WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3397/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Human rights
Date: 1997-10-23
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: Afghanistan, EU aid, Islamic State, UNO, extremism, human rights, humanitarian aid, non-governmental organisation, women's rights

C 158/98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 5. 98

In addition, the Commission will propose to transform the less-favoured areas scheme into a basic instrument to
maintain and promote low-input farming systems. This would be specifically relevant where the adjustment of
the cereals regime and of other market organisations, in conjunction with unfavourable natural conditions, puts
pressure on the continuation of this type of farming, which in many areas is seen as being a precondition for the
maintenance and upkeep of the rural environment.

The Commission expects, additionally, positive environmental effects from a reformed cereals regime where the
reduction of the intervention level is followed by an actual drop in market price. This would reduce the incentive
for an excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides. Such extensification effects have been observed as a result of the
introduction of the so-called price stabilisators in 1988 and the reform of the common agricultural policy in 1992.

(1)  COM(97) 2000 final.

(98/C 158/128)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3397/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(23 October 1997)

Subject: Human rights

(cid:146)The rules here are not clear, either as regards the right to take photographs of women or on other matters(cid:146). That
was the first comment by Emma Bonino, the Member of the Commission responsible for human rights, who was
detained for several hours by the fundamentalist Taliban militia while on assignment in Kabul. Mrs Bonino told
the  American  television  station  CNN  that  she,  along  with  the  entire  delegation  travelling  with  her,  had  been
arrested near a women(cid:146)s hospital that she had just visited. The decision to arrest the delegation seems to have
been taken because some of its members photographed the women and filmed them with television cameras, acts
apparently prohibited by the Taliban version of Islamic law.

Will the Commission report forthwith on the sequence of events?

Is it true that some members of the delegation took photographs and shot films although they were forbidden by
law to do so?

Will any changes be made to the ECHO programme?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino behalf of the Commission

(2 December 1997)

The  incident  that  occurred  on  29  September  1997,  while  the  member  of  the  Commission  in  charge  of
humanitarian aid and her delegation were visiting a clinic in Kabul, had its origin in a misunderstanding between
the press people accompanying her and the religious police. The incident was closed with the apologies of two
members of the Taliban administration.

During her humanitarian assessment mission to Afghanistan, the member of the Commission could verify that
huge  humanitarian  needs  remain,  and  therefore,  the  urgency  of  continuing  the  assistance  to  the  people  of
Afghanistan both in the Taliban controlled territory and in the Northern Alliance controlled region.

The Commission will continue to provide funding to United Nations agencies and programmes, international
relief  organisations  and  European  non-governmental  organisations  to  assist  the  population  of  Afghanistan,
provided  that  this  aid  can  be  distributed  freely,  without  harassment,  and  in  accordance  with  international
humanitarian conventions.