RESOLUTION B3-0374, 0412 and 0430/93

Resolution on the rape of women in former Yugoslavia

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its resolution of 11 February 1993 on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and all its preceding resolutions on the situation in former Yugoslavia, especially the resolution of 17 December 1992 on the rape of women in former Yugoslavia,

-having regard to the proceedings of the public hearing organized by the Committee on Women's Rights on the rape of women in former Yugoslavia, held in Brussels on 18 February 1993,

A.recognizing that the atrocities being perpetrated against women in former Yugoslavia will not be properly resolved until a political solution is found to this conflict, and urging all parties to make every effort to seek a solution to the war,

B.regretting that the United Nations Military Command did not consider it relevant to send a representative to the hearing organized by the Committee on Women's Rights, and affirming that the remit of the military must include the protection of the dignity of those who find themselves caught up in conflict,

C.welcoming the work of the Warburton Delegation, but regretting the fact that this European Community delegation sent to investigate the rapes of women in former Yugoslavia was given neither a broad enough remit nor sufficient resources and support to carry out its task effectively,

D.noting with regret that no women serve on the United Nations Commission on War Crimes,

1.Calls for the immediate dismantling of rape camps and the release of women held in them;

2.Condemns the detention and rape of women in former Yugoslavia;

3.Demands that systematic abuse of women be considered a war crime and a crime against humanity, regardless of whether it is carried out as part of a national or international conflict and whether it involves military personnel or civilians;

4.Acknowledges that most of the victims of systematic rape have been Muslim women but deplores such practices, whoever the victims;

5.Calls for resources to be made available to enable speedy and thorough investigations to take place and to support existing independent documentation centres or, where these do not exist, to set up such centres to compile evidence to identify the perpetrators;

6.Welcomes UN Security Council Resolution 808 on the setting-up of an international tribunal to try cases of serious violations of human rights committed in former Yugoslavia since 1991 and calls on the UN Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to implement this resolution forthwith;

7.Calls for the rapid establishment of this special tribunal to bring to trial and punish those who have committed or ordered such atrocities, calls for the reversal of the burden of proof in rape cases and compensation for the victims;

8.Calls on the Member States to ensure that the UN Commission on War Crimes and the tribunal are partly made up of women;

9.Notes the UN Security Council's intention to include rape suffered by women in former Yugoslavia among the crimes to be judged by this tribunal;

10.Demands that funding be made available to establish centres specifically geared for women victims and their children, thus enabling them to be removed from existing refugee camps, where that is their choice;

11.Calls for transport to be made available to these centres;

12.Calls for action to be taken in the interim to ensure an immediate improvement in the physical conditions for abused women in existing refugee camps, including better sanitation, health care, food and counselling support;

13.Calls for the provision of appropriate and accessible long-term accommodation for the most traumatized women;

14.Calls for the provision of proper medical support for women rape victims including:

-emergency mobile health teams, linked to major hospitals,

-facilities for termination of pregnancy, where that is the woman's wish,

-ante-natal and post-natal support,

-close liaison between gynaecological and psychiatric practitioners and departments;

15.Calls for effective counselling support for those who have suffered rape to be integrated into community support systems for war victims, so as to avoid women feeling they are being stigmatized;

16.Considers that priority must be given to schemes to enable women to undertake activities that ensure their economic independence;

17.Calls for support for women who decide to keep the children resulting from rape so that international adoption can be viewed as a last resort, and emphasizes that the best interests of the child should be paramount at all times;

18.Calls for the provision of educational material and information which can then be distributed via refugee centres, hospitals, schools and religious and cultural centres;

19.Calls for existing Military Codes of Conduct to be revised, setting out new guidelines on the collection of evidence on the incidence of rape, and challenges the idea that rape is somehow an acceptable part of the spoils of war;

20.Calls on the Commission to develop and strengthen its presence in the area with a mandate to:

-coordinate and sustain financially the efforts of governmental, non-governmental and private organizations working on behalf of women on a non-nationalistic basis,

-extend the programme of practical assistance and monitor its implementation,

-share the experience gained in former Yugoslavia so that lessons can be learned which enable the international community to respond more effectively to similar circumstances elsewhere in the future,

-follow up these recommendations;

21.Asks the European Community to send an outreach team of Community workers e.g. social workers and counsellors, including those with experience of dealing with rape, to advise and train workers operating locally and support self-help groups;

22.Calls on the EC Monitoring Force to report to the European Parliament at the earliest possible opportunity;

23.Urges Member States to offer a haven for women and children fleeing such atrocities where it is impossible for them to remain in their own community and in particular to:

-speed up visa procedures for such refugees,

-grant temporary entry to women needing medical treatment,

-recognize rape as a legitimate reason for asylum,

-accept the responsibilities which flow from decisions to allow the resettlement of rape victims and provide effective long-term support to enable women to recover from their trauma;

24.Calls on the United Nations to establish an appropriate Convention to protect women in times of emergency and armed conflict;

25.Calls on the parties involved not to accept any peace settlement which does not take account of these points;

26.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.