WRITTEN QUESTION P-3337/01 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission. Nigeria.
Date: 2001-11-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Islamic State, Nigeria, cruel and degrading treatment, death penalty, human rights, international affairs, political violence, torture

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/41

(2002/C 172 E/044)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3335/01

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(30 November 2001)

Subject: The arrest of Mohamed Nasheed, MP, in the Maldives on 8 October 2001

Is the Commission aware of reports that Mohamed Nasheed, a Member of Parliament in Malé, Republic of
Maldives, and a human rights activist, was arrested on 8 October 2001 without any clear reason being
given.

Would the Commission consider asking the Maldives Government to indicate the exact reason for
Mohamed Nasheed’s arrest and the charges, if any, that have been brought against him?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 2001)

The Commission is not aware of the circumstances of the arrest of Mr Nasheed and has requested its Head
of Delegation in Colombo, who is accredited to the Republic of the Maldives, to make enquiries and to
report back.

The Commission will inform the Honourable Member of the results of these enquiries.

(2002/C 172 E/045)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3337/01

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(27 November 2001)

Subject: Nigeria

On 9 October 2001 an Islamic court in Sokoto State, in northern Nigeria, sentenced a pregnant woman to
death by stoning after finding her guilty of having premarital sex. Safiya Hussaini Tungar Dudu, aged 30,
is the first person to be sentenced to death since the introduction in 2000 of a strictly Islamic legal code.
Judge Mohammed Bello Sanyinnawal, of the Gwadadawa Islamic Upper Court sentenced the woman to
death after she had admitted having premarital sex. The court released the man she had identified as her
lover on the grounds that it lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute him and gave her thirty days in which
to appeal. On 25 October 2001 Safiya’s lawyer appealed against the sentence, asking for a stay of
execution pending the decision of the Sharia Court of Appeal. On 1 November the President of the
Nigerian Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim, condemned the sentence passed by the Islamic Court albeit merely
with regard to the discriminatory nature of the decisions to sentence the woman and release the man,
while the Federal Government endorsed the appeal against the sentence.

There have been many other cases of the Sharia being applied to premarital sex since a dozen states in the
Federation decided two years ago to adopt a rigorously Islamic legal court. In January 2001 a seventeen-
year old girl, Bariya Mugazu, was subjected to 100 lashes in the state of Zamfara for premarital sex after
the court had rejected her disturbing account of having been raped by three suspects whom she had taken
to court and who were released owing to lack of evidence.

What urgent action has the Commission taken or does it intend to take or promote, on a bilateral or
multilateral basis, to prevent the execution of Safiya Hussaini Tungar Dudu and to encourage the Nigerian
authorities to abolish the Sharia and strengthen the rule of
law in their country? How does the
Commission intend to take up at international level the practice common in many Islamic countries of
in public judicial executions and other sentences such as floggings, executions and
carrying out
punishments often inflicted for offences which do not
in
contravention of the standards laid down by international human rights conventions?

involved violence, especially on women,

C 172 E/42

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(8 January 2002)

As to the specific case of Safiya Hussaini Tungar Dudu, an appeal has been lodged by the defendant, and
in the meantime the sentence has been suspended by the Islamic Appeal Court of Sokoto. According to
local press reports the Attorney General of the Federation has already indicated that he will not accept
confirmation or application of this sentence.

The Union is strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty. In June 1998, the Union decided, as an
integral part of its human rights policy, to strengthen its international activities in opposition to the death
penalty.

The Commission waits the outcome of the appeal.

Moreover, the Union will continue to encourage the Government of Nigeria to abolish the death penalty,
to strengthen respect of human rights, and to raise people’s awareness of their legal rights. A project is
currently under implementation to strengthen civil society in Northern Nigeria, and promotion of human
rights and civil society are themes identified in the Country Strategy Support.

The Commission acts in several ways to end the practice in certain Islamic countries of public and
particularly cruel executions.

The Union Guidelines on policy towards third countries on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, which were adopted by the General Affairs Council on 9 April 2001, underline
that corporal punishment is included within the scope of the references to ‘ill-treatment’. The principles set
out in the Guidelines with respect to Union actions (for example, with respect to political dialogue and
general and individual démarches) therefore apply to punishments such as the floggings referred to in the
question.

As concerns Union action within the United Nations it should be recalled that the Union at the 57th
Session of the Commission on Human Rights referred to the situation in Nigeria. In the Union statement
concerning the Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in any part of the world, the Union
expressed concern regarding ‘the sentences of severe corporal punishment passed down under the Sharia
penal code introduced by certain states in northern Nigeria’.

Within the framework of Chapter B7-7 of the Community budget (the European Initiative for Democracy
and Human Rights) funds to combat torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Nigeria
and other third countries will continue to be available.

(2002/C 172 E/046)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/01

by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 December 2001)

Subject: Copyright in the information society

The directive on copyright in the information society is in the process of being introduced. In this
connection, it is being argued that copyright protection levies should be introduced on products, such as
PCs and video players, that can be used to store music, for example. Is the Commission aware of such
plans? If so, how many Member States are considering them, and are they compatible with the objectives
of the e-Europe action plan?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2002)

Directive 2001/29/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001, on copyright and related
implemented by Member States by
rights
22 December 2002. The Directive allows Member States to provide an exception to the right of

information society (1)

required to be

in the

is