Resolution on Drought and Famine in East Africa presented by PWG Human Rights.

RESOLUTION

on Need to Improve the Conditions of Captivity and to Release Kidnapped European Citizen Gilad Shalit

Adopted by the Council in Vienna on 11/07/2011         
Presented by YLC Israel

Gilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier and French citizen who was captured on 25th June 2006 by Hamas in a cross-border raid near Kerem-Shalom crossing in Israel, and has been held hostage at an unknown location in the Gaza Strip by Hamas ever since.

The European Union, United States, Canada, Israel and Japan all classify Hamas as a Terrorist Organisation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have issued a joint call on Friday 17th of June 2011 for the release of Gilad Shalit as part of a deal with Hamas.

President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel have each called for Shalit's release separately in the past, but this marks the first time the two European leaders issued a joint call on the matter, which was an unusual move at a meeting meant to discuss an urgent European topic, their comments coming eight days before the fifth anniversary of Gilad Shalit's abduction.

Since 2006, the International Red Cross (ICRC) has repeatedly asked Hamas to allow visits by the ICRC to ascertain Shalit's conditions of detention and treatment, but to no avail. An ICRC representative said that under international humanitarian law, Shalit is entitled to regular and unconditional contacts with his family.

Last January French Foreign Minister visited Shalit’s family near the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem and promised to Gilad’s father Noam Shalit, "to make all efforts to bring Gilad home, because he is also a French citizen and a prisoner without proper conditions”. 

We, the European Democrat Students, the official student organisation of the European People’s Party (EPP):

• Believe it is unheard of that a European citizen, or any human being, suffers intolerable conditions in captivity, regardless of the circumstances of the kidnapping, and require Hamas to give Gilad Shalit all his rights according to international law.
• Encourage European leaders to continue to intensify their efforts for better conditions of Gilad Shalit's captivity and for his rapid release.
• Call on all members of the EPP group in the European Parliament to take appropriate measures to raise this issue.
• Encourage all states of Europe, the UN, and especially Russia and Turkey given their importance in this area, to recognise Hamas as a Terrorist Organisation and act accordingly in the future.