20.3.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 66/71

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having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan,

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having regard to the Afghan Constitution adopted in 2004,

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having regard to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 18 December 2007 calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty (A/RES/62/149),

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having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

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having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas on 22 January 2008, a regional court in the northern Afghan province of Balkh sentenced to death the 23-year-old Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh for circulating an article about women's rights in Islam, which he had downloaded from the Internet; whereas the court ruled that the article constituted blasphemy and sentenced Mr Kambakhsh to death,

B.

whereas Mr Kambakhsh was denied legal representation and sentenced without a proper hearing; whereas he was allegedly beaten and threatened with execution until he signed a confession,

C.

whereas on 6 February 2008, a delegation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA) met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, providing him with details of the case and asking him to intervene on Mr Kambakhsh's behalf,

D.

whereas Article 34 of Afghan Constitution clearly defends the right to freedom of expression in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and provides: ‘freedom of expression shall be inviolable; every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means in accordance with provisions of this Constitution’,

E.

whereas journalists in Afghanistan, especially women, are increasingly faced with intimidation, death threats, abduction and violence,

F.

whereas the death sentence against Mr Kambakhsh was delivered in the face of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the above-mentioned resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty and at a time when a total of 135 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice,

1.

Reaffirms its unconditional opposition to the death penalty and its commitment to respect for the rule of law;

2.

Condemns the arrest of Mr Kambakhsh and the decision by the primary court of Balkh province to sentence him to death on charges of blasphemy; calls for Mr Kambakhsh to be released;

3.

Urgently calls on the Afghan authorities to show their commitment to human and democratic rights by doing everything in their power to prevent his execution and to secure a review of his case; calls on President Hamid Karzai, in the event that the court of appeal should uphold the death sentence, to exercise his power to pardon Mr Kambakhsh;

4.

Recalls President Karzai's assurances concerning the safety of Mr Kambakhsh, which he gave to a delegation from the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association on 6 February 2008;

5.

Expresses its solidarity with all those fighting for independent journalism in Afghanistan;

6.

Calls on the President and Parliament of Afghanistan to take appropriate steps to speed up the development of a functional penal and judicial system based on international standards and best practices; welcomes the announcement by the Commissioner for External Relations at the Rome conference on ‘The rule of law in Afghanistan’ in July 2007 of immediate financial support to help Afghanistan strengthen the rule of law and reform its judiciary;

7.

Calls on the Afghan Government to respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the full and to ensure that freedom of expression is guaranteed and upheld for all citizens in Afghanistan;

8.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and to the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.