13 Amendments of Klaus BUCHNER related to 2016/2226(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the final ILO report on the 2016 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan will be available at the end of this year;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the Uzbek authorities have imprisoned thousands people on politically motivated charges to enforce their repressive rules, targeting human rights and opposition activists, journalists, religious believers, artists, and other perceived critics;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas authorities also regularly persecute and harass human rights defenders and civil society activists and block international rights groups and media outlets from operating in the country;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J c (new)
Recital J c (new)
Jc. whereas obligations to respect democracy, principles of international law and human rights and the principles of market economy, as defined in Article 2 of the PCA, remain largely unfulfilled by Uzbekistan;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Appreciates the fact that the Government of Uzbekistan is also pursuing the eradication of forced labour in cooperation with the ILO, but realises that this is a complex process, requiring, among other things, reform of employment policies and that progress have been made, stresses however that the trend has been irregular and that more indirect and subtle ways of involuntary work seem to prevail;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that the substantial progress made since 2013 on the question of child labour in Uzbekistan is mainly the result of the diplomatic efforts of the EU and, in particular, of Parliament's resolution of 2011 that put the agreement on hold and led to the active involvement of the ILO and the World Bank;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is of the opinion that because of these efforts by the Government of Uzbekistan Parliament shouldthe Parliament should wait for the final ILO report on the 2016 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan to be available before giveing consent to the EU-Uzbekistan Textiles Protocol;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considers that this changeover period will also give Parliament an overall picture of the political transition process in Uzbekistan;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recognises that continued pressure on the Government of Uzbekistan from the Union, the ILO and the World Bank will still be needed to achieve this goal; reserves the right to call on the Commission and the Council to activate Articles 2 and 95 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement so as to take all necessary general and specific measures if the commitment to the abolition of forced labour is not lived up to, and if there are no democratic reforms and substantial improvement of the human rights situation;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the EU Delegation in Tashkent to contribute through policy dialogue and assistance programmes to structural reform in Uzbekistan, including increased remuneration for cotton pickers, mechanisation, and greater budgetary transparency on revenue from the cotton harvest, and aimed at weaning off the country from the cotton monoculture and decreasing its dependence on its exports by diversifying the economy, which could gradually alleviate the disastrous environmental situation, with regard, in particular, to what is left of the Aral Sea and its tributaries;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reiterates the Union’s commitment to further and deepen bilateral relations, which include trade, as well as all areas related to democratic principles, respect for human and fundamental rights and the rule of law; calls onurges the Government of Uzbekistan to create more space for independent civil societymeet its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to monitor the political transition in Uzbekistan and to provide Parliament regularly with information on this process;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls on the EU High Representative, the EEAS and EU Member States to use the transition process as an opportunity to immediately put in motion a strategy with the aim of pressing Uzbekistan for concrete, measurable human rights improvements over the coming months; underlines that concrete improvements should include the conditions laid out by EU Foreign Ministers in 2010, which are: 1) releasing all imprisoned human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience; 2) allowing unimpeded operation of non- governmental organisations in the country; 3) cooperating fully with all relevant UN Special Rapporteurs; 4) guaranteeing freedom of speech and the media; 5) ending the practice of forced labour; and 6) fully aligning its election processes with international standards;