Joint Motion for a Resolution on human rights in Sudan

JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure, by

– Renate Sommer, Nirj Deva, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Charles Tannock and Bernd Posselt, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group

– Pasqualina Napoletano, Margrietus van den Berg, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, Glenys Kinnock and Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, on behalf of the PSE Group

– Fiona Hall and Marios Matsakis, on behalf of the ALDE Group

– Ryszard Czarnecki, on behalf of the UEN Group

– Margrete Auken and Raül Romeva i Rueda, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

– Feleknas Uca, Umberto Guidoni, Luisa Morgantini and Miguel Portas, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

replacing the motions by the following groups:

– GUE/NGL (B6 0208/2007)

– UEN (B6 0210/2007)

– PSE (B6 0211/2007)

– ALDE (B6 0221/2007)

– PPE-DE (B6 0225/2007)

– Verts/ALE (B6 0228/2007)

on human rights in Sudan

European Parliament resolution on human rights in Sudan

The European Parliament,

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

A. whereas the court headed by Judge Hatim Abdurrahman Mohamed Hasan sentenced Amouna Abdallah Daldoum (a 23-year-old woman) and Sadia Idries Fadul (a 22 year-old woman from the Tama tribe, Darfur) on 6 March 2007 and 13 February 2007 respectively to death by stoning for having committed adultery,

B. whereas stoning is a cruel and inhuman punishment, and severe punishment of adultery violates the basic human rights and international obligations subscribed to by Sudan,

C. whereas both women have appealed against the judgement,

D. whereas, according to a letter sent by the Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan in Brussels, the Court has quashed the death sentences because Ms Daldoum and Ms Fadul were not provided with the ‘the necessary legal advocacy’ and will review the case ‘in the light of the appeal court’s legal remarks’,

E. whereas on 3 May the Criminal Court of Nyala in South Darfur sentenced Zakaria Mohamed and Ahmed Abdullah Suleiman, both aged 16, to death by hanging on murder and robbery charges,

F. whereas Sudan has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, under which it has undertaken not to carry out executions of anyone under 18 years of age,

G. whereas the Sudanese Government is a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement, and EU cooperation with ACP countries is based on respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law,

H. whereas the Republic of Sudan is a signatory to the human rights clause of the Cotonou Agreement and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

I. whereas the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ratified by the Republic of Sudan, includes the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment, but whereas the death penalty, flogging, amputation and other corporal punishments are still being carried out for a number of criminal offences,

J. whereas on 14 March 2007 the European Commission announced an additional €45 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan (bringing the total so far for 2007 to €85), demonstrating the EU’s commitment to the people of Sudan,

1. Welcomes the quashing of the death sentence – if indeed it is confirmed by the court itself – and calls on the Sudanese Government to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Sadia Idris Fadul and Amouna Abdallah Daldoum;

2. Calls on the Sudanese Government to repeal the death sentences against, and guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of, Abdelrahman Zakaria Mohamed and Ahmed Abdullah Suleiman;

3. Strongly reminds the Government of Sudan that the use of the death penalty against child offenders is prohibited under international law;

4. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States:

(a) to condemn the use of the death penalty, flogging and other corporal, cruel or degrading punishments, to promote the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment and to promote women’s rights in their relations with the Sudanese authorities, including the right of women and girls to be free from discrimination and violence, in line with international laws and standards;

(b) to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in their relations with the Sudanese authorities, including compliance with national laws and international human rights standards, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sudan has been a State Party since 1986, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Sudan has been a State Party since 1990, and the human rights clause of Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, which Sudan signed in 2005;

5. Calls on the Government of Sudan to revise its judicial system accordingly and to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty;

6. Calls on the Government of Sudan to accede to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, as well as to the Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union, both adopted in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Commission, the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the African Union, and the Government of Sudan.