WRITTEN QUESTION P-1580/01 by Cecilia Malmström (ELDR) to the Council. Néjib Hosni, prisoner of conscience in Tunisia.
Date: 2001-05-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Tunisia, human rights, political prisoner, the EU's international role

C 81 E/38

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

At present, however, there are grounds for concern for the future of this proposal, since certain states want
to move backwards and make substantial changes to the text, even though it is the first firm and
courageous step that has been taken towards bringing the third pillar within the Community sphere. They
are seeking:

(cid:129) to extend to more than one year the waiting period required before third country nationals are

authorised to apply for family reunification;

(cid:129) to impose strict limits on the number of family members eligible for reunification, excluding those in

the ascending line, married couples and grown-up dependent children;

(cid:129) not to grant family members the right to work immediately on arrival in the host Member State;

(cid:129) to allow Member States to withdraw residence permits from members of reunified families if, in the

two years following their arrival, the conditions laid down are no longer being fulfilled.

The proposal for a directive, as amended by the European Parliament, is an important measure which must
secure firm and definitive backing from the Council. Will the Council clearly spell out its views on this
matter? Will it take steps to banish ideologies based on a selective and anachronistic view of European
citizenship?

Reply

(21 November 2001)

On 21 January 2000 the Commission submitted a proposal for a Council Directive on the right to family
reunification. Following the Opinion delivered by the European Parliament on 6 September 2000, the
Commission submitted an amended proposal on 11 October 2000.

The amended proposal has been examined in detail during several readings of the text. Since it has not yet
been possible to reach agreement on a number of fundamental questions, concerning inter alia who should
be eligible for family reunification and the various time limits to be respected, discussions on the proposal
are continuing in the competent bodies of the Council.

(2002/C 81 E/047)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1580/01

by Cecilia Malmstr(cid:246)m (ELDR) to the Council

(28 May 2001)

Subject: NØjib Hosni, prisoner of conscience in Tunisia

NØjib Hosni, who has received numerous international prizes for his committed work in defence of human
rights and is a founder member of the Conseil national des libertØs en Tunisie (CNLT), National Council for
Liberties in Tunisia, was imprisoned in June 1994 on a trumped-up charge of forgery. After being
sentenced, without evidence, to eight years in prison in an unfair trial in 1996, he was conditionally
released at the end of the same year after an international campaign of solidarity.

Mr Hosni was re-arrested in December 2000 and sentenced to 15 days in prison for (cid:145)non-compliance(cid:146) with
a judicial decision which banned him from practising his profession as a lawyer for five years. This ban
was arbitrary since it was in breach of current texts regulating the legal profession. NØjib Hosni is now
being forced to complete the remaining five and a half years of the eight-year sentence imposed in the
1996 trial.

Furthermore, the attacks and intimidation from the government, to which Mr Hosni and human rights
defenders are subjected, have reached an unprecedented level. The imprisonment of Mr Hosni, the
suspension of the activities of the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l(cid:146)homme (LTDH), Tunisian Human Rights
League, the increase in judicial proceedings against the leaders of the LTDH and the CNLT, as well as
physical attacks on the leaders and activists of these and other civil associations, are only a few examples
of the deterioration in the human rights situation in Tunisia.

4.4.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/39

Which measures will the Council take to put an end to pressure and attacks on human rights defenders in
Tunisia and to influence the Tunisian government to immediately and unconditionally release NØjib Hosni
and allow him freedom of movement in Tunisia and abroad?

Reply

(26 November 2001)

With regard to Mr NØjib Hosni, the Council notes with satisfaction his release from the El-Kef prison on
12 May 2001 after nearly five months of imprisonment following a presidential pardon. By the same
token, it notes that two other political prisoners, Mr BØchir Abid and Mr Haroun Mbarek, have been set
free, although only on conditional terms, at the end of May. Both are members of political parties
prohibited in Tunisia. Finally, the Council welcomes the release from detention of Sihem Ben Sedrine on
August 11 and hopes that the charges of insulting an official, which have been raised against her, will be
dealt with according to a due procedure of law.

The Council will continue to raise human rights issues, including such individual cases as that of Mr Hosni,
with the Tunisian authorities whenever the need arises and at any level it deems appropriate, including in
its political dialogue with Tunisia.

(2002/C 81 E/048)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1585/01

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Council

(1 June 2001)

Subject: Proposal for an EU-wide police force and border protection service

Recently German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for Europe to upgrade to an FBI-style unit to
prevent international criminals from exploiting a border-free Europe. Will this issue be on the agenda of
the forthcoming JHA Council? If not, when is it expected to be addressed?

Reply

(21 November 2001)

No formal initiatives or proposals for an EU-wide police force and border protection services has been
introduced in the Council framework.

(2002/C 81 E/049)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1590/01

by Frank Vanhecke (TDI) to the Council

(1 June 2001)

Subject: The Cyprus issue

During his visit to Brussels in late April 2001, Erg(cid:252)n Olgun, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot
President, Rauf Denktash, warned in unmistakable terms that the latent Turkish-Greek conflict on the
island of Cyprus would escalate if the European Union acted upon the agreement reached by EU Heads of
State or Government in December 2000 in Helsinki and did not regard the division of the island as
constituting an obstacle to the island(cid:146)s accession to the European Union (see the 3 May 2001 edition of
(cid:145)European Voice(cid:146)).

Erg(cid:252)n Olgun, the spokesman for the Turkish-Cypriot Government, spoke of (cid:145)incalculable consequences(cid:146) if
accession negotiations with Cyprus were continued without any official negotiations with the Turkish-
Cypriot Government.