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European Parliament
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Resolution kidnapping and mistreatment of women

2014/2971(RSP)

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Iraq: kidnapping and mistreatment of women

The resolution adopted in plenary was tabled on behalf of the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, Greens/EFA and EFDD groups.

Parliament condemned in the strongest possible terms the systematic human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law resulting from the acts committed by the Islamic State (IS) and associated terrorist groups, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity; in particular violence against women and children.

It condemned abductions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, and forced marriages and conversions.

They called on the Iraqi Government to ratify the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to allow the ICC to prosecute the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by IS.

The Iraqi Government is also urged to promote and protect human rights by involving all components of Iraqi society in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation.

Welcoming the efforts of the international community, notably the United States, to support the Iraqi national and local authorities in their fight against IS, Parliament supports the global coalition against IS and its efforts to combat it, including by military means. It urged the international community to deliver the necessary life-saving assistance for people in Iraq over the winter, including the Yazidi families who are still on Mount Sinjar.

Furthermore, Member called on:

  • all regional actors to do everything within their power to stop all activities by official or private bodies aimed at propagating and spreading extreme Islamist ideologies in words and acts;
  • the UN, in particular its Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Rashida Manjoo, to do its utmost to trace the victims, and to investigate and establish the facts and circumstances of abuses and violations against girls and women committed by IS;
  • the international humanitarian agencies working in Iraq to increase medical and counselling services for displaced people who have fled the IS advances;
  • the Commission, the European External Action Service and the Member States to take specific measures to address the situation of women in Iraq and guarantee their freedom.

Specific measures to defend the LGBT community: Parliament condemned the fact that, with the advance of IS, acts of violence and murder against LGBT Iraqis have been taking place with total impunity. LGBT Iraqis are in an extremely vulnerable situation and the Parliament called on the Iraqi Government to provide protection for LGBT Iraqis.

Challenging radical ideas: lastly, Parliament called for a concerted international effort, in close cooperation with Muslim countries, organisations and communities, to challenge the radical Salafi/Wahhabi ideology that underpins and inspires the actions of IS and associated terrorist organisations and is becoming a growing security threat for the Member States. It called on the EEAS and the Member States, in their dialogue with the Gulf countries, to raise strong concerns about the ongoing Salafi/Wahhabi indoctrination efforts in many Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities worldwide by actors from these countries.