WRITTEN QUESTION E-0263/02 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. The prisoners in the US Camp X-Ray at Guantánamo.
Date: 2002-02-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, EU relations, United States, human rights, prisoner of war

C 229 E/60

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

(2002/C 229 E/066)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0263/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

Subject: The prisoners in the US ‘Camp X-Ray’ at Guantánamo

(8 February 2002)

What is the Council’s policy position vis-à-vis the US Government with regard to reports that the prisoners
in the camp at Guantánamo, caught in Afghanistan, are treated like wild animals, being deprived of the
senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch . the kind of treatment meted out in torture camps?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0168/02, E-0236/02, E-0239/02 and E-0263/02

(27 June 2002)

The Council confirms that it considers it important that every detainee be treated humanely in accordance
with general standards of international law. The Council is not in a position to ascertain whether the
conditions of detention at Guantánamo meet those standards solely on the basis of media reporting.
President Bush made a public statement on the subject on 31 January 2002. The Council, however, does
not have at its disposal the information necessary to judge correctly whether the detainees at Guantánamo
must be regarded as prisoners of war. It would point out that Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention of
1949 regarding the treatment of Prisoners of War provides that, in the event of doubt, a prisoner must be
granted the protection of the Convention until such time as a competent tribunal can determine his status.
In the interval, detainees must be treated humanely and receive proper medical care, clothing and food.
The detaining power is, however, entitled to take such measures as are necessary to ensure the security of
the facility and the detainees in accordance with international law.

The Council does not intend to send observers to Guantánamo. The Council welcomes the fact that the
International Committee of the Red Cross has been granted full access to the detainees and will be in a
position to exercise its mandate. The delegations of the United Kingdom, French, Spanish and Belgian
Governments have also had access to their respective nationals detained at Guantánamo Bay.

(2002/C 229 E/067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0183/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Funding for cultural organisations in Greece

(6 February 2002)

The EU provides funding for the promotion of cultural activities in Greece from the Community Support
Frameworks (CSF).

Precisely how much funding has Greece received for operational programmes relating to cultural activities
since 1994 to date under the CSF, including the third CSF? Will the Commission provide details of the
cultural organisations and cultural programmes which received funding? What was the level of the
Community’s contribution in each case and how many of the programmes actually materialised? In which
cases did the Commission ask for repayment of Community appropriations?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 2002)

During the 1994-1999 programming period, culture in Greece received part-financing from the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Community support framework (CSF) under the ‘Culture’
sub-programme of the ‘Tourism and Culture’ operational programme (OP), which was allocated a total of