Plenary summary: sports policy and the human rights situation in Somalia and Cameroon
During its November II plenary session, the European Parliament Plenary debated and voted on several files that relate to the human rights of LGBTI persons:
- EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward – Culture and Education (CULT) Committee
- Resolution on the situation in Somalia
- Resolution on the human rights situation in Cameroon
- (Note: For a complete list of all texts (and specific paragraphs) in this legislature touching upon LGBTI issues, check our List of resources available here.)
EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward
On Monday, Members of the European Parliament debate the report on EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward (rapporteur: Tomasz Frankowski, EPP). The report was adopted on Tuesday.
The text of the reports states the following:
- Calls on the Commission to recognise the importance and support the social inclusion of persons with fewer opportunities, refugees, ethnic minorities and the LGBTQI+ community in sport, leaving no one behind; (¶41)
- Underlines the need to leverage the significant social weight of elite sport to raise awareness related to issues faced by LGBTQI+ people in sport; (¶42)
Watch the plenary debate here.
Resolution on the situation in Somalia
On Thursday, Members of the European Parliament debate the resolution on the situation in Somalia. The resolution was adopted also on Thursday.
The text of the reports states the following:
- whereas vulnerable groups are still the main targets of abuses and violence, including women, children, elderly people, IDPs, LGBTQ and other minorities; whereas sexual and gender-based violence, as well as conflict-related violence, still occur on a large scale with impunity, particularly in conflict areas; (F.)
- whereas an estimated 2,9 million Somalis are internally displaced; whereas from August to October 2021 55 000 people were forced to flee their homes, with 80 % of them taking flight as a result of conflict and 20 % due to climate-related events; whereas there are several refugee camps in Kenya and they have been welcoming Somali refugees and asylum seekers since the time of the civil war in Somalia in 1991, including the Kakuma and Dadaab camps with around 520 000 registered refugees and asylum seekers; whereas living conditions in the camps are unsafe, with women, children and LGBTQ people in particular facing recurrent abuse and violence; whereas on 29 April 2021, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Kenyan Government agreed on a roadmap postponing the closure of the Dadaab and Kakuma camps to 30 June 2022; (K.)
Watch the plenary debate here.
Resolution on the human rights situation in Cameroon
Also on Thursday, Members of the European Parliament debate the resolution on the human rights situation in Cameroon. The resolution was adopted also on Thursday.
The text of the reports states the following:
- whereas Cameroon’s penal code punishes sexual relations between persons of the same sex with up to five years’ imprisonment; whereas numerous cases of arrest and harassment of LGBTQI people have been reported in recent years and months; (S.)
- Calls on the Cameroonian authorities to protect all women in the country, especially in the conflict areas, and to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment through boosting the participation of women and women’s rights organisations in public and political life; calls for the development of specific EU actions to strengthen the rights of different groups of women, with a special focus on young people, migrants, women living with HIV, LGBTQI people and people with disabilities; (¶8)
Watch the plenary debate here.
