WRITTEN QUESTION E-3706/00 by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Date: 2000-11-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greater Antilles, Latin America, Mexico, child labour, common foreign and security policy, head of State

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/121

Reply

(12 March 2001)

The Council follows the situation in Belarus very closely, as befits a country destined soon to find itself at
it attaches to
the frontiers of
democratisation in Belarus. It is a source of the utmost concern that the Belarus authorities show no sign
of improving their poor human rights record.

the EU has repeated the importance that

the EU. Time and again,

therefore deplores the forcible suppression of

the demonstration by opposition youth
The Council
movements on Sunday 12 November 2000. Several aspects of this case offer grounds for particular
concern: a large number of young demonstrators were arrested, many of those arrested were under 16
years of age, and some of those arrested have been subjected to relatively very heavy fines. In addition,
there have been numerous accusations that the police used quite excessive violence in making arrests.

The Council fully echoes the position adopted by the Parliament in October 1999, when it called on the
Belarus authorities to release immediately all those who are in prison for exercising their right to freedom
of expression. It reiterates the appeal, made on numerous occasions, for the Belarus authorities to respect
international standards in the field of human rights.

The Council has gone to the greatest
In their various
lengths to try and get
declarations, the Presidency and the Council have constantly made clear their frustration at the stance of
the Belarus authorities. Furthermore, most recently in November, the Council has given very public
support to the OSCE AMG as it legitimately seeks to fulfil the terms of its mandate. These positions have
been communicated at the highest possible level, as when the High Representative, Mr Solana, spoke by
telephone to Mr Lukashenko.

this message across.

The EU position remains that a policy of isolation would be counterproductive and would serve only to
destabilise the region. Still, the EU has maintained restrictive measures on Belarus since introducing them
in 1997. It is the belief of the Council that the best way to bring about an improvement in the human
rights situation in Belarus is to pursue the step-by-step approach, mapped out in April 1999, which is
designed to offer incentives for better relations to the Belarus authorities.

(2001/C 174 E/125)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3706/00

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 November 2000)

Subject: Child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean

Figures issued by Unicef show that half of the 200 million children and teenagers in Latin America and the
Caribbean are considered to be living in poverty and 10 % work for meagre wages. Some countries have
passed laws trying to end child labour but few have made headway, as poverty remains a powerful
incentive for children to work. Under-age workers were recently found on the family ranch of Mexico(cid:146)s
President-elect Vicente Fox, who appealed that his family should not be judged too harshly, as although
child labour is illegal it is widespread.

What does the Commission intend to do to alleviate the plight of Latin American and Caribbean children?
How can a President-elect justify breaking the law by arguing that it is a widespread phenomenon?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2001)

The Commission(cid:146)s strategy towards Latin America focuses on poverty reduction and tries to improve
working conditions in general as well as eradicating child labour. Within the framework of the Commis-
sion co-operation programmes, a number of initiatives are being launched which tackle children(cid:146)s rights,

C 174 E/122

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

labour conditions and the issue of street children, all over Latin America (such as the project (cid:145)satellite street
children(cid:146) executed by the NGO European Network on Street Children World-wide, ENSCW, € 874,000,
and a project (cid:145)Poder crecer(cid:146) with the objective to accompany and strengthen NGO(cid:146)s that take care of
children and teenagers in difficult situations such as street children, children that are in jail and under-age
workers (€ 1 million) executed by the NGO BICE, International catholic Bureau for childhood).

The Commission continues to foster any positive measures which aim to facilitate the implementation of
the Latin America Children Convention (C(cid:243)digo del niæo y el adolescente). In this context, one of the
priority themes in Latin America for 2001 is precisely the promotion and protection of the rights of
children.

The Commission has taken note of the Honourable Member(cid:146)s concern of the case of underage workers
found in Mexico and will avail itself of any opportunity to ask the Mexican authorities to enforce the laws
on child labour in all circumstances.

(2001/C 174 E/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3707/00

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Council

(30 November 2000)

Subject: The plight of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan

Is the Presidency aware of the infringements of the Ahmadiyya community(cid:146)s human rights in Pakistan? A
number of laws passed in 1974 made it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to profess, practise and preach
their faith. Several members of the community have been charged with blasphemy under Section 295C,
which carries the mandatory death penalty. Recent religiously motivated murders committed by orthodox
Muslims against the Ahmadis have not been investigated. What does the Council intend to do to protect
the fundamental rights of the Ahmadiyya community?

Reply

(12 March 2001)

The Council shares the concern expressed in the question put by the Honourable Member regarding
discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan. However, given that the regular political dialogue
meetings between the Union and Pakistan were suspended following a military coup in 1999,
it has
become more difficult for the Union to communicate its concerns to Pakistan(cid:146)s political leaders. Never-
theless, the subject of the protection of religious minorities has been raised, on several occasions, with
high-level interlocutors from the administration and the Pakistani Government, notably during the Troika(cid:146)s
ad hoc visits to Islamabad in November 1999 and November 2000. During its last visit, the Troika in
particular stressed to the Minister of the Interior the importance of ensuring that religious minorities were
adequately protected against all intra-community violence, that any incidents were investigated and the
perpetrators prosecuted. The Troika also raised the matter of continued legal discrimination against certain
minorities in Pakistan, including the issue of separate voting.

During these interviews, Minister Haider assured the Troika that the administration wished to include all
minorities in the political process. While recognising that the initial discriminatory decisions taken in
accordance with the anti-blasphemy legislation had alarmed the groups concerned, Mr Haider emphasised
that none of these controversial decisions had been upheld on appeal. The Minister also confirmed that the
government would undertake to pursue the necessary reform of the legislation in question. As regards
intra-community violence, the government was aware of the extent of the problem. It would continue to
take a tough line against all
forms of violence and would undertake to arrest and prosecute the
perpetrators.