Geneva Convention And The Conflict In Turkey

EDM number 26 in 1996-97, proposed by Nigel Jones on 23/10/1996.

That this House, bearing in mind that common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which applies to armed conflict not of an international character, prohibits violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture, regrets the continuation of such a conflict in the south east of Turkey, involving several hundred thousand troops and paramilitary village guards; notes the reports of the UN Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions and on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment regarding these violations of human rights in the region, as well as the destruction of 3,000 villages and the displacement of three million non-combatants from their homes; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to propose declarations in the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the European Union and the United Nations, that this is a conflict to which common Article 3 applies, and request the Turkish authorities to invite the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the region with a view to delivering humanitarian relief to the victims of the conflict, and ensuring compliance by the parties to the conflict with their obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

This motion has been signed by a total of 49 MPs.