3. Takes the view that, given the genocidal and expansionist nature of IS/Daesh and the threat it represents globally, and to European security in particular, mere containment of this threat is not an option, and that all the territories currently under the control of IS/Daesh should be liberated; supports, therefore, the global campaign against IS/Daesh and stresses the need to work with all the regional and local actors committed to its defeat under a common, multifaceted, and long-term strategy; emphasises, in this regard, that any military campaign of liberation of the te ...[+++]rritories under IS/Daesh control should adhere strictly to international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law, so as to avoid causing more loss of lives and feeding the extremist agenda, and also to prevent new waves of refugees and internally displaced persons;

50. Condemns the severe repression carried out by the regime of Belarusian President Lukashenko against members of the opposition, journalists and representatives of civil society following the presidential elections of 19 December 2010 and calls for the immediate release of all those who have been detained and for them to be cleared of all charges; welcomes the decision of the Council of 31 January 2011 to impose a visa ban and to freeze financial assets of 157 selected Belarusian officials; takes the position that sanctions against the Belarusian government officials should remain in force until all political prisoners are released from Belarusian prisons; welcomes the outcome of the International Conference of Donors on ‘Solidarity wi ...[+++]th Belarus’ of 2 February 2011, as part of which the EU has pledged EUR 17.3 million for actions to support civil society, in particular students and the independent media; takes the view that the Commission should enhance people-to-people contacts between the EU and Belarus; encourages those Member States which have not yet done so to take unilateral steps to facilitate the issuance and to reduce the price of short-term visas, in particular Schengen visas, since they are most relevant to the wider society, students and other young people; stresses the importance of ensuring that Belarus does not become isolated, in particular from the existing regional frameworks;

Capacities: supporting key aspects of European research and innovation capacities such as research infrastructures; regional research driven clusters; the development of a full research potential in the Community's convergence and outermost regions; research for the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) ; ‘Science in Society’ issues; support to coherent development of policies; horizontal activities of international cooperation.

Under the ‘Capacities’ programme, the use and development of research infrastructures should be optimised; innovative capacities of SMEs and their ability to benefit from research should be strengthened; the development of regional research-driven clusters should be supported; the research potential in the Union's convergence and outermost regions should be unlocked; science and society should be brought closer together in European society; support should be given to the coherent development of research policies at national and Community level and horizontal actions and measures in support of international ...[+++]cooperation should be undertaken.

61. Deplores the recent crackdown by Chinese officials on defence lawyers aimed at stamping out legal challenges to their authority; calls upon the Chinese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, one of China's most outspoken lawyers and dissidents who is held on suspicion of criminal activity, and to release him unless he is to be charged with a recognised criminal offence; similarly calls for the release of Chen Guangcheng, a peasants' rights advocate who has helped citizens in their attempts to sue their local authorities for carrying out forced abortions and sterilisations and who was sentenced to more than four years in prison, and of Bu Dongwei, who has been assigned to two and a half years of 'Re- ...[+++]education through Labour' (RTL) and who is detained at an undisclosed location; therefore urges the authorities to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out peaceful and legitimate activities without fear of arbitrary arrest, torture or ill-treatment and that they be given access to proper legal representation in the event of arrest;

61. Deplores the recent crackdown by Chinese officials on defence lawyers aimed at stamping out legal challenges to their authority; calls upon the Chinese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, one of China's most outspoken lawyers and dissidents who is held on suspicion of criminal activity, and to release him unless he is to be charged with a recognised criminal offence; similarly calls for the release of Chen Guangcheng, a peasants' rights advocate who has helped citizens in their attempts to sue their local authorities for carrying out forced abortions and sterilisations and who was sentenced to more than four years in prison, and of Bu Dongwei, who has been assigned to two and a half years of 'Re- ...[+++]education through Labour' (RTL) and who is detained at an undisclosed location; therefore urges the authorities to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out peaceful and legitimate activities without fear of arbitrary arrest, torture or ill-treatment and that they be given access to proper legal representation in the event of arrest;