European Parliament 2014-2019

Plenary sitting

B8-1359/2016

13.12.2016

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law

pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure

on the cases of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy and Ilham Tohti (2016/3026(RSP))

Nathalie Griesbeck, Nedzhmi Ali, Petras Auštrevičius, Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita Charanzová, Marielle de Sarnez, Gérard Deprez, Martina Dlabajová, María Teresa Giménez Barbat, Marian Harkin, Filiz Hyusmenova, Ivan Jakovčić, Petr Ježek, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Louis Michel, Urmas Paet, Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz, Carolina Punset, Frédérique Ries, Marietje Schaake, Hannu Takkula, Pavel Telička, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, Ivo Vajgl, Johannes Cornelis van Baalen, Hilde Vautmans, Paavo Väyrynen, Cecilia Wikström, Valentinas Mazuronis on behalf of the ALDE Group

RE\P8_B(2016)1359_EN.docx PE596.629

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EN United in diversityEN B8-1359/2016

European Parliament resolution on the cases of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy and Ilham Tohti (2016/3026(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

– having regard to Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of , which guarantees all citizens the right to freedom of religious belief,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on China and Tibet of 14 June 2012,

– having regard to the statement made on 23 September 2014 by the EEAS Spokesperson on the sentencing of respected Uighur academic Ilham Tohti,

– having regard to the EU Annual report on human rights and democracy in the world in 2015 of 20 June 2016,

– having regard to the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the Human Rights Council of the of 10 July 2015,

– having regard to the “Sixth Tibet Work Forum” organized by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and held on August 2015,

– having regard to the EU–China dialogue on human rights launched in 1995 and the 34th round held in Beijing on 30 November and 1 December 2015,

– having regard to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2016,

– having regard to the statement made on 10 March 2016 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council's 31st session;

– having regard to the European Commission and EEAS joint communication to the European Parliament and the Council: Elements for a new EU strategy on China, on 22 June 2016;

– having regard to Rules 135

Regarding Larung Gar:

A. whereas Larung Gar, located in the Sêrtar County in the Chinese province of , is the largest Buddhist institute on the planet;

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v01-00 2/5 RE\P8_B(2016)1359_EN.docx EN B. whereas on 20 July 2016, Chinese authorities began to demolish many of the monastic homes that compound the institution; whereas it is estimated that more than 1.000 monks and nuns have so far been evicted;

C. whereas in 2001 Chinese authorities already demolished part of the complex and evicted thousands of monks and nuns; whereas the site had swelled significantly in the years since;

D. whereas according to a Sêrtar County authorities order, these actions are part of a plan to reduce from 10.000 to 5.000 people the population of the complex, to separate monks from nuns, to separate the monastery from the institute, to set a mixed management of the institution with a proportion between officials and monks of 3 + 2;

E. whereas several of those people evicted from Larung Gar are suspected to be forced to participate in “patriotic re-education” campaign;

F. whereas so far, three nuns have reportedly committed suicide following the destruction of the dwellings at the academy;

G. whereas authorities of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile have urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for an immediate intervention to save Larung Gar and to raise critical human rights situation in Tibet in his opening statement at the forthcoming 34th UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva in March 2017;

Regarding the imprisonment of Ilham Tohti:

H. whereas the respected Uighur economics professor Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment on 23 September 2014 on the charge of alleged separatism after being arrested in January of the same year; whereas the court also ordered all of Tohti’s money and property seized;

I. whereas the due process of law was not respected, in particular with regard to the right to a proper defence;

J. whereas seven of his former students were also detained and condemn to prison from between three to eight years for alleged collaboration with Mr Tohti’s;

K. whereas the region, where the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority is mainly located, has experienced repeated outbreaks of ethnic unrest and violence; whereas Ilham Tohti has always rejected separatism and violence and sought reconciliation based on a respect for Uighur culture;

L. whereas on 14 January 2016, 400 academics from around the world signed a joint letter calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Ilham Tohti;

M. whereas on 11 October 2016, Ilham Tohti was awarded with the Martin Ennals Award for his Human Rights defence; whereas in September 2016 he was nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought;

RE\P8_B(2016)1359_EN.docx 3/5 PE596.629 v01-00 EN Regarding Larung Gar:

1. Urges the Chinese authorities to suspend the demolition of Larum Gar and to stop the eviction of the residents;

2. Calls on the Chinese authorities to negotiate any Larum Gar restructuration of whatever nature with local religious leaders;

3. Insists that the authorities of the People’s Republic of China respect the freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of belief of the Tibetans

4. Reiterates its condemnation of the Chinese authorities’ continued crackdown on Tibetan monasteries, and calls on the Chinese Government to guarantee freedom of religion both for the people of Tibet and for all of its citizens;

5. Endorses the principles set out in the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the , proposed by the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to their Chinese counterparts in 2008, which provide the basis for a realistic and sustainable political solution to the issue of Tibet;

6. Calls on the Chinese authorities to uphold the linguistic, cultural, religious and other fundamental freedoms of Tibetans and to refrain from settlement policies in favour of the Han people and to the disadvantage of the Tibetans in historical territories of Tibet, as well as from forcing Tibetan nomads to abandon their traditional lifestyle;

7. Calls on the authorities of the People’s Republic of China to grant meaningful autonomy to the historical territory of Tibet;

Regarding the imprisonment of Ilham Tohti:

8. Strongly condemns the detention for life of Ilham Tohti and urges the Chinese authorities to his immediately release;

9. Notes with high concern the increase of the repressive policies of China government against critical individuals from the civil society;

10. Strongly condemns all cases of human rights violations, in particular arbitrary arrests, rendition, forced confessions, secret detention, incommunicado custody and violations of the freedom of publication and expression; calls for an immediate end to human rights violations and political intimidation;

11. Urges the European Commission and the EEAS to bring the cases of Larung Gar and Ilham Tohti to the agenda of the next EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights;

12. Calls on Chinese authorities to involve Uighurs in governance issues, including resource management and economic development priorities, and to respect rather than dilute cultural elements such as language and religion;

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v01-00 4/5 RE\P8_B(2016)1359_EN.docx EN 13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Tibetan Government-in-exile, the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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