian energy corridor projects'.
(Parliament agreed to accept the oral amendment)