RESOLUTION OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MINORITIES IN IRAQ & MIDDLE EAST Resolution des Europäischen Parlaments – Betreff: Zukunft der Minderheiten im Irak

RE\P8_B(2015)0240_EN.doc PE552.219v01-00 – United in diversity – EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2014 – 2019 Plenary sitting – 10.3.2015 B8-0240/2015 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure on the recent attacks and abductions by Daesh in the Middle East, notably of Assyrians (2015/2599(RSP))

Bodil Ceballos, Alyn Smith, Ernest Urtasun, Michèle Rivasi, Michel – Reimon, Barbara Lochbihler, Davor Škrlecon behalf of the Verts/ALE Group – PE552.219v01-00 2/6 RE\P8_B(2015)0240_EN.doc – EN B8-0240/2015 – European Parliament resolution on the recent attacks and abductions by Daesh in the Middle East, notably of Assyrians – (2015/2599(RSP))

The European Parliament,having regard to its previous resolutions on Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, and in particular those of 9 October 2013 on the recent cases of violence and persecution against Christians, of 19 September 2014 on the situation in Iraq and Syria and the ISIS offensive including the persecution of minorities, and of 12 February 2015 on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, in particular in the IS context, having regard to the statements by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) on Libya, Iraq and Syria, and in particular of 16 February 2015 on the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, having regard to the EU guidelines on international humanitarian law, on human rights defenders and on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief, having regard to statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the murder of 21 Christians in Libya on 17 February 2015, having regard to the statement by the Director General of UNESCO on the destruction of the Mosul Museum artefacts and of the ancient cities of Nimrud and Hatra, − having regard to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and to theRome Statute of the International Criminal Court, having regard to the Universal Declaration of HumanRights of 1948, having regard to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,−having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

Whereas the so-called Islamic State (hereafter IS) has committed a wide range of abuses, violations and crimes against populations in northern Iraq and Syria, and most recently in eastern Libya; whereas these grave acts include mass executions and ethnic cleansing amounting to acts of genocide against specific ethnic and religious groups, forced conversions, forcible displacements, stoning and amputation, enforced disappearance and torture; whereas the UN has also reported systematic sexual and physical violence and enslavement of women and children and recruitment of children for suicide bombings;

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B.

Whereas IS has particularly targeted ethnic and religious groups such as Assyrians (also called Chaldeans and Syriacs), Yazidi communities and Shia Muslims; whereas the majority of the victims of IS are reportedly Sunni

Muslims from the North and East of Syria;

C.

Whereas war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the other conflicting parties in the region, including by Government forces, notably that of the Assad regime, continue to be reported daily and on a massive scale;

D.

whereas Shia militias, acting alongside the Iraqi Government in its fight against IS, have been held responsible for kidnappings, summary executions, torture, and mass displacements of thousands of families; whereas the Iraqi government has not held anyone accountable for the abuses by these militias or its own forces;

E.

Whereas on 23 February 2015, around 20 villages mostly inhabited by Assyrians in north-eastern Syria (Khabour region) were attacked by IS, 10 of which were emptied of their inhabitants; whereas it is estimated that around 3,000 persons were displaced; whereas more than 220 Assyrians, including 30 children andseveral dozen women, along with civilian men and fighters were captured during this attack; whereas only 23 hostages have been released to date; whereas dozens of Assyrians were killed during the IS assault;

whereas IS reportedly issued a declaration in February 2015 requesting Assyrian villages in the Syrian Hasaka Province to pay the jizya, a tax on non-Muslims dating to early Islamic rule and abolished in 1856 across the Ottoman empire, to convert to Islam or else be killed;

F.

whereas the Syriac Military Council, which has beenfighting IS alongside the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), has called for the US-led coalition to intervene in the area and to supply them with heavy weapons; whereas the US-led coalition struck targets in the region shortly after the mass abduction in February;

G.

Whereas Assyrian Christians have been living in this region since ancient times; whereas

this group has been victim of massacres during the Ottoman period in 1915, and during the Iraqi kingdom in the 1930s; whereas thousands had to flee the Nineveh Province in northern Iraq following IS advances last year; whereas other Christian communities have been attacked by IS in the region, including Copts;

H.

Whereas as part of a deliberate policy of cultural and religious cleansing, IS has reportedly

destroyed 119 churches in Iraq, and 6 churches in Syria, as well as a number of Shia

mosques in Iraq; whereas in February 2015, IS fighters deliberately publicised their destruction of statues and other artefacts in the Mosul Museum dating back to the ancient Assyrian and Akkadian empires; whereas IS subsequen tly bulldozed the ancient Assyriancity of Nimrud and most recently, it reportedly des troyed the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hatra; whereas the Syrian regime has report

edly shelled churches in oppositionneighbourhoods, for example in Homs in 2012 and Idlib in 2013;

I.

Whereas Egyptian authorities under the rule of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces

reportedly massacred nearly 30 Copts who were protesting against the regime in front of PE552.219v01-00 6/6 RE\P8_B(2015)0240_EN.doc

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beyond the immediate neighbouring region through resettlement, humanitarian admission schemes, simplified family reunification or more fl

exible visa regulations; underlines the particular need to address those facing specific vulnerabilities, such as serious medicalneeds, sexuality, gender and disability;

14.

Urges all EU Member States to ratify the Internatio

nal Convention for the Protection of

All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a matter of priority; calls on the EEAS and

the Member States to promote universal ratificationand the implementation of this very

important human rights instrument and to support the work of the UN Committee on

Enforced Disappearances, established under this Convention;

15.

Instructs its President to forward this resolutionto the Vice-President of the Commission /

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the

Commission, the EU Special Representative for HumanRights, the Governments and

Parliaments of the EU Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the

United Nations Human Rights Council and all the parties involved in the conflict in Syria,Iraq and Libya

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