WRITTEN QUESTION No. 979/99 by Anna KARAMANOU Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian political prisoners in Syria
Date: 1999-04-15
Institutions: European Parliament, KARAMANOU
Subjects: Lebanon, Syria, arrest, association agreement (EU), government violence, human rights, political prisoner

C 370/138

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.12.1999

(1999/C 370/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0909/99

by Bernard Lehideux (PPE) to the Commission

(8 April 1999)

Subject: Action taken by the Syrian Government in response to the resolution of March 1998 on Lebanese

prisoners in Syria

In March 1998, when human rights organizations were regularly condemning the arbitrary imprisonment
of numerous Lebanese citizens in Syria, without charges being brought against them and without their
families being informed of their fate, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Lebanese prisoners
in Syria (B4-0324/98) (1), calling on the Syrian Government to publish a full list of Lebanese prisoners in
Syria, to release those prisoners against whom no charges had been brought and to transfer the others to
Lebanon.

A year on from this resolution, does the Commission know whether this list has been published and

1.
whether the Syrian Government has complied with the other recommendations?

If no satisfactory response is received from Syria, what will the Commission do to ensure that these

2.
human rights violations are taken into account in the European Union’s relations with Syria?

(1) OJ C 104, 6.4.1998, p. 238.

(1999/C 370/194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0979/99

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(15 April 1999)

Subject: Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian political prisoners in Syria

According to the latest report from Amnesty International more than 250 political prisoners are currently
being held in Syria, mainly Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians, and their fate appears to be unknown.
Many of them have suffered arbitrary arrest and torture, while others have received long prison sentences
after a secret summary trial before a military court. It might be pointed out that hundreds of Lebanese,
Palestinians and Jordanians have ‘disappeared’ in Syria since the end of the 1970s.

Given that the Syrian authorities have undertaken, through the Barcelona process, to guarantee peace and
stability in the region,
in what way will the Commission intervene with a view to ensuring effective
protection for human rights in Syria in the context of negotiations on the EU-Syria association agreement?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0909/99 and E-0979/99
given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 1999)

According to a report of the Syrian human rights organisation Committee for the defence of democratic
freedom and human rights in Syria (CDF), some 250 Lebanese citizens are still detained in Syria after the
release of 121 Lebanese detainees from Syrian prisons in March 1999. To the Commission’s knowledge,
the Syrian government has not produced a public list with the names of the remaining Lebanese detainees
held in Syrian prisons. According to recent information from Amnesty International (AI), as of December
1998 no substantive response has been forthcoming from the Syrian authorities to queries from AI
submitted in March 1997 and October 1998 regarding the Lebanese detainees (1).

Since 1991 the Syrian government has released thousands of long-term political prisoners,
including
Lebanese citizens, most recently in March, May and June 1998. The Commission welcomes these releases
but remains concerned over the remaining prisoners of conscience in Syria,
including the Lebanese
detainees.

The Syrian authorities are well aware of the importance that the Union attaches to the strict respect of
international human rights law. The Union uses every opportunity, afforded by its regular contacts with