Resolution on Nepal

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Nepal.

The text adopted in plenary was tabled in the form of a joint resolution by the S&D, ECR, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL, ALDE and EPP groups, as well as by Fiorello Provera (EFD, IT).

The resolution recalls that, in November 2006, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists (UCPN), who controlled large parts of the country, terminated a 10-year armed conflict with some 13 000 deaths. This historic agreement showed what can be achieved when political forces negotiate in good faith, paving the way for elections to a Constituent Assembly (CA), the creation of an interim government including the Maoists, the disarmament of the Maoist fighters and their housing in camps, as well as the confinement of the Nepalese army to barracks. However, many of the terms of the peace agreement of 2006 concluded after a decade-long armed conflict between Maoists and the government remain unfulfilled.

Parliament expresses deep concern about the non-existence of a permanent constitution based on democratic values and human rights;

It urges the CA (the mandate of which has been extended) and all the political actors involved to negotiate without preconditions, to show flexibility, to avoid any provocative actions and to work together for national unity in order to find a clear structure for the new constitution, to establish a functioning federal democracy.

Parliament also welcomes the 31 May 2010 decision of the Nepali Congress (NC) to commit to a national unity government open to all political parties, including the main opposition party UCPN (M). It calls on the latter to engage in constructive planning and to find a way to integrate former Maoist combatants in the national army or other security forces. Parliament calls directly on the UN to establish procedures to vet potential members of the security forces to exclude those clearly guilty of human rights violations from any UN peacekeeping positions. The political parties are urged to rein in their militant youth wings and to stop recruiting children.

Parliament reiterates to the EU Member States that lethal weapons exports to Nepal remain prohibited under the CPA and calls on them to lend financial and technical support to creative solutions for the restructuring of the Nepalese army.

Concerned about the reports of the increasing incidence of torture and violent aggression, Members applaud the work of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal.

Parliament calls for the establishment of the Commission on Disappearances, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on National Peace and Rehabilitation as specified in the CPA.

The resolution invites the parties and the government to:

• end political interference in criminal proceedings,
• create a politically independent judiciary within the constitutional process and in the same connection to plan ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and
• encourage the functioning of the Land Reform Commission (in view of as the worrying situation of the millions of landless people, which is in danger of deteriorating further under the impact of climate change).

It also calls on the Nepal Government to

• address the problem of the 800 000 stateless Nepalese by simplifying bureaucratic procedures and reducing the costs of applying for citizenship certificates,
• ensure standards of protection for all refugees and to continue with efforts to prevent and reduce statelessness, in accordance with international standards,
• sign the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and to follow the standards set out by the UNHCR.

Lastly, Parliament calls on the High Representative of the EU, through its delegation in Kathmandu, to closely monitor the political situation in Nepal and to use her influence to appeal to the neighbouring powers in the region, in particular China and India, to support the negotiations to create a government of national unity.