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Ukraine: human rights and humanitarian law must be respected

Written declaration No. 739 | Doc. 15476 | 20 May 2022

Signatories:
Mr Damien COTTIER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Knut ABRAHAM, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Stanislav ANASTASSOV, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Ms Tonia ANTONIAZZI, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Sibel ARSLAN, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr José BADIA, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Ms Theodora BAKOYANNIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Krista BAUMANE, Latvia, ALDE ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Olivier BECHT, France, ALDE ; Ms Arta BILALLI ZENDELI, North Macedonia, SOC ; Ms Mònica BONELL, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Hubert BÜCHEL, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Ms Marina CAROBBIO GUSCETTI, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN, France, ALDE ; Ms Ekaterina DIMITRUSHEVA, Bulgaria, NR ; Ms Nicole DURANTON, France, ALDE ; Ms Andrea EDER-GITSCHTHALER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Heike ENGELHARDT, Germany, SOC ; Ms Christiana EROTOKRITOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Olivier FRANÇAIS, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Peter FRICK, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Kamila GASIUK-PIHOWICZ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Fabien GOUTTEFARDE, France, ALDE ; Mr Gusty GRAAS, Luxembourg, ALDE ; Mr Jean-Pierre GRIN, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Ion GROZA, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Niklaus-Samuel GUGGER, Switzerland, EPP/CD ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ LIMONES, Spain, SOC ; Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Hamid HAMID, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Thomas HASLER, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Alfred HEER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Franziska HOOP, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Ms Maria-Gabriela HORGA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Mr Hristo IVANOV, Bulgaria, NR ; Ms Ruth JONES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Dimitrios KAIRIDIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Catherine KAMOWSKI, France, ALDE ; Mr Claude KERN, France, ALDE ; Mr Eduard KÖCK, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Christophe LACROIX, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Jacques LE NAY, France, ALDE ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Michael Georg LINK, Germany, ALDE ; Sir Tony LLOYD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Reinhold LOPATKA, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Josée LORSCHÉ, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Ms Alexandra LOUIS, France, ALDE ; Mr Max LUCKS, Germany, SOC ; Mr Arminas LYDEKA, Lithuania, ALDE ; Mr Jacques MAIRE, France, ALDE ; Ms Ada MARRA, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms María Valentina MARTÍNEZ FERRO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Kęstutis MASIULIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Alain MILON, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Octavie MODERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Paulo MONIZ, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI, North Macedonia, EPP/CD ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Julian PAHLKE, Germany, SOC ; Ms Foteini PIPILI, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Ion PRIOTEASA, Romania, SOC ; Mr Frédéric REISS, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Lukas SAVICKAS, Lithuania, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Zeki Hakan SIDALI, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Serhii SOBOLIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Elena-Simona SPĂTARU, Romania, ALDE ; Ms Petra STIENEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Ms Diana STOICA, Romania, ALDE ; Mr Andrzej SZEJNA, Poland, SOC ; Mr Raivo TAMM, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliana TANGUY, France, ALDE ; Ms Ingvild Wetrhus THORSVIK, Norway, ALDE ; Ms Vilja TOOMAST, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Nicos TORNARITIS, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Ms Laurence TRASTOUR-ISNART, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Nicole TRISSE, France, ALDE ; Ms Derya TÜRK-NACHBAUR, Germany, SOC ; Mr André VALLINI, France, SOC ; Ms Sabine WEISS, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Markus WIECHEL, Sweden, EC/DA

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

The conflict in Ukraine, as a result of an aggression decided by the Russian authorities, is a serious violation of international law. This does not change the obligation to respect human rights, as the European Court of Human Rights underlined on 28 February 2022 when it indicated urgent interim measures to the Government of the Russian Federation.

International humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, designed for conflict situations also applies, as recently recalled by the Parliamentary Assembly (Resolution 2407 (2021)). It implies, in particular, the following obligations for parties to a conflict:

  • prohibition on targeting civilians;
  • protection of non-combatants (civilians, health and humanitarian personnel) and persons out of combat (wounded soldiers, prisoners);
  • the right of civilians to have access to humanitarian assistance and for their homes to be spared as well their life-sustaining possessions;
  • care for the sick and wounded, regardless of which side they are on;
  • prohibition of attacks on medical personnel, ambulances, and hospitals;
  • prohibition of the use of rape and sexual violence.

The signatories call on all parties, in particular the Russian Federation, to respect these obligations.