نص
القرار الصادر عن البرلمان الأوروبي لحماية الكلدان السريان الآشوريين المسيحيين
واليزيديين، والأقليات الدينية الأخرى في الشرق الأوسط من إجرام تنظيم الدولة
الإسلامية " داعش"، بالإضافة للدعوة لإنشاء ملاذات آمنة للأقليات
العرقية والدينية في سهل نينوى، والصادر يوم امس الخميس 12 آذار/مارس 2015
The European
Parliament,
-- having regard to
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948,
-- having regard to
Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) of 1950,
-- having regard to
Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
of 1966,
-- having regard to
the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination based on Religion and Belief of 1981,
-- having regard to
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities of 1992,
-- having regard to
the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance,
-- having regard to
its previous resolutions on Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, in particular that of
10 October 2013 on recent cases of violence and persecution against Christians,
notably in Maaloula (Syria) and Peshawar (Pakistan) and the case of Pastor Saeed
Abedini (Iran)(1), that of 18 September 2014 on the situation in Iraq and
Syria, and the IS offensive, including the persecution of minorities(2), and
that of 12 February 2015 on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, in
particular in the IS context(3),
-- having regard to
the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or
belief,
-- 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 violence and
persecution against Christians and other communities in the Middle East, in
particular that of 16 February 2015 on the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic
Christians in Libya,
-- having regard to
the Joint Communication from the Commission and the VP/HR to the European
Parliament and the Council on elements for an EU regional strategy for Syria
and Iraq as well as the Da'esh threat,
-- having regard to
the statement by the UN Security Council of 25 February 2015 condemning the
abduction of more than 100 Assyrians by ISIL,
-- having regard to
the UN Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the
Syrian Arab Republic entitled 'Rule of Terror: Living under ISIS in Syria', of
14 November 2014,
-- having regard to
the annual reports and interim reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom
of religion or belief,
-- having regard to
Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the
promotion of democracy and respect for human rights and civil liberties are
fundamental principles and aims of the European Union and constitute common
ground for its relations with third countries;
B. whereas,
according to international human rights law and Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in particular, everyone has the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion; whereas this right includes
freedom to change one's religion or belief, and freedom, either individually or
in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one's religion
or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching,; whereas according to
the UN Human Rights Committee, the freedom of religion or belief protects all
beliefs, including theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs;
C. whereas the European
Union has repeatedly expressed its commitment to freedom of thought, freedom of
conscience and freedom of religion or belief and has stressed that governments
have a duty to guarantee these freedoms all over the world;
D. whereas the
United Nations and other international organisations have reported widespread
serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed
by ISIS/Da'esh and associated groups in Syria and Iraq, in particular against
minority ethnic and religious groups, including through targeted killings,
forced conversions, abductions, selling of women, slavery of women and
children, recruitment of children for suicide bombings, sexual and physical
abuse and torture; whereas there are serious concerns for the welfare of those
still trapped in areas controlled by ISIS/Da'esh forces, as almost no
international humanitarian assistance reaches those areas;
E. whereas
ISIS/Da'esh has embarked upon a campaign to eradicate all traces of religious
and faith communities other than those representing its own interpretation of
Islam, by killing or expelling its adherents and destroying their holy places,
historical sites and artefacts, including unique and irreplaceable heritage
recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage and described as 'cultural cleansing' by
this organisation;
F. whereas in the
areas under its control, ISIS/Da'esh is extracting an unacceptable and
irreparable price from millenarian civilisations; whereas, notably in Iraq and
Syria, but also in other parts of the wider Middle East, the situation facing
Christian communities is such as to endanger their very existence, and if they
were to disappear, this would entail the loss of a significant part of the
religious heritage of the countries concerned;
G. whereas ISIS/Da'esh
targets Christians, Yezidis, Turkmen, Shi'ites, Shabak, Sabeans, Kaka'e and
Sunnis who do not agree with their interpretation of Islam, and other ethnic
