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Human rights: Tanzania; attacks by Da’esh in the Middle East; South Sudan
Parliament passed three resolutions on Thursday: strongly condemning the practice of land grabbing in Tanzania; asking member states to take proactive action to counter the expansion of Da’esh beyond Syria and Iraq; and calling on all sides in South Sudan to form a transitional government of national unity.
The issue of land grabbing in Tanzania
MEPs strongly condemn the "illegal displacement of local rural communities, the destruction of their villages and traditional way of life, and the violation of their basic human rights" and actions that do not recognise the legitimacy of customary tenure arrangements that provide statutory rights for individuals and communities. They call on the Tanzanian government to immediately implement the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT).
They ask the Commission to ensure the alignment of its land policy guidelines with the VGGT, and to report to Parliament on expenditure under development programmes and the EU budget related to land governance, with a view to ensuring that those programmes promote human rights.
The resolution was passed by show of hands.
Attacks and abductions by Da’esh in the Middle East
MEPs express their shock and strongly condemn the "brutal actions" by Da’esh (ISIS) extremists against the Assyrians in Syria and the Copts in Libya and stress that the "egregious human rights abuses" of Da'esh amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes that "could be called genocide" . They urge the EU member countries to take a proactive and preventive approach towards the threat of Da’esh expansion into countries and regions beyond Iraq and Syria.
Parliament expresses its concern "over 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". It urges these countries "to stop the financing of terrorist organisations from within their territories".
The resolution was passed by show of hands.
South Sudan
Parliament is deeply concerned by the worsening security and humanitarian situation in South Sudan which could destabilise the whole East Africa region and calls on all sides to "form a transitional government of national unity and allow for full access to humanitarian assistance". It also calls for an "unconditional, complete and immediate ceasefire" and for the immediate release and safe return of all children recruited by armed forces since the beginning of the conflict in December 2013
MEPs call on the Commission to help mobilise resources to support the long‑term reintegration of children recruited into armed forces and those affected by the conflict and underline the need for the adoption of a comprehensive arms embargo at regional and international level.
The resolution was passed by 626 votes to 4, with 11 abstentions.
