WRITTEN QUESTION E-0487/02 by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) and Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission. Religious minorities in Vietnam.
Date: 2002-02-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Commission Delegation, EU relations, Viet Nam, human rights, religious group

C 92 E/10

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

(2003/C 92 E/011)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0427/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey

(21 February 2002)

According to reports in the international press, the Turkish parliament has decided to amend Article 312
of the Penal Code to make it more stringent. It will now be sufficient for there to be a suspicion of a
‘possible’ disturbance of public order to instigate the procedure to punish those responsible. According to
the reports, the entire issue was sparked off by requests from Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin for tuition
in the Kurdish language in schools and universities, which Turkey had undertaken to promote three years
ago.

The Turkish National Security Council interprets the requests from Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin as
‘separatist activities since they concern education in a language other than the official
language’. This
unprecedented development comes on top of the incredible story of Mr Fatih Tas, an editor under threat of
a one-year prison sentence for making the ‘mistake’ of publishing in Turkish a book by the eminent
American intellectual and Harvard professor, Noam Chomsky, entitled ‘American Interventionism’.
Professor Chomsky (who is sharply critical in the book of Turkey and the methods it uses to further the
ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish minority) intends to travel to Turkey on 13 February 2002 to appear
before the court in which the Turkish editor is to stand trial and then go on to Diyarbakir where a large
number of Kurds live.

Is the Commission aware of the above measures by the Turkish regime? What is its opinion? Is banning
books and the use of the Kurdish language consistent with bringing Turkey into line with the standards of
conduct befitting a European state?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2002)

The Commission is aware of the measures taken by the Turkish government to which the Honourable
Member refers.

It noted that the editor Mr Fatih Tas has been acquitted by an Istanbul Court. It is concerned by the
reaction of the Turkish authorities with respect to the exercise of the right of petition by students,
especially as the right of petition has been broadened by a recent amendment of the Turkish Constitution.

The Union expects Turkey to remove any legal provisions forbidding the use by Turkish citizens of their
mother tongue. These are short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership with Turkey.

(2003/C 92 E/012)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0487/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) and Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Religious minorities in Vietnam

(22 February 2002)

Is the Commission continuing to monitor the human rights situation in Vietnam, in particular, the rights
of religious minorities?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 March 2002)

The Commission Delegation in Hanoi, together with the diplomatic missions of the Member States,
continues to follow closely the human rights situation in Vietnam.

Regarding religious freedom, over the last number of years, the Commission has observed considerable
including a significant proportion of the
progress for the majority of the Vietnamese people of faith,

17.4.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

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population who practise freely the Christian or Buddhist religions. There remain, however, issues on which
further progress is needed, as well as a number of individual cases of concern.

The Commission Delegation in Hanoi and the diplomatic missions of the Member States raise on an
ongoing basis issues of concern in relation to human rights, as well as individual cases. In addition, the
human rights situation was discussed during the Union-Vietnam Joint Commission in Hanoi on
6 November 2001 and again raised during the donors Consultative Group Meeting in Hanoi on
7-8 December 2001.

(2003/C 92 E/013)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0506/02

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Sentence of death by stoning in Sudan

According to information from Human Rights Watch, on 8 December 2001, a criminal court in the town
of Nyala in southern Sudan sentenced 18-year-old Abok Alfa Akok, who was pregnant at the time, to
death by stoning for adultery, whereas the man with whom she had sexual relations was not convicted
because of a lack of evidence. The Sudanese Government, it should be recalled, ratified the International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights in March 1986 which prohibits the carrying out of the death
penalty on a pregnant woman.

the Commission exert pressure on the Sudanese Government

Will
international
commitments, refrain from carrying out the death penalty by stoning and hold a new trial in accordance
with legal procedures which ensure that Ms Abok Alfa Akok has legal representation in court and recourse
to the language that she understands?

to honour

its

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(5 April 2002)

The Commission (cid:1) through its Delegation in Sudan (cid:1) has been active on this issue and contacts have
been taken with the Sudanese authorities. It is clear that the international community’s action has been
influential. The Court of appeal in Southern Darfur overturned the sentence of death by stoning and sent
the case back to the lower criminal court in Nyala for new sentencing where Ms Akok was given 75 lashes.

However, Ms Akok’s lawyer has launched an appeal to the high court on the grounds that the sentence
was given and immediately executed, thus making it impossible for Ms Akok to seek legal advice and
preventing her from exercising any right of appeal. So far, the lawyer did not receive any answer.

The Sudanese government ratified the international covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) in March
1976. However, Sudan has not yet ratified the second optional protocol to the CCPR, aiming at the
abolition of the death penalty. The Commission will also continue to follow the issue of the international
obligations of Sudan.

(2003/C 92 E/014)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0519/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 February 2002)

Subject: Persistent systematic measures to combat the use of the Kurdish language and the election of

Kurdish members of parliament in Turkey

1.
Is the Commission aware that, although at the end of 2001 the Republic of Turkey amended its
Constitution so as to give the impression that the public use of the Kurdish language, which is spoken by
the vast majority of the population in the south-east, is now permitted, the provision of education in that