WRITTEN QUESTION E-2440/02 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Discrimination against Kurdish northern Iraq in relation to the Baghdad regime in the implementation of the UN oil-for-food programme.
Date: 2002-08-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Iraq, Kurdistan question, UNO, aid policy, aid programme, food aid, government violence, health aid, international affairs, international civil servant, national minority

7.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(2003/C 268 E/005)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2417/02

by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(14 August 2002)

Subject: Blocking by President Robert Mugabe of international food aid to some sections of the population

in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe at present millions of people are in danger of starving to death. The expropriation of land
owned by white farmers, combined with a drought and a retail price freeze, have given rise to serious food
shortages. According to reports by the BBC and various aid organisations, President Robert Mugabe is
denying people in some regions of the country access to international food aid on the grounds that they
do not belong to his own political party.

Can the Commission confirm these reports?

If the reports are indeed accurate, what steps is the Commission taking, or what steps does it plan to take,
to bring an end to this blocking of international food aid?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(24 September 2002)

The Commission is aware of the danger of partisan food distribution on the part of the Government of
Zimbabwe.

There are credible reports of extensive politicisation of the sale and distribution of the Government of
Zimbabwe’s own food supplies.

As to international food aid, the World Food Programme (WFP), through which the bulk of Community
food aid is delivered, reports that there is extensive community involvement in drawing up lists of
vulnerable groups and in distribution, so this is not a monopoly of the local authorities and chiefs.
Complaints investigated by WFP have revealed problems to be due more to a lack of information and
understanding of selection criteria than to politicisation. There have, however, been cases of non-
governmental organisation (NGO) distributions being subject to intimidation by ‘war veterans’.

The Commission has always maintained that food aid should under no circumstances be used as a political
tool and that it should be provided on the basis of humanitarian need alone, without conditionality. To
this end, the Commission is insisting that food aid operations in Zimbabwe be guided by transparent
targeting and monitoring criteria. The Commission is consulting other partners in order to reinforce
monitoring capacity in this field.

(2003/C 268 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2440/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(28 August 2002)

Subject: Discrimination against Kurdish northern Iraq in relation to the Baghdad regime in the

implementation of the UN oil-for-food programme

1.
Is the Commission aware that the oil-for-food programme for Iraq which is being carried out on the
basis of UN resolution no 986 of 1996 is being implemented in such a way as to adversely affect the
Kurdish part of Iraq north of the 36th parallel which is not controlled by Saddam Hussein, because so far,
of the oil which has been sold from this region, to the value of USD 7 billion, only USD 2,5 billion has
been spent on Iraqi Kurdistan, while of the medicines ordered by the Kurds, valued at USD 219 million,
only goods to the value of USD 92 million have actually arrived, because the rest of the money remains
unused in a Swiss bank account?

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Does the discrimination against Iraqi Kurdistan in relation to the part of Iraq controlled by Saddam
2.
Hussein arise from agreements between the UN and the Iraqi regime dating from 1991, as a result of
which the Baghdad government is permitted to disburse its share of the money autonomously whereas
Kurdish administrative bodies may only advise the United Nations on the use of their share?

Can the Baghdad government veto UN expenditure in northern Iraq and thus, inter alia, prevent the

3.
building of a hospital?

Are there agreements under which the North can only purchase its electricity via the regime in

4.
Baghdad, so that the latter can always threaten to cut off supplies?

Are the salaries of a growing number of highly paid UN staff in this region paid from the northern
5.
share of the revenue from the oil-for-food programme, and are these UN staff not permitted to speak to
the press without the prior consent of the government in Baghdad?

Is the Commission aware that, as a result of the use by Saddam Hussein’s regime of chemical
6.
weapons against the Kurdish population in 1989 around the town of Halabja in northern Iraq, the
mosquito population has grown substantially, with the consequence that the incidence of malaria is
increasing, but that the United Nations is not supplying any anti-malaria medicines because they could be
used to make chemical weapons?

