The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the
situation in Iraq and Syria, and the IS offensive, including the
persecution of minorities.
The resolution was tabled by the ECR, ALDE, S&D,
EPP, and Greens/EFA groups.
It firmly condemned the indiscriminate killings and
human rights violations perpetrated by IS against religious and
ethnic minorities and the most vulnerable groups, and the use of
executions and sexual violence by IS in Iraq and Syria. It
underlined the fact that there should be no impunity for the
perpetrators of these acts. Members strongly condemned the murders
of the journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and the aid
worker David Haines by IS, and expressed grave concern for the
safety of others still being held captive. They rejected
without reservation and considered illegitimate the announcement by
the IS leadership that it had established a caliphate in the areas
it now controlled, and emphasised that the creation and
expansion of the Islamic caliphate was a direct
threat to the security of European countries.
Funding of IS: Parliament stressed again that IS was subject to the
arms embargo and assets freeze imposed by UN Security Council
resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), and called on the Council
to consider more effective use of the existing restrictive
measures, and in particular to deny IS the benefits of illicit
oil sales or sales of other resources on international markets.
Members were deeply concerned about the assertions that actors in
some Member States were engaged in illicit oil trade with IS,
asking the Commission whether it could confirm these assertions
and, if so, ensure that the illicit oil trade was immediately
ended. The EU must impose sanctions on all those
(governments and public or private companies) involved in the
transport, transformation, refinement and commercialisation of oil
extracted in IS-controlled areas, together with strict controls on
financial flows in order to prevent economic activity and
exploitation of tax havens on the part of IS.
International coalition: Members called on the EU Member States to assist the
Iraqi and local authorities by all possible means, including
appropriate military assistance, in containing and repelling
the terrorist and aggressive IS expansion. They welcomed the
efforts of the United States and of all the other contributing
states to support the Iraqi authorities in their fight against IS.
They welcomed the call by the USA for an international coalition
against IS, which was building up, as well as the decision
reached by the Arab League on 7 September 2014 to take the
necessary measures to confront IS and cooperate with international,
regional and national efforts to combat militants in Syria and
Iraq, and to endorse UN Security Council resolution 2170
(2014).
Parliament called on all regional actors to do
everything in their power to stop all activities by official or
private bodies intended to propagate and spread extreme Islamist
ideologies. It called on Turkey to clearly and unambiguously commit
itself to countering the common security threat posed by IS, and
for the EU to facilitate a regional dialogue on the problems facing
the Middle East and to include all significant parties, in
particular Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Kurds: Parliament
welcomed the decision by individual Member States to respond
positively to the call by the Kurdish regional authorities to
urgently provide military material, and called on those Member
States to coordinate their efforts and to implement effective
monitoring measures in order to prevent uncontrolled dissemination
and the use of military material against civilians.
Protection of vulnerable groups: the international community was asked to assist the
Iraqi authorities including by providing military protection
to particularly vulnerable groups in ensuring protection of
those fleeing the areas affected by terrorism, in particular
members of vulnerable groups and of ethnic and religious
communities. All regional actors, as well as of the EU, must do
their utmost to guarantee the return of traditional minorities
and all citizens to their original places of residence whence
they were forced to flee.
|Furthermore, all parties to the conflict in Syria,
in particular the Syrian regime, must ensure the protection
of the civilian population, and facilitate the provision of
humanitarian aid and assistance through all possible channels,
including across borders and conflict lines, and ensure the safety
of all medical personnel and humanitarian workers. Parliament
commended the role of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey in
accepting refugees. It called on the international community to be
more active and forthcoming in burden-sharing and to provide
direct financial support to the host countries. Parliament welcomed
the commitments by the Member States, since the EU was the biggest
donor of financial aid and source of future pledges.
Syria: Parliament
stressed that in the long term only a lasting and inclusive
political solution entailing a peaceful transition to a genuinely
representative government in Syria would help to neutralise the
threat of IS and other extremist organisations.
Foreign fighters:
Members reiterated their concern that thousands of transnational
foreign fighters, including citizens of the Member States, had
joined the IS insurgency. Members States were called upon to
develop a common strategy for security services and EU agencies in
monitoring and controlling jihadists and to intensify cooperation
and exchange of information among themselves and with EU bodies,
and to ensure efficient cooperation with Turkey.
ICC: Parliament
reiterated its call for the referral of those suspected of
committing crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq to the
International Criminal Court and supported all initiatives in this
direction. It remained convinced that there could be no sustainable
peace in Syria and Iraq without accountability for the crimes
committed by all sides during the conflict, in particular those
based on religious or ethnic grounds.