WRITTEN QUESTION P-1987/00 by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council. The status of religious minorities in Pakistan.
Date: 2000-06-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Pakistan, freedom of religious beliefs, fundamental rights, human rights, protection of minorities, religious group, the EU's international role

C 81 E/128

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

(2001/C 81 E/154)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1987/00

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council

(13 June 2000)

Subject: The status of religious minorities in Pakistan

General Musharraf is coming under increasing pressure from religious parties to back down on his pledges
to introduce key reforms aimed at improving the status of religious minorities in Pakistan. The Chief
Executive has already succumbed to pressure to backtrack on his reform of the administrative procedure
for registering blasphemy cases. This was announced on 16 May 2000,
just two weeks after a new
blasphemy case was registered against Kungri Masih, a 27 year-old Christian from Faisalabad. Also in
early May, 35-year prison sentences for blasphemy were handed down to Rasheed and Saleem Masih, two
Christian brothers from Pasrur. These three men are the latest in a long line of victims of Pakistan(cid:146)s much-
abused blasphemy laws.

Is the Council aware of these cases; and has it made any representations on behalf of these men? Does the
Council intend to offer General Musharraf encouragement as he seeks to press ahead with other reforms,
such as the restoration of the joint electoral system and the reform of the madrassahs (Koranic schools)?

Reply

(28 September 2000)

The Council
is aware of the general problems mentioned in the honourable MEP(cid:146)s question, and in
particular of Chief Executive Musharraf(cid:146)s reluctance to reform Pakistan(cid:146)s blasphemy law. However, the
Council has not, so far, discussed the individual cases of Rasheed and Saleem Masih.

As the honourable MEP is well aware, the regular political dialogue between the European Union and
Pakistan, together with the signature of the EC-Pakistan Co-operation Agreement, has been suspended in
the wake of General Musharraf(cid:146)s military coup which overthrew Pakistan(cid:146)s democratically elected govern-
ment in October 1999. Nonetheless, the Council will continue to raise the issue of tolerance, religious
freedom and the rights of minorities in Pakistan on an ad hoc basis, whenever an appropriate opportunity
arises. Similarly, the EU Heads of Mission in Islamabad have in the past raised individual human rights
problems directly with the Pakistani authorities and will continue to do so in the future. The Council
hopes that General Musharraf(cid:146)s recent appeal to Islamic religious leaders, issued on the occasion of his
speech at the Seerat conference in mid-June, to pay more attention to human rights and to end sectarian
violence in the country will yield better results.

The Union pursues also at a multilateral level its efforts aimed to counter intolerance and violence based
on religion or belief. In this context, Member States recently co-sponsored the resolution (cid:145)Implementation
of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on
Religion or Belief(cid:146), introduced by Ireland and adopted by consensus at the 56th session of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights (20 March-28 April 2000).

(2001/C 81 E/155)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1997/00

by Isidoro SÆnchez Garc(cid:237)a (ELDR) to the Commission

(21 June 2000)

Subject: Individual EIB loans in the Canaries

What is the sum total of the individual loans granted by the European Investment Bank in the Canaries
over the period 1994-1999, and, where applicable, to what fields and what institutions has this funding
been channelled?