WRITTEN QUESTION E-2495/02 by Mogens Camre (UEN) to the Commission. EU aid to countries practising sharia.
Date: 2002-09-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, EU relations, Islamic law, Nigeria, cruel and degrading treatment, death penalty, position of women, suspension of aid, women's rights

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/7

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2448/02 and E-2449/02
given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(21 October 2002)

Following the incident referred to by the Honourable Member, the Commission set up the Baia Mare Task
Force to establish the facts, assess the damage and draw the lessons to be learned from the incident.
Following this episode and other similar incidents, the Commission published a Communication on the
‘Safe operation of mining activities: a follow-up to recent mining accidents’ (1).

The Commission has received some information concerning the project mentioned by the Honourable
Member. The Commission is not involved in it and has had no specific contacts with the World Bank on
this subject.

The Commission has not been informed on the purchase of a copper mine in the Judet of Alba and in
particular about the intentions of the purchasing company.

The Commission assists the candidate countries in the process of transposing and implementing the
Community ‘acquis’ as they prepare for accession. While there is at present no ‘acquis’ specifically related
to environmental protection in gold mining and no Community funding is involved in this particular
project, Romanian legislation transposing the Directives on Access to Environmental Information and
Environmental Impact Assessment (2) should be applicable, even if transposition of both Directives is still
as yet incomplete.

However, at this stage it should be underlined that until now the project promoter, who is under an
obligation to apply for an environmental licence, has not submitted any official request to the Romanian
authorities.

Finally, in the context of its activities promoting good governance, the Commission has adopted a specific
action plan on environmental governance. One of the basic pillars of good governance is ensuring that
decisions are taken on the basis of full information, and in consultation with all the groups who will be
affected, including citizens groups and residents in the area of a proposed project. Thus, the Commission
would expect Romania to take these principles into account.

(1) COM(2000) 664 final.
(2) Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of
certain public and private projects on the environment, OJ L 73, 14.3.1997. Council Directive 90/313/EEC of
7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment, OJ L 158, 23.6.1990.

(2004/C 33 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2495/02

by Mogens Camre (UEN) to the Commission

(9 September 2002)

Subject: EU aid to countries practising sharia

In November 2001 in Nigeria, a woman was sentenced to be stoned for infidelity. In March 2002, the
woman was freed after immense international pressure. A similar situation has now arisen again. On
19 August 2002, Amina Lawal was condemned to death by stoning for having engaged in extramarital
sex. Such barbaric and medieval methods of punishment are unacceptable to the international community.

Experience shows that people who are condemned to such insane punishments can only be saved by the
international community. However, the international community should not have to be mobilised on an
ad hoc basis every time such a case occurs in a country which practises sharia. The author of this question
takes the view that systematic sanctions against and constant pressure on such medieval regimes would
have a far more beneficial effect than the method used hitherto which has principally consisted in the
international community reacting only after extreme pressure from various interest groups.

C 33 E/8

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Will the Commission therefore provide figures to illustrate the extent of EU aid to countries practising
sharia? If the EU does give aid to such countries, will the Commission say whether such aid, which is
provided with no human rights conditions attached, is consistent with the Commission’s understanding of
law and order, and whether it should be withdrawn immediately?

(2004/C 33 E/009)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2496/02

by Mogens Camre (UEN) to the Commission

(9 September 2002)

Subject: Sharia law in Muslim countries

On 19 August 2002, a young woman named Amina Lawal was condemned to death by stoning by a court
in northern Nigeria. Her ‘crime’ consists in having had a relationship with a man to whom she is not
married!

This is not an isolated case or a situation confined to Nigeria. Young women being condemned to death by
stoning is a common occurrence in Muslim countries which practise sharia law. There have been several
similar cases in Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and a number of other Muslim countries.

Stoning young women for infidelity and extramarital sex is a situation that any normal thinking person
condemns. Indeed, women’s rights groups,
immigrant organisations, Amnesty International and others
have condemned the verdict handed down in Nigeria.

The international community must respond if such barbaric acts of cruelty are to be prevented in the
future.

Will the Commission, therefore, say what it will do in the specific case of Ms Lawal? Will it also say in
which countries sharia is practised and how many cases of the stoning of women occur on an annual basis
in each of the countries practising sharia?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2495/02 and E-2496/02
given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(6 November 2002)

The Union has consistently opposed the imposition of the death penalty and has set out its policy in the
Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on the death penalty (1). These guidelines refer not only to
the Union’s goal of worldwide abolition of the death penalty they also underline that those States, which
persist in applying the penalty must do so in a manner which inflicts the minimum possible suffering.
Clearly, the practice of stoning does not conform to that condition.

The Commission has offered concrete support for projects to support the abolition of the death penalty
worldwide. The results of a Call
for Proposals for EUR 7 million under the European Initiative for
Democracy and Human Rights are currently being evaluated.

In the case of Amina Lawal, the decision has been appealed to the Sharia Court of Appeal in Katsina.
Amina can appeal further to the Federal Court of Appeal in Kaduna and to the Federal Supreme Court in
Abuja. Amina cannot be executed while breastfeeding her infant, that is until January 2004. The Union
issued a declaration on 21 August 2002 expressing its deep concern about the sentence. The Union has
urged the Government of Nigeria to abolish the death penalty, or, as a first step, establish a moratorium.
Furthermore, it expresses its concern at inhuman punishments inflicted in some states in Nigeria. The
Commission, through its Delegation in Abuja, will follow the evolution of the Amina case attentively. No
executions by stoning have yet taken place in Nigeria. For Nigeria,
the Commission notified a 9th
European Development Fund (EDF) allocation of EUR 222 million in March 2001. Including unspent sums
from previous EDFs, the total available for programming is EUR 552 million.