Iraq: kidnapping and mistreatment of women

Tabled by Alyn Smith, Barbara Lochbihler, Michel Reimon, Jean Lambert, Bodil Ceballos, Ernest Urtasun, Jordi Sebastià, Judith Sargentini, Ulrike Lunacek, Heidi Hautala, Reinhard Bütikofer, Davor Škrlec

 on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iraq,

- having regard to the UN Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, "Rule of Terror: Living under ISIS in Syria" of 14 November 2014

- having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions on the ISIL/Da'esh crisis in Syria and Iraq of 20 October 2014,

- having regard to the Resolution of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups of 1 September 2014,

– having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Iraq, of the other part, and to its resolution of 17 January 2013 on the EU-Iraq Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, to which Iraq is a party,

- having regard to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination

Against Women (CEDAW) of which Iraq is a signatory and to UN Security Council Resolution 1325

– having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the so-called Islamic State (IS) has committed numerous atrocities that may amount to crimes against humanity, involving mass killings, sexual violence against women and children, human trafficking, enslavement, rape, forced marriages, displacement and abduction, and have caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and the displacement of large numbers of people from the areas under their control;

B. whereas members of ethnic, religious and other minorities, in particular Christians and Yezidis in Mosul and surrounding areas, including Sinjar, Tal Afar and other areas are specifically targeted by the IS;

C. whereas hundreds of Yezidi women and children from Iraq are held as captives by IS; whereas young women and teenage girls are systematically separated from their families, forced to marry IS fighters, enslaved and sexually abused; whereas there are reports that in IS controlled areas women and girls are literally sold in open markets with price tags for the buyers to choose and negotiate the sale;

D. whereas although the vast majority of the IS prisoners are Yezidis, smaller numbers of other religious and ethnic minorities, such as Shia Turkmens and Shabak, have also been captured by the terrorists of the IS;

E. whereas the transnational character of the IS and associated terrorist groups is a matter of global concern;

1. Strongly condemns systematic abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law resulting from the acts committed by the IS and associated terrorist groups, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity; strongly condemns in particular all violence against persons based on their religious and ethnic affiliation or their vulnerability, in particular children;

2. Is appalled by the numerous atrocities committed by IS targeting specifically women and stresses the need for those responsible for such violations of human rights and international humanitarian law to be held to account;

3. Condemns that with the advance of the Islamic State, violence and murders against LGBT Iraqis have been taken place with total impunity and notes that their situation is extremely vulnerable, given limited family and community support and government protection;

4. Emphasizes that children should be immediately reunited with their families, forced marriages and sexual abuse ended and all civilian detainees retained by the IS immediately released;

5. Calls on the government of Iraq to become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to allow for prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by IS;

6. Calls on the government of Iraq to promote and protect human rights by involving all components of the Iraqi society in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, by upholding human rights and international humanitarian law in its efforts to confront the IS;

7. Calls upon the international community to assist the Kurdish Regional Authority and the Iraqi central governmental authorities to ensure protection of, and assistance to, those fleeing the areas affected by the IS terror regime;

8. Urges the UN, in particular its Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, to make an utmost effort to trace the victims and to investigate and establish the facts and circumstances of abuses and violations against girls and women committed by the IS and associated terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, with a view of avoiding impunity and ensuring full accountability;

9. Calls on the international humanitarian agencies working in Iraq, including UN agencies, to increase medical and counseling services for displaced people who fled the IS advances, paying special attention to the needs of survivors of sexual violence;

10. Calls on the EU member states to increase their resettlement places in order to meet the needs of the survivors and to establish mechanism to enable traumatized women from Syria and Iraq, notably Yezidi women, to receive special post traumatic counseling which is tailored to their needs including by granting special staying permits;

10. Expresses strong concern about the global ambition of IS and associated terrorist organisations; calls on the member states to analyse in depth the reasons of the attraction for EU citizens and residents who travel to the Middle East with the plan to join the violent jihadist groups like IS, to adapt policies towards the integration of second integration immigrants by emphasizing inclusion, cooperation with Muslim organisations to counter the Islamist propaganda and implementing the necessary security measures while increasing cooperation between the EU member states in monitoring those intending to join Islamist militant groups or who return after having fought for these groups;

11. Calls for a concerted international effort, in close cooperation with Muslim countries and Islamic organisations, to challenge the radical Salafi/Wahhabi ideology that underpins the actions of IS and associated terrorist organisations and is becoming a growing security threat for the EU Member States;

13. Re-iterates in this context its serious concern over the decade-long support for radical Islamist movements and the spread of Salafi/Wahhabi teaching by various actors of the Arab Peninsula, notably Saudi Arabia; condemns the fact that the EU and its member states have far too long turned a blind eye on the ongoing indoctrination efforts in many Islamic countries by actors of the concerned Gulf states and calls on the EEAS and the member states to enter into serious negotiations with the concerned governments over how to change course;

14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to 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 Human Rights, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Council of Representatives of Iraq, the Regional Government and Parliament of Kurdistan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women.