EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (2004 - 2009), Session document - 30 April 2009
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTIONto wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission and Council pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure tabled by Jean-Marian Marinescu, Charles Tannock, on behalf of the EPP-ED Group on the situation in the Republic of Moldova
European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Republic of Moldova following the parliamentary elections of 5th April 2009
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Republic of Moldova [More...] , in particular that of 24 February 2005, as well as those on the European Neighbourhood Policy and Black Sea Regional Cooperation;
– having regard to the report of the European Parliament ad-hoc mission to the Republic of Moldova that took place on 26-29 April 2009;
– having regard to the Final Statement and Recommendations of the EU – Republic of Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee meeting of 22-23 October 2008;
– having regard to the Strategy Paper elaborated in 2004 by the European Commission, including the Republic of Moldova country report,
– having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed on 28 November 1994 between the Republic of Moldova and the EU, which entered into force on 1 July 1998,
– having regard to the aid provided by the European Union to the Republic of Moldova in the framework of ENPI, including for the project “Electoral Support to the Republic of Moldova”, which provided financial assistance in support of free and fair elections in the Republic of Moldova,
– having regard to the EU- Republic of Moldova ENP Action Plan adopted by the seventh EU-Moldova Cooperation Council meeting on 22 February 2005, as well as to the annual progress reports on the Republic of Moldova;
– having regard to the EU – Republic of Moldova Visa Facilitation Agreement signed in 2007;
– having regard to the Joint Statement of the French, Czech and Swedish Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the situation in the Republic of Moldova of 9 April 2009;
– having regard to the EU Presidency Statements on the situation in the Republic of Moldova of 7 and 8 April 2009;
– having regard to the Conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 27-28 April 2009, as well as to the exchange of views on this issue with the EU Presidency, held within the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on 28 April 2009;
– having regard to the Statements of Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, of 7 and 11 April 2009 on the situation in the Republic of Moldova;
– having regard to the Statements of Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations, of 6, 7 and 11 April 2009 on the situation in the Republic of Moldova;
– having regard to the Statement of the UN Country Team in the Republic of Moldova of 12 April 2009;
– having regard to Resolution No 1280 of the Council of Europe of 24 April 2002,
– having regard to Rule 50(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the European Neighbourhood Policy recognizes the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova and the importance of the deep historical, cultural and economic links of this country with the EU Member-States,
B. whereas the EU – Republic of Moldova Action Plan aims at encouraging political and institutional reforms in the Republic of Moldova, including in the fields of democracy and human rights, rule of law, independence of judiciary and freedom of the media, as well as good neighbourly relations;
C. whereas the Republic of Moldova is Member of the Council of Europe and of the OSCE and has thus committed itself to genuine promotion of democracy and respect for human rights, including in the field of prevention and fight against torture, ill treatment and other inhuman and degrading treatment;
D. whereas parliamentary elections took place in the Republic of Moldova on 5 April 2009;
E. whereas serious concern has been expressed within the pre-electoral period on government control of the public media, intimidation and harassment of opposition leaders and private media and abuse of administrative resources for the benefit of the government party;
F. whereas from 500 000 to 1 million Moldovans live abroad and whereas several appeals signed by a large number of NGOs and associations of Moldovan diaspora including one in February 2009 addressed to the President of Moldova, President of the Parliament and the Prime Minister of Moldova concerning deprival of the right of Moldovans living abroad to vote have been sent to the Moldovan authorities prior to the elections of April 5 and have been ignored ; takes note of the very limited number of Moldovan voters outside the Republic of Moldova ( 22.000 voters )
G. whereas there were complaints presented by the opposition parties and Coalition 2009 of massive irregularities in the election of 5th of April in the preparing of voters lists and supplementary lists, counting and tabulating
H. whereas the events that have followed the elections have been characterized by violence and Moldovan government’s massive campaign of intimidation and violence, thus casting doubt on the commitment of the Moldovan authorities to democratic values and human rights and on the existence of public confidence in these authorities,
I. whereas peaceful protests were fuelled by doubts regarding the fairness of elections and distrust in public institutions, including those that administrated the electoral process and whereas regrettable acts of violence and vandalism were exploited by the authorities to intimidate the civil society by responding in a violent and disproportionate manner and further restrict the already fragile fundamental rights and liberties of Moldovan citizens
