The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The resolution had been tabled by the PES, Greens/ALE, EPP-ED, ALDE, UEN and GUE/NGL groups.

Cambodia: Parliament expresses its support for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia. Noting that on 3 February 2005 the National Assembly of Cambodia waived the parliamentary immunity of three members of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), namely its chairman, Sam Rainsy, and Chea Poch and Cheam Channy, Parliament calls on the Cambodian authorities to release Cheam Channy, return his parliamentary mandate and restore the parliamentary immunity of Sam Rainsy and the two other representatives of his party, as requested by Parliament in its previous resolutions. It also wants Cambodia to engage in political and institutional reforms to build a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and to combat the endemic scourges of corruption, massive deforestation resulting in the displacement of people, and the sex tourism industry, to refuse the current culture of impunity and to bring to justice all those involved in such activities. Parliament calls on the Council and the Commission to establish a Working Group on Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Governance and Human Rights and to report its results to the European Parliament. It suggests that an ad hoc EP Delegation visit Cambodia as soon as possible to evaluate the situation of detained parliamentarians, media representatives and trade union leaders in the country and that an end be brought to the detention of all political prisoners. Laos: Parliament notes that the authorities of the Lao People's Democratic Republic continue to take measures that limit the freedoms of expression, the press, association, assembly and religion. It calls on the Laotian authorities, inter alia, to release all political prisoners, including the leaders of the Movement of 26 October 1999, and implement reforms required to democratise the country and hold multiparty elections under international monitoring. Parliament wants Laos to implement programmes allowing the integration of the Lao-Hmong population and other ethnic and religious minorities into Laotian society. The Commission is asked closely to monitor the situation of the Lao-Hmong community and the government's programmes designed for ethnic minorities. Vietnam: the resolution recognises the substantial progress made by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam towards economic and social rights, as indicated by social indicators and the UNDP Human Development Index. Accordingly it calls on the Vietnamese authorities to undertake a list of specified actions including undertaking political and institutional reforms, starting by allowing a multi-party system and releasing all Vietnamese political prisoners detained for having legitimately exercised their rights. Parliament also wants the authorities to ensure the safe repatriation, under the Cambodia-Vietnam-UNHCR agreement, of the Montagnards who fled Vietnam, and allow proper monitoring of the situation of the returnees by the UNHCR and international NGOs.

Parliament calls on the Council and Commission to involve Parliament in the work of the EU-Vietnam and EU-Laos Working Groups on these matters and calls on the Council and the Commission to make a detailed assessment of the implementation policies conducted in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam since the signing of the association and cooperation agreements, mindful of Article 1 of these agreements, which reiterates that respect for democratic principles and fundamental rights is an essential element of the agreements, and to report back to Parliament.