notes that according to ‘Reporters without Borders’ the ‘internet enemy list’ includes the following
states which engage in pervasive internet censorship: Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran,
Myanmar/Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Vietnam;
145. Urges the Commission to draw up a list of individuals responsible for severe human rights
violations, such as torture, censorship, rape and extra-judicial executions, in Iran, particularly after
the 2009 elections, and to consider imposing sanctions on them in the form of asset freezes and
travel bans;
146. Supports the right of expression and peaceful assembly in Russia as formally, but not actually,
guaranteed by Article 31 of the Russian Constitution; expresses solidarity with the organisers and
participants of Strategy-31, the series of civic protests in support of this right which started on 31
July 2009 and take place on Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow on the 31st of every month with 31
days; regrets that, except for the very last one, on 31 October 2010, all Strategy-31 demonstrations
have been refused permission by the authorities on the grounds that other activities had been
scheduled to take place in Triumfalnaya Square at the same time; is deeply concerned that on 31
December 2009, among dozens of other peaceful protesters, Russian police detained the Chairperson
of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, who had been awarded Parliament’s Sakharov
Prize only a few weeks before her detention; supports the call of the Human Rights Commissioner of
Russia Vladimir Lukin to launch an investigation into the harsh police action in connection with the
31 May 2010 protests;
147. Is deeply concerned at the lack of freedom of expression in Venezuela and Cuba, the grip on news
media, the restricted and controlled internet use and the attempts to stifle dissent;
Human rights and the fight against terrorism
148. Condemns terrorism in all its forms; recalls that terrorism worldwide has resulted in thousands of
deaths of innocent civilians and has shattered the lives of many families; takes the view that in the
case of terrorist attacks it is imperative to talk first and foremost about the rights of the victims and
not the perpetrators; stresses the need to make sure that terrorists are brought to justice;
149. Notes that measures to fight terrorism have resulted in violations of basic human rights in a number
of countries around the world, in the form of the application of disproportionate surveillance
measures, illegal detentions and the use of torture as a means of extracting information from
suspected terrorists; expresses concern that certain countries are using the fight against terrorism as a
cloak to crack down on ethnic minorities and local human rights defenders, and urges that the fight
against terrorism not be used as an argument to restrict or ban the lawful and legitimate action of
human rights defenders; condemns these violations of human rights, underlines the EU's position that
the fight against terrorism must be conducted with full respect for fundamental rights and the rule of
law and is convinced that civil liberties should not be compromised in the fight against terrorism;
150. Calls on the Commission and the Council to use the opportunity of bilateral political and human
rights dialogues with non-EU countries to recall that human rights have to be respected when
combating terrorism, and that under no circumstance must counter-terrorism policy be
instrumentalised and used against human rights defenders or political opponents; calls in particular
on the HR/VP to publicly denounce human rights violations in counter-terrorism policies and
operations;
151. Calls for a greater coordination and interaction between COTER and COHOM on this issue in order