WRITTEN QUESTION E-3538/00 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Human rights situation in Colombia and the life of Fr Brendan Forde.
Date: 2000-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Colombia, committee of inquiry, crime against humanity, establishment of peace, human rights

C 163 E/156

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

(2001/C 163 E/174)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3536/00

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Evaluation report on the sheepmeat regime

Bearing in mind that the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament was assured by Commissioner
Fischler in March that the evaluation report on the sheepmeat regime would be published immediately
after Easter, could the Commission please give an explanation for the inordinate delay in publishing the
report, in the light of the difficulty being experienced by sheep farmers in certain Member States?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2000)

The Commission regrets that the evaluation report on the sheep and goat meat regime could only be made
available to the public with a certain delay. Since the beginning of November however this report can be
consulted on the evaluation web-site of the Commission Directorate general for Agriculture.

The drafting of the final version of the report by the external consultant in charge of the study took more
time than initially foreseen. It has to be noted that the deadlines provided were extremely tight and only
under ideal circumstances could a publication have been envisaged during the first six months of 2000.

During the process of drafting this report it was decided by the steering group responsible for this
evaluation, in agreement with the consultant, to make a thorough revision of the draft final report as
concerns the methodological approach in order to improve the validity of the results obtained. This
revision caused an additional delay for the presentation of the final report with the result that it was only
available in autumn 2000. This delay is however justified through the fact that thanks to this thorough
revision a report of good quality could be obtained as the judgement of the steering group accompanying
the publication of the report reveals.

(2001/C 163 E/175)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3537/00

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Human rights situation in Colombia and the life of Fr Brendan Forde

I received a written response from Commissioner Patten(cid:146)s office on 19 September regarding the situation
in Colombia and the safety of Fr Brendan Forde in his village of La Union.

In that letter it was stated that Mr Patten was seeking assurances from his Colombian counterparts on the
abuses of human rights in the area.

Would the Commission please outline what explanations and assurances it has received from its
Colombian counterparts regarding this issue?

(2001/C 163 E/176)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3538/00

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Human rights situation in Colombia and the life of Fr Brendan Forde

Bearing in mind that Commissioner Nielson(cid:146)s letter to me dated 18 September on the human rights
situation in Fr Brendan Forde(cid:146)s area of La Union described the situation as (cid:145)calm(cid:146) and bearing in mind the

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contradictory information contained in the report from the (cid:145)Inter-Congregational Commission of Justice
and Peace(cid:146) in Bogota also sent to Mr Nielsen(cid:146)s office:

1. Would the Commission please seek clarification from its information sources in the region on the

human rights situation?

2. Would the European Commission please establish why (cid:145)The Commission for Investigation(cid:146), established
by the Colombian Government to investigate the murder of six men in Fr Forde(cid:146)s (cid:145)peace community(cid:146)
village of La Union on 8 July, has issued no report or statement on its findings?

3. Could the Commission reassure me and the family of Fr Forde that the Commission is doing whatever
it can to influence and help end the abuses of human rights that are occurring in Colombia and
Fr Forde(cid:146)s village?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3537/00 and E-3538/00
given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Immediately after the massacre in (cid:145)La Uni(cid:243)n(cid:146) took place the Union called on the Colombian Government
to investigate the exact circumstances of this crime. The Colombian Government established a commission
of inquiry on the massacre, consisting of officials from the Public Prosecutor(cid:146)s, the Attorney General(cid:146)s and
the Ombudsman(cid:146)s Office. They have carried out two investigation missions, the last at the beginning
of November, although they have not issued their report yet. International pressure should certainly be
maintained in order to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

The Union has consistently stressed the importance of making progress on human rights issues. The most
recent opportunity took place on 24 October 2000 in Bogota, when Colombia convened an international
meeting on support for the peace process. The Commission(cid:146)s perception is that there is increasing
willingness from the Colombian authorities to respond to these claims. First steps have been taken by the
government (the lay-off of army officers involved in human rights violations, trial of military personnel
before civilian courts). But there is obviously still a long way to go and the international community
should continue its active human-rights policy.

The Commission is aware of the detainee situation of the peace community of La Uni(cid:243)n/UrabÆ, where
Father Forde is working. Nevertheless, the Commission is actively supporting the peace communities
through specific actions carried out by the non-governmental organisations to meet their needs for
humanitarian aid. It also supports these communities through active participation in the (cid:145)Mesa por la paz
en UrabÆ(cid:146) (a platform for peace consisting of different national and international entities) which monitors
the human rights situation in the area of the peace communities.

(2001/C 163 E/177)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3544/00

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 November 2000)

Subject: Olympic Games

The Commission(cid:146)s replies to my previous questions on the possibility of projects and activities connected
with the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens being funded by Community appropriations, perhaps at the
expense of funding for regional development and the environment, stated that, in the first place, the Greek
Government had made no requests for such funding and in any case that such requests would not be
looked on favourably. For some weeks now the Greek press has been saying constantly that significant
Community funds will be directed towards covering the costs of the Olympic Games budget.

Can the Commission say whether it now intends to fund specific projects or actions connected with the
Olympic Games, and state the amounts concerned? What are the developmental aims of this funding?
From which appropriations originally allocated for other purposes will funding be diverted?