RESOLUTION B3-1690, 1711, 1734, 1752, 1774, 1777 and 1783/92

Resolution on the rape of women in the former Yugoslavia

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Geneva Convention on the protection of the victims of war (August 1949),

- having regard to the United Nations Charter, in particular the declaration on the protection of women and children in emergency and armed conflicts of 14 December 1974,

- having regard to the declaration issued by the Edinburgh European Council on 12 December 1992 on the treatment inflicted on Muslim women in the former Yugoslavia,

A. whereas in Bosnia-Herzegovina alone tens of thousands of women and girl prisoners have been systematically raped and a large number of them have become pregnant,

B. whereas detention camps there are death and rape camps in which rape is deliberately used as a military tactic; whereas this forms part of the process of ethnic cleansing by destroying the fabric of Muslim marriage and family life,

C. whereas it has learnt that large numbers of women are being held by the Serbian militias in brothels in combat areas where they are sexually abused,

D. whereas these crimes were condemned on 1 December 1992 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva,

1. Roundly condemns the detention and systematic rape of Muslim women in Bosnia-Herzegovina;

2. Calls for the rapes to be regarded as war crimes and crimes against humanity and for those responsible to be brought to trial and the victims compensated;

3. Calls for current international investigations aimed at ensuring that war criminals are rapidly tried and punished to be speeded up immediately;

4. Demands that rape and death camps be denounced internationally and dismantled and prisoners granted their liberty;

5. Calls for the immediate release of these women victims of war and for every appropriate step to be taken to dismantle the detention camps;

6. Calls on the Member States to make provision for the reception of war victims, especially women and children;

7. Calls on the Commission and Council to make funds available to establish reception centres for the women victims of war in their countries of origin or in the Member States;

8. Firmly believes that the raped women cannot be forced to continue their unwanted pregnancies and that they must be guaranteed the health care of their choosing;

9. Calls for a joint Council and Parliament delegation to travel to the region to assess the situation and report to the European Parliament;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary-General and the governments of the republics of the former Yugoslavia.