WRITTEN QUESTION P-2481/01 by Marco Pannella (TDI) to the Commission. Dr Yunis Shaikh sentenced to death in Pakistan.
Date: 2001-09-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Pakistan, Troika (EU), death penalty, freedom of expression, human rights, imprisonment, the EU's international role

C 93 E/140

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(5 November 2001)

Regarding the impact of abolition of intra-Community duty-free sales on employment, the Commission
would refer the Honourable Member to it’s answer to Written Question P-403/00 by Mr Langen (1).

That answer is still valid.

(1) OJ C 26 E, 26.1.2001.

(2002/C 93 E/169)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2481/01

by Marco Pannella (TDI) to the Commission

(5 September 2001)

Subject: Dr Yunis Shaikh sentenced to death in Pakistan

On 18 August 2001 Dr Yunis Shaikh was imprisoned in Adiala jail and sentenced to death for blasphemy
by a Pakistani court. He is convicted of blasphemy for expressing the view that Mohammed and his family
could not have been Muslims before the Prophet was inspired and other similar opinions, deemed
offensive by the Pakistani clergy.

The trial was attended by a screaming crowd, whose feelings were whipped up by members of the clergy,
while witnesses were called to court despite having stated that they had not been present when Dr Shaikh
had made the alleged statements. He was given only one week to appeal to the Supreme Court instead of
the usual thirty days. Even if nobody has hitherto been hanged for blasphemy in Pakistan, hundreds of
people, charged with or convicted of blasphemy languish in prisons, inside the ‘death cells’, where they can
barely stand up.

Did the Commission follow Dr Yunis Shaikh’s trial through the presence of its own representative? Has the
Commission reacted officially to the death sentence passed on Dr Yunis Shaikh? Which initiatives has it
taken or does it intend to take vis-à-vis the increase in convictions for blasphemy in Pakistan and, more
generally, violations of fundamental human rights?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(2 October 2001)

The Commission is very concerned about the application of the blasphemy law in Pakistan. Blasphemy
related to the Prophet Mohammed is subject to the death penalty, whereas blasphemy of the Koran is
punishable by life imprisonment. To date a disproportionate number of cases have been brought up
against religious minorities and the press.

The Commission is fully aware of the lawsuit against Dr. Yunis Shaikh, a Muslim, as raised by the
Honourable Member. Dr. Shaikh was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges on 18 August 2001 and
has since appealed the judgement, a lengthy process in Pakistan which can last years. Whereas todate,
verdicts in blasphemy cases were revoked by higher benches, on 24 July 2001 a potentially dangerous
precedent was set when in the case of Ayub Masih the appeal court upheld an earlier judgement.

On the occasion of a human rights conference organised by the Government of Pakistan in April 2000, a
procedural reform of
following strong protests from
religious groups the government withdrew the proposal.

the blasphemy law was announced. However,

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/141

The Commission is actively participating in joint Union efforts to address human rights issues in Pakistan
as part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The blasphemy law was raised with the authorities
during ad hoc political Troika talks in Islamabad on 20-21 November 2000. On 3 May 2001 the Troika
carried out a demarche on the death penalty with the Minister of Law and Justice, Human Rights and
Parliamentary Affairs. On this, as well as other occasions since then, the Union’s concerns on the
blasphemy law have been communicated to the Pakistan authorities.

(2002/C 93 E/170)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2486/01

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 September 2001)

Subject: Peace and Reconciliation Fund

Recent reports have stated that the European Union has been funding well-known IRA terrorists through
the EU’s Peace and Reconciliation Fund.

Has the Commission initiated a formal investigation into the possible gross misappropriation of European
Union funds?

Has the Commission suspended payment to these particular organisations until a proper investigation has
been concluded?

What steps will the Commission take to ensure that taxpayers’ money is properly spent and if it is
confirmed that money has been inappropriately allocated, what steps will the Commission take to reclaim
the money?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2001)

The Commission assumes that the Honourable Member is referring to an article published in the British
edition of the Sunday Times on 26 August 2001 entitled ‘IRA suspects funded by EU grants’.

The article names individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities who are alleged to number
among the beneficiaries supported by European Structural Funds via projects concerning two ex-prisoner
groups: ‘Tar Isteach’ and ‘Coiste Na n-larchimí’.

Although the individuals concerned have not been convicted of a terrorist offence,
the European
Commission has asked the programme management authority on the ground E the Special EU
Programmes Body E to examine the projects concerned. This examination has provided no evidence to
suggest that there are irregularities in the administration of European funds. At present there is therefore
no basis either for a suspension of payments or for a request for reimbursement of EU funds.

Although the PEACE I programme and its successor, PEACE II, are unique among European interventions
under the Structural Funds, they are subject to the same strict set of rules with regard to financial
management and control. The Commission has already demonstrated in the past that it will not hesitate to
suspend payments where there is evidence of the misuse of European funding. It has the full cooperation
of the Special EU Programmes Body in this respect.