How can the EU and its Member States help to improve the position of the inhabitants of northern

7.
Iraq, inter alia by making the 13 % from the oil-for-food programme available directly?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(16 October 2002)

The Commission is aware of the dramatic humanitarian situation affecting the Iraqi people. In this regard,
since the activities of the Commission in Iraq are limited to the provision of humanitarian aid through an
annual programme prepared by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), and implemented
locally through some non-governmental organisations, and organisations such as Red Cross, United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP). At the moment the Commission, does not have either a representation office in Iraq or experts
established locally. The United Nations
the management and the
implementation of the oil for food programme.

is only responsible for

(UN)

Commission officers and experts who recently went to Iraq have confirmed that the humanitarian situation
is extremely serious, and that living conditions in the Centre and South are much worse than in the North.
For this reason the ECHO programme targets only the Centre and the South of Iraq; an extension of the
intervention to the North could be envisaged especially for the assistance to the Internally Displaced
People.

Coming to the specific questions addressed, here are the related answers:

1. The Commission is aware that the oil for food programme in Kurdish northern Iraq is implemented
following different modalities with respect to the centre/south of country, with a direct involvement of
the UN. According to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution No 986, the Iraqi Kurdistan
benefits 13 % of the total Iraqi oil revenue, wherever the oil is produced.

2. The different modalities for implementation of the ‘oil for food programme’ have been established by
the Memorandum of Understanding of November 96 between the UN and Iraq on the implementation
of the UNSC Resolution 986. This agreement sets the terms and conditions for the delivery of
necessary goods to the three governorates of the Iraqi Kurdistan and ensures that this region receive
consistent part of the supplies.

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3. According to the Memorandum of Understanding of November 96, the central government does not
have the right
the
humanitarian needs of Northern Iraq are assessed by the UN through the regional governments,
discussed with the central Iraqi government and included in the distribution plan.

to veto UN expenditure in Northern Iraq. The necessary goods to fulfil

4. The Commission is not aware of the existence of specific agreements between Baghdad government

and Kurdish governments for the purchase of electricity.

5. According to the Memorandum of Understanding of November 96, there are no provisions indicating
that UN staff dislocated in the Iraqi Kurdistan should be paid from the northern share of the oil for
food revenue. The Commission is not aware of other similar arrangements.

6. The Commission is not aware of the problems related to the supply of anti-malaria medicines. The UN
Security Council is competent for giving the approval to all goods imported by Iraq. Member States
rather than the Commission are the competent ones to address this question to the UNSC.

7.

If the Member States consider that the management of the ‘oil for food programme’ should be
modified, they can take the necessary steps to propose these modifications to the UN Security Council.

(2003/C 268 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2443/02

by Marco Cappato (NI) to the Commission

(28 August 2002)

Subject: Report by the Contraloría de la República on the Plan Colombia

In view of the fact that the Contraloría General de la República Colombiana (Office of the Comptroller
General of Colombia) has stated in its third assessment report on the Plan Colombia that:

(cid:1) the anti-drugs Plan Colombia contains administrative irregularities;

(cid:1) eradication by force has failed to strike a blow at drug traffickers, so much so that today 163 000
hectares are still under illegal cultivation across the country and cultivation of
the crop has
outstripped its destruction, since 152 000 hectares were burned between 2000 and 2002, and despite
this coca is now being grown in areas previously dedicated to coffee production;

(cid:1) the Plan Colombia is unsatisfactory from an environmental standpoint;

and since the European Union is contributing USD 31 million to the Plan:

(cid:1) Does the Commission intend to take action to suspend cooperation with this Colombian anti-drugs

Plan?

(cid:1) If not, what reforms will it propose to prevent even more European taxpayers’ money from being

wasted?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 September 2002)

While supporting the efforts of the Colombian government to put an end to the violence that affects this
country, the Union is not contributing to the so-called ‘Plan Colombia’. The Union has put forward its own
support package, made public in Bogotá on 24 October 2000. At the third meeting of the Support Group
for the peace process in Colombia, on 30 April 2001 in Brussels, the Member of the Commission
responsible for External Relations confirmed a Community contribution of EUR 140 million (EUR 105 mil-
lion in programmable aid and EUR 35 million in non-programmable aid).