WRITTEN QUESTION P-2490/02 by Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Case of the Italian woman married to a Tunisian who is being prevented from returning to Italy with her children.
Date: 2002-08-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU national, EU relations, Tunisia, family law, position of women, private international law, restriction of liberty

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/7

the Honourable Member, and the visit to clinics randomly selected for the audit revealed that the
medicines contained in the Community funded kits were properly being used by doctors and their patients.

In view of the above, the Commission does not consider that a Committee of Enquiry, as suggested by the
Honourable Member, would be appropriate.

(1) OJ L 163, 2.7.1996.
(2)

FDRC: Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee (the organisation designated by the DPRK government to deal with
European NGOs).

(2004/C 51 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2490/02

by Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 August 2002)

Subject: Case of the Italian woman married to a Tunisian who is being prevented from returning to Italy

with her children

Following the many cases involving women who are EU citizens married to citizens of third countries, the
most recent being that of Iris Moneta and her daughter Iman, held against their will in Syria by Iman’s
father who did not want her mother to take her back to Italy, news has emerged of a further case, which
has yet to be resolved, involving an Italian woman, Claudia Adami, her Tunisian husband, Afajed Garbouj,
and their two children, aged five and one-and-a-half.

Ms Adami travelled to Tunisia for the summer holidays and after her arrival in that country her husband
confiscated her passport, thereby preventing her from leaving the country of her own volition.

Moreover, when asked to intervene the Tunisian police essentially supported the woman’s husband,
preventing her from leaving the country with her children and consigning her to an enforced stay in a
hotel in Tunisia.

Is the Commission aware of this latest case involving the degradation of women in third countries and
restrictions on the freedom of movement of a Union citizen in Tunisia?

Not least in the light of the bilateral agreements in force between Tunisia and the European Union, what
practical steps does the Commission plan to take with a view to resolving this unfortunate case
immediately, and at what level does the Commission intend to make representations to the Tunisian
Government?

What measures does the Commission plan to take vis-à-vis the governments of all third countries with a
view to preventing further, similar cases involving serious violations of fundamental freedoms and human
rights, irrespective of race, religion, nationality and sex?

Answer from Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 October 2002)

The Commission is aware of the problems which can be caused by the separation of mixed couples where,
by law, the children cannot leave the father’s native country without the father’s permission.

The case of Mrs Adami has been brought to the Commission’s attention. It appears that the Tunisian
courts and authorities have made efforts to resolve the problem quickly, since the couple themselves have
not been able to reach an amicable settlement.

Independently of this specific case, during the meeting of the Social Affairs Group held in Tunis on June 25
this year under the Association Agreement,
the Commission stressed the importance it attached to
children’s well-being, and more generally, to observance of European legal decisions which granted the
right of custody to a sole parent in cases where this right was not shared.

C 51 E/8

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

26.2.2004

the Hague Convention of
The Commission took the opportunity to encourage Tunisia to respect
25 October 1980 on the civil aspects of international child abduction, and also the Convention of
19 October 1996 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement and cooperation in respect of
parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children.

The Tunisian authorities stated that they shared European concerns about the well-being of children and
potential family traumas which could occur when mixed couples separated.

(2004/C 51 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2801/02

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(7 October 2002)

Subject: Imprisonment of Leyla Zana and Turkey’s accession to the EU

According to Amnesty International, Mrs Leyla Zana is currently in a Turkish prison for having dared to
speak in Kurdish at her inauguration as a member of the Turkish parliament.

Has the Council been informed of this situation?

Should these reports prove accurate, does it believe that a State practising repression of this kind can
accede to the European Union?

Reply

(2 October 2003)

The Council

1.
is fully aware of the situation of the former member of the Turkish parliament
Mrs Leyla Zana as well as of three other former members of parliament who are currently serving prison
sentences following their conviction, by the Ankara State Security Court in 1994, on the grounds of
membership of the PKK, under Article 168 of the Penal Code.

In a judgment of 17 July 2001, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Leyla Zana’s
2.
and the other defendants’ right to a fair trial has been violated. In an interim resolution of 30 April 2002,
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urged Turkey in particular to ensure the reopening of
the proceedings, while recognising that Turkey had already taken measures in order to prevent new similar
violations, inter alia by abolishing the role of military judge in the state security courts.

3.
On 23 January last, the Turkish parliament adopted legislative amendments concerning retrial further
to judgments of the ECHR. Following the entry into force of these amendments, the case of Leyla Zana and
the others was indeed reopened (Ankara first state security court). Several court hearings have already
taken place since then (notably on 28 March, 25 April, 23 May, 20 June, 18 July and 15 August 2003).

4.
The EU is following the Zana case very closely. It expects the proceedings to be conducted in a way
such as to ensure fully the defendants’ right to a fair trial and to comply with the relevant priority of the
revised EU-Turkey Accession Partnership which requires Turkey to: ‘Remedy the situation of those persons
prosecuted or sentenced for non-violent expression of opinion. Implement legal provisions on the right to
re-trial following the relevant judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.’

(2004/C 51 E/009)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3126/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(30 October 2002)

Subject: Singapore Opposition leaders

Is the Commission aware of the sentences handed down in Sinagapore on Opposition leaders Chee Soon
Juan and Ghandi Ambalam for civil resistance?