J. whereas the arrests and detentions amounted to an accepted minimum of 310 persons and a certain number of those arrested are still held in prison and whereas detainees suffered when arrested at the police station systematic ill treatment to an extent that can be considered as torture
K. whereas beatings and unwarranted arrests of civilians by unidentified police forces seemed not to be directed at pacifying the situation but to lead to deliberate acts of repression
L. whereas grave human rights abuses committed by the Moldovan authorities, as well as unjustified harassment of the civil society and protesters as well as disrespect for the rule of law and relevant European conventions to which Moldova is a signatory still continue in this country;
M. whereas a genuine and balanced partnership, including its consolidation through the conclusion of a new enhanced agreement, can only be developed on the basis of shared common values with regard, in particular, to democracy, rule of law and respect for all human rights;
1. Underlines the importance of maintaining strong relations with the Republic of Moldova and its support in the country’s course to getting closer to the European Union
2. Reaffirms its commitment to continuing a meaningful and goal-oriented dialogue with the Republic of Moldova, but considers highly important the introduction of strong provisions regarding the rule of law and respect for human rights while stressing that further consolidation, including through the conclusion of a new enhanced agreement, should be subject to the real and manifest commitment of the Moldovan authorities to democracy and human rights;
3. Considers that Moldova’s full involvement and commitment to the Eastern Partnership Instrument is essential
4. Strongly condemns the massive campaign of harassment, grave violations of human rights and all other illegal actions undertaken by the Moldovan government in the aftermath of the parliamentary elections;
5. Urges the Moldovan authorities to immediately cease all illegal apprehensions and conduct governmental action in accordance with its international commitments and obligations on democracy, rule of law and human rights;
6. Is particularly concerned of the illegal and arbitrary arrests and widespread violation of human rights of arrested persons in particular of the right to life, the right not to be subjected to physical abuses, inhuman or degrading treatment, torture and punishment, the right to liberty and security, the right to fair trial and the rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression, as well as of the fact that these abuses still go on;
7. Takes note of the launch of a national investigation commission to examine the above-mentioned abuses but deplores that the Commission is formed only by government party representatives; therefore demands the inclusion in the commission of representatives of all political parties, of civil society, mass media and Council of Europe
8. Calls for the establishment of a reasonable deadline for the findings report of this Commission
9. underlines however that internal tensions in the Republic of Moldova are very high and therefore strongly believes that there is an urgent need to create an international independent investigation commission with the participation of the EU, Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and independent experts aimed at ensuring an impartial and transparent process of investigation;
10. Calls for the stop of all legal proceedings against those accused of taking part in the demonstrations
11. Calls for a special investigation to be conducted on the cases of the deceased persons in the events following the elections as well as into all allegations of rape and ill-treatment during detention and politically-motivated arrests such as those of Mr Anatol Matasaru and Gabriel Stati
12. Condemns the campaign of harassment launched by the Moldovan authorities against journalists, civil society representatives and opposition parties, in particular arrests and expulsions of journalists, interruption of access to websites and TV stations, information propaganda launched on public channels and denial of access of opposition representatives to public media; deems these actions as aiming to isolate the Republic of Moldova from domestic and international media and public scrutiny; regrets and condemns the continuation of this censorship through the letters sent by the Ministers of Home Affairs and the Minister of Justice to the NGOs, political parties and mass media
13. Deeply regrets the travel restrictions imposed on Moldovan and foreign nationals during the events and reiterates the importance of freedom of movement within the Moldovan territory
14. Regrets the threatening rhetoric of the Moldovan President and Prime-Minister on the prospects of ‘inevitable use of armed forces’ and ‘punishment’ and finds them unacceptable, calls therefore upon the Moldovan authorities to refrain in the future from such statements leading to heightened tension; is concerned about the conclusion of the representatives of the civil society that ‘preconditions are being created for the establishment of a police and dictatorial regime in the Republic of Moldova’;
15. Takes note of the statement of the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Moldova concerning the launch of investigation procedures in 67 cases of complaints of ill-treatment, extremely violent actions as well as torture applied by the police forces and calls for these investigations to be conducted in an impartial and transparent manner
16. Takes note of the statements of the Ombudsman concerning the reaction protocols sent to the Ministry of Interior and to the General Prosecutor on the ill-treatment applied to the arrested persons inside the police stations; calls for these protocols to be made public and for the investigations to be conducted impartially and transparently, as well as for clear responses from the afore mentioned institutions.