and religious minorities, but whereas some of these communities were already
targeted by extremists well before the advance of ISIS/Da'esh; whereas
Christians in particular have been deliberately targeted by various extremist
or jihadist groups for many years, forcing more than 70 % of Iraqi Christians
and more than 700 000 Syrian Christians to flee their countries;
H. whereas in Iraq
the 250 000 Chaldeans/Assyrians/Syriacs comprise a distinct ethno-religious
group and it is estimated that up to 40 000 Assyrians lived in Syria before the
country's civil war broke out in 2011;
I. whereas on 15
February 2015 ISIS/Da'esh released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian
Coptic Christians in Libya; whereas the Copts, who were migrant workers from an
impoverished part of Egypt, had been kidnapped in Sirte, Libya;
J. whereas on 23
February 2015 an estimated 220 Assyrians were abducted by ISIS/Da'esh near Tell
Tamer on the southern Khabur River bank in north-east Syria; whereas during the
same campaign the extremists also destroyed properties and holy places of the
Christians; 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; whereas major ISIS/Da'esh attacks have
been reported on Assyrian Christian towns in the Khabur River area since 9
March 2015;;
K. whereas since 1
March 2015 ISIS/Da'esh has released several dozen Assyrians, mostly infants and
elderly people, following negotiations with tribal leaders, but most Assyrians
are still held captive and the terrorists have threatened to kill them if the
coalition bombings do not stop;
L. whereas as part
of a deliberate policy of cultural and religious cleansing, IS has reportedly
destroyed more than 100 churches in Iraq, and at least 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 subsequently bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and, most
recently, it reportedly destroyed the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hatra;
whereas the Syrian regime has reportedly shelled churches in opposition
neighbourhoods, for example in Homs in 2012 and Idlib in 2013;
M. whereas
ISIS/Da'esh continues to persecute, maim and murder, sometimes in extremely
cruel and unimaginable ways, members of ethnic and religious minorities,
journalists, prisoners of war, activists and others; whereas war crimes and
other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law continue to
be perpetrated on a daily basis and on a massive scale by other conflict
parties as well, including notably by the Assad regime;
N. whereas one of
the roots of the ISIS/Da'esh violence is Salafism, notably the extreme Wahhabi
interpretation of Islam;
1. Is shocked and
saddened at the brutal actions by ISIS/Da'esh extremists against the Assyrians
in Syria and the Copts in Libya, and condemns them in the strongest terms;
expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and with the Assyrian
Christian community in Syria and Coptic Christian community in Egypt, as well
as all other groups and individuals affected by ISIS/Da'esh violence;
2. Strongly
condemns ISIS/Da'esh and its egregious human rights abuses that amount to
crimes against humanity and war crimes according to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), and which could be called genocide; is
extremely concerned at this terrorist group's deliberate targeting of
Christians, Yezidis, Turkmen, Shi'ites, Shabak, Sabeans, Kaka'e and Sunnis who
do not agree with their interpretation of Islam, as part of its attempts to
exterminate any religious minorities from the areas under its control;
underlines that there must be no impunity for the perpetrators of these acts
and that those responsible should be referred to the ICC; recalls, in this
context, the unresolved kidnapping of Bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi
by armed rebels in Aleppo Province, Syria, on 22 April 2013;
3. Condemns,
furthermore, the attempts by ISIS/Da'esh to export their extremist totalitarian
ideology and violence to other countries in the region and beyond;
4. Supports the
international efforts against ISIS/Da'esh, including the military actions of
the international coalition, coordinated by the United States, and encourages
the EU Member States who have not already done so to consider ways of
contributing to these efforts, including tracing and interdicting ISIS secret
funds held overseas;
5. Calls upon the
international coalition to do more to prevent abductions of minorities, such as
the abduction of hundreds of Assyrian Christians in northern Syria; underlines
the importance of ensuring a safe haven for the Chaldeans/Assyrians/Syriacs and
others at risk in the Nineveh Plains, Iraq, an area where many ethnic and
religious minorities have historically had a strong presence and lived
peacefully alongside each other;
6. Urges the EU and
its Member States to take a proactive and preventive approach towards the
threat of ISIS/Da'esh expansion into countries and regions beyond Iraq and
Syria; in this light, is extremely concerned about the situation in Libya, not
least because of its geographical proximity to the EU as well as to conflict
areas in Africa;
7. Urges the EU and
its Member States, as well as NATO partners, to address the issue of certain
