BETA


2008/2548(RSP) Resolution on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 135

Events

2008/04/09
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2008/03/13
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2008/03/13
   EP - Debate in Parliament
Details

The House held a debate on the case of the journalist Perwez Kambakhsh and the case of the Iranian citizen Seyed Mehdi Kazemi pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure (debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law).

The debate was followed by a vote on a motion for a resolution.

2008/03/13
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

Following the debate held in plenary on 13 March, the European Parliament adopted on the same date a resolution on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh. The text adopted in plenary was tabled as a joint resolution by the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE, UEN, Greens/ALE and GUE/NGL groups.

Parliament recalls that on 22 January 2008, a regional court in the northern Afghan province of Balkh sentenced to death the 23-year-old Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh for circulating an article about women's rights in Islam, which he had downloaded from the Internet. The court ruled that the article constituted blasphemy and sentenced Mr Kambakhsh to death. Mr Kambakhsh was denied legal representation and sentenced without a proper hearing. Furthermore, he was allegedly beaten and threatened with execution until he signed a confession.

In its resolution, Parliament reaffirms its unconditional opposition to the death penalty and its commitment to respect for the rule of law. It condemns the arrest of Mr Kambakhsh and the decision by the primary court of Balkh province to sentence him to death on charges of blasphemy, and calls for Mr Kambakhsh to be released. Parliament urgently calls on the Afghan authorities to show their commitment to human and democratic rights by doing everything in their power to prevent his execution and to secure a review of his case. It also calls on President Hamid Karzai, in the event that the court of appeal should uphold the death sentence, to exercise his power to pardon Mr Kambakhsh. In this context, it recalls President Karzai's assurances concerning the safety of Mr Kambakhsh, which he gave to a delegation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association on 6 February 2008.

Members express their solidarity with all those fighting for independent journalism in Afghanistan. They call on the President and Parliament of Afghanistan to take appropriate steps to speed up the development of a functional penal and judicial system based on international standards and best practices, and they welcome the announcement by the Commissioner for External Relations at the Rome conference on 'The rule of law in Afghanistan' in July 2007 of immediate financial support to help Afghanistan strengthen the rule of law and reform its judiciary.

The Afghan Government is asked to respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the full and to ensure that freedom of expression is guaranteed and upheld for all citizens in Afghanistan.

Documents
2008/03/13
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2008/03/11
   Joint motion for resolution
Documents
2008/03/10
   CSL - Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council
2008/03/10
   CSL - Council Meeting

Documents

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2008-0106_EN.html title: T6-0106/2008
summary
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date
2008-03-13T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
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activities
  • date: 2008-03-10T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: General Affairs meeting_id: 2858
  • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=14811&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20080313&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2008-106 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0106/2008 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
    council
    • body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: General Affairs meeting_id: 2858 url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=2858*&MEET_DATE=10/03/2008 date: 2008-03-10T00:00:00
    docs
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-112&language=EN title: B6-0112/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-115&language=EN title: B6-0115/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-116&language=EN title: B6-0116/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-118&language=EN title: B6-0118/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-123&language=EN title: B6-0123/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2008-125&language=EN title: B6-0125/2008 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2008-03-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P6-RC-2008-112&language=EN title: RC-B6-0112/2008 type: Joint motion for resolution
    • date: 2008-04-09T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=14811&j=0&l=en title: SP(2008)2060 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
    events
    • date: 2008-03-10T00:00:00 type: Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council body: CSL
    • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=14811&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20080313&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament summary: The House held a debate on the case of the journalist Perwez Kambakhsh and the case of the Iranian citizen Seyed Mehdi Kazemi pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure (debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law). The debate was followed by a vote on a motion for a resolution.
    • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2008-106 title: T6-0106/2008 summary: Following the debate held in plenary on 13 March, the European Parliament adopted on the same date a resolution on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh. The text adopted in plenary was tabled as a joint resolution by the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE, UEN, Greens/ALE and GUE/NGL groups. Parliament recalls that on 22 January 2008, a regional court in the northern Afghan province of Balkh sentenced to death the 23-year-old Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh for circulating an article about women's rights in Islam, which he had downloaded from the Internet. The court ruled that the article constituted blasphemy and sentenced Mr Kambakhsh to death. Mr Kambakhsh was denied legal representation and sentenced without a proper hearing. Furthermore, he was allegedly beaten and threatened with execution until he signed a confession. In its resolution, Parliament reaffirms its unconditional opposition to the death penalty and its commitment to respect for the rule of law. It condemns the arrest of Mr Kambakhsh and the decision by the primary court of Balkh province to sentence him to death on charges of blasphemy, and calls for Mr Kambakhsh to be released. Parliament urgently calls on the Afghan authorities to show their commitment to human and democratic rights by doing everything in their power to prevent his execution and to secure a review of his case. It also calls on President Hamid Karzai, in the event that the court of appeal should uphold the death sentence, to exercise his power to pardon Mr Kambakhsh. In this context, it recalls President Karzai's assurances concerning the safety of Mr Kambakhsh, which he gave to a delegation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association on 6 February 2008. Members express their solidarity with all those fighting for independent journalism in Afghanistan. They call on the President and Parliament of Afghanistan to take appropriate steps to speed up the development of a functional penal and judicial system based on international standards and best practices, and they welcome the announcement by the Commissioner for External Relations at the Rome conference on 'The rule of law in Afghanistan' in July 2007 of immediate financial support to help Afghanistan strengthen the rule of law and reform its judiciary. The Afghan Government is asked to respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the full and to ensure that freedom of expression is guaranteed and upheld for all citizens in Afghanistan.
    • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
    links
    other
      procedure/legal_basis/0
      Rules of Procedure EP 135
      procedure/legal_basis/0
      Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 135
      procedure/subject
      Old
      • 6.10.09 Human rights situation in the world
      New
      6.10.09
      Human rights situation in the world
      activities
      • date: 2008-03-10T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: General Affairs meeting_id: 2858
      • date: 2008-03-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=14811&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20080313&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2008-106 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0106/2008 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
      committees
        links
        other
          procedure
          legal_basis
          Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 135
          reference
          2008/2548(RSP)
          title
          Resolution on the case of the Afghan journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh
          geographical_area
          Afghanistan
          stage_reached
          Procedure completed
          subtype
          Urgent debate or resolution
          type
          RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects
          subject
          6.10.09 Human rights situation in the world