WRITTEN QUESTION E-4154/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(16 January 2001)

Subject: Protecting political prisoners in Turkey against hatred, arbitrary treatment and circumstances which may result in death

1. Is the Council aware of the hunger strike by more than 800 prisoners in Turkey which has been going on since 20 October, and of the support for this hunger strike in the form of solidarity campaigns and hunger strikes in the Member States of the European Union?

2. Does the Council agree that at first sight it seems rather strange that within the countries of the European Union prisoners mostly wish their privacy to be respected and not more than one person to be accommodated in each cell, whereas prisoners in Turkey are protesting against a modernisation of the prison system which will result in their being moved from dormitory-style wards to individual cells in newly built or planned F-type prisons?

3. Does the Council appreciate that the position of people who are imprisoned for political offences which would not generally have resulted in a prison sentence in Member States of the European Union and who therefore see themselves as political prisoners is different from that of individual convicts who have committed crimes, partly because they fear that solitary confinement will expose them to the risk of uncontrollable intimidation and mistreatment, while medical treatment may not be available to them, because they are hated by their guards and by the authorities concerned?

4. What will the Council do through the contacts with Turkey, an applicant for membership of the European Union, in order to reduce to a minimum the number of political prisoners in that country and in the case of those who are nonetheless incarcerated to secure a special status for them, which is subject to international monitoring, such as to protect them in so far as possible against hatred, arbitrary treatment and circumstances which may lead to their death?

5. What scope is there for diplomats from European Union Member States to visit prisoners and members of their families in the near future and how might it be possible to offer to mediate, thereby helping to avoid faits accomplis which will result in further escalation of the conflict?

Reply

(31 May 2001)

With regard to paragraphs 1 to 3, the Council refers the Honourable Member to its answer to question E-4111/00 concerning the hunger strike by Turkish prisoners.

With regard to paragraph 4, the Council hopes that the efforts to strengthen the legal and constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, which are included in the short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership, will lead to a considerable reduction in the number of political prisoners. Turkey is also expected to address in this context the situation of those persons in prison sentenced for expressing non-violent opinions.

With regard to paragraph 5, to the knowledge of the Council, diplomats from Member States have in the past been able to visit prisoners only in certain specific cases.

The Council has not so far discussed the possibility mentioned by the Honourable Member in his question.