countries' ambivalent roles in the conflict, in particular where they
contributed, or still contribute, actively or passively, to the rise of
ISIS/Da'esh and other extremist groups; is very concerned, in this context,
about the financing of the dissemination of the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam
by public and private entities of countries from the Gulf region and calls upon
these countries to stop this financing; furthermore, urges these countries to
stop the financing of terrorist organisations from within their territories;
calls upon Turkey to play a positive role in the fight against ISIS/Da'esh and
without delay allow Christian minorities and other persecuted people fleeing
from Syria to cross the border into Turkey and seek safety;
8. Encourages the
cooperation with newly emerging regional and local forces, such as the Kurdish
Regional Government in Iraq, Kurdish groups elsewhere, such as the role of YPG
in the liberation of Kobane, and the Syriac Military Council, as well as local
self-governing entities in the region which have shown more commitment to human
rights and democracy than their countries' rulers; salutes, in particular, the
courage of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces who have done so much to protect
endangered minorities;
9. Is concerned
about reports of Christian minorities not having access to refugee camps in the
region because they would be too dangerous for them; requests that the EU make
sure its development assistance targets all minority groups displaced by the
conflict; encourages the EU to use the experience and well-established networks
of local and regional churches, as well as international relief organisations
of churches, to provide financial and other assistance, in order to ensure that
all minority groups can benefit from the protection and support of European
aid;
10. Considers it
imperative that the Council and the European External Action Service (EEAS)
start working with international and regional partners on a post-ISIS/Da'esh
scenario, taking into account the urgent need for cultural and religious
dialogue and reconciliation;
11. Denounces the
destruction of cultural sites and artefacts by ISIS/Da'esh in Syria and Iraq,
which constitutes an attack against the cultural heritage of all inhabitants of
these countries and of humanity at large;
12. Urges the EU
and its Member States to cooperate with international and local partners to
safeguard as much Assyrian and other cultural and religious heritage as
possible from the territories occupied by ISIS/Da'esh; furthermore, urges the
Council to take action against the illicit trade in ancient artefacts coming
from these territories;
13. Confirms and
supports the inalienable right of all religious and ethnic minorities living in
Iraq and Syria to continue to live in their historical and traditional
homelands in dignity, equality and safety, and to practice their religion
freely; in this light, urges all UN member states to clearly speak out against
the violence and in particular in favour of the rights of minorities; believes
that in order to stem the suffering and the mass exodus of Christians and other
indigenous populations of the region, a clear and unequivocal statement by
regional political and religious leaders, in support of their continued
presence and full and equal rights as citizens of their countries, is
necessary;
14. Rejects without
reservation and considers illegitimate the announcement by ISIS/Da'esh
leadership that it has established a caliphate in the areas it now controls;
emphasises that the creation and expansion of the 'Islamic caliphate', and the
activities of other extremist groups in the Middle East, is a direct threat to
the security of the region, as well as European countries;
15. Confirms its
commitment to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief as a
fundamental human right guaranteed by international legal instruments to which
most countries in the world have committed and which are recognised as holding
universal value;
16. Supports all
initiatives, including in the EU, aimed at promoting dialogue and mutual
respect between communities; calls on all religious authorities to promote
tolerance and to take initiatives against hatred and violent and extremist
radicalisation;
17. Urges the EU to
further explore counter-terrorism policies, within the human rights framework,
other than those already in place, and to continue to work with Member States
to enhance policies that counter radicalisation on EU soil, the spreading of
hate speech and incitement to violence online; urges EU Member States,
furthermore, to work together with the UN Security Council and the UN General
Assembly to stop the spread of extremist and jihadist ideology worldwide;
18.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the
Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments
of the Member States and the Syrian National Coalition, the Government and
Parliament of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, the President of
the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Council of Deputies in Tobruk, Libya, and the
Libyan Government, the League of Arab States, the UN Secretary-General and the
UN Human Rights Council.