17. Asks the Superior Council of Magistrates from the Republic of Moldova to investigate the reasons for which judges were displaced to the police stations where they conducted summary judgement on arrested persons
18. Expresses its strong position that statements made by the Moldovan authorities accusing foreign governments, i.e. Romania as responsible or involved in inspiring and organizing acts of violence and vandalism in Chisinau are regrettable and urges the Moldovan government to refrain from engaging in hostile acts that may damage country’s international standing;
19. Deeply regrets the decision of the Moldovan authorities on the expulsion of the Romanian Ambassador as well as on the refusal of the new Romanian candidate; insists that Republic of Moldova shall restore good neighbourly relations with all EU Member-States as soon as possible;
20. Takes note that claims related to a EU country that had been involved in the events seem unfounded and were not discussed nor repeated during the meetings of the Ad Hoc Delegation in the Republic of Moldova.
21. Requests immediate and substantial proofs for any allegation of the Moldovan government on the supposedly criminal actions of the protesters and on the involvement of foreign governments;
22. Takes note of the statements of the Moldovan authorities with regards to the opening of a criminal file on the “attempted usurpation of the state power on April 7″ and calls for the investigation to be conducted in a transparent manner and shall elucidate all the allegations made by the Moldovan authorities toward one or several third countries concerning their possible participation at these events
23. Deplores the decision to impose a visa regime for Romanian nationals, without previous notification, as stipulated by the EU-Republic of Moldova Visa Facilitation Agreement, and reaffirms EU’s commitment to an equal visa regime and rights for all EU nationals, without discrimination;
24. Calls for an immediate elimination of visas for Romanian citizens and for a return to the provisions of the EU-Republic of Moldova Visa Facilitation Agreement.
25. While condemning all acts of violence and vandalism, considers as unacceptable to present all protests as criminal acts and alleged ‘anti-constitutional plot’; believes that peaceful protests were considerably fuelled by doubts regarding the fairness of elections, distrust in public institutions and dissatisfaction with the social and economic situation in the Republic of Moldova;
26. Believes that constructive dialogue with the opposition parties, civil society and representatives of international organizations is the only way out of the current situation in the Republic of Moldova;
27. Strongly believes that an accurate evaluation of the irregularities in these elections and on how the result was influenced could only be achieved through the continuation of the process of verifying all the voting lists which was stopped by the Court of Appeal
28. Considers that, taking into consideration the persisting high tensions in the country, the prospects of expecting anticipated parliamentary elections and of the eventual need for EU’s assistance and scrutiny on them shall not be ignored;
29. Reiterates therefore the importance of the independence of judiciary, of the media, including the cessation of any intimidation against the ProTV Channel and the extension of its license, as well as considerable improvements in the Moldovan electoral law as crucial elements of any future electoral process and democratic consolidation in the Republic of Moldova; insists that Moldovans abroad should be offered proper conditions to exercise their right to vote;
30. Calls for the immediate reform of the public TV and Radio stations in order to ensure total independence of these institutions
31. Believes that, in order to preserve its credibility for the people of Republic of Moldova, the EU shall get involved in the management of the current situation in a proactive, profound and comprehensive way
32. Calls on the Commission to relax the conditions for granting visas to the Moldovan citizens, especially the financial conditions.
33. Calls on the Commission to present to the European Parliament a report on the use of all the European funds in the Republic of Moldova, with special focus on the funds allocated for good governance and democratic development.
34. Suggests to the Council to reflect on the possibility to send a Rule of Law Mission to the Republic of Moldova, in order to assist the law enforcement authorities in their reform process, especially in police and justice
35. Calls on the EU Commission and the Council taking into account the seriousness of the situation in the country to reassess the role and redefine the tasks of the EU Special Representative to Moldova;
36. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Council of Europe, OSCE, the Government and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.