WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3259/97 by Rosemarie WEMHEUER to the Commission. Manufacture and export of instruments of torture
Date: 1997-10-20
Institutions: European Parliament, WEMHEUER
Subjects: United Kingdom, arms control, arms industry, cruel and degrading treatment, electrical process, export monitoring, export restriction, marketing, metal product, torture

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/73

Active  consideration  of  the  problem  is  continuing  in  the  Council(cid:146)s  bodies,  in  order  to  determine  the  most
appropriate way to control exports of these products in a coordinated manner.

(1)  All the EU Member States have signed the Convention. Thirteen have ratified it.
(2)  All fifteen Member States of the Union are party to the Convention.

(98/C 158/94)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3259/97

by Rosemarie Wemheuer (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Manufacture and export of instruments of torture

At the end of July 1997 the press indicated that Great Britain had adopted amended guidelines for worldwide
trade in weapons manufactured in Britain. The export of instruments of torture is also forbidden.

In the individual Member States of the EU is there a definition of which goods in the broadest sense are

1.
designated (cid:145)instruments of torture(cid:146)?

2.

In which Member States of the EU are instruments of torture produced and marketed?

Does the EU have a legal basis which can be used to prohibit the manufacture, marketing and in particular

3.
export of instruments of torture?

4. Were there joint European initiatives in the past in this area or are any European initiatives planned for the
near future?

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission

(20 November 1997)

1. and 2.
questions.

The  Commission  regrets  that  it  does  not  have  sufficient  information  to  be  able  to  answer  these

Any legal basis within the Community to prohibit the production, sale and export of torture instruments is

3.
to be found primarily in the law of Member States.

Article  36  of  the  EC  Treaty  allows  Member  States  to  prohibit  or  restrict  imports,  exports  or  goods  in  transit
within the Community on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security, as well as the protection of
health  and  life  of  humans.  In  respect  of  exports  to  third  countries,  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2603/69
establishing common rules for exports (1) allows Member States to prohibit or restrict exports to these countries
on the same grounds. An export prohibition for the Community as a whole could be based on Article 113 of the
EC Treaty.

In earlier replies to written questions No E-664/92 by Mr David (2) and E-741/97 by Mr Nicholson (3) on the
4.
export of torture instruments, the Commission already pointed out that everything, depending on circumstances,
could become an instrument of torture even if originally it has not been devised for such a purpose. There are
therefore clear limitations to what can be done by legislation to prevent the production, sale or export of goods
that are eventually used for purposes of torture.

In  the  light  of  information  obtained  from  Member  States  on  their  definition  of  torture  instruments  and  their
national  policy  regarding  production,  sale  and  export,  the  Commission  would  nevertheless  be  prepared  to
consider an initiative aimed at a common approach.

(1)  OJ L 324, 27.12.1969.
(2)  OJ C 247, 24. 9.1992.
(3)  OJ C 139, 5. 6.1995.