WRITTEN QUESTION E-2530/02 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Torture inflicted on prisoners held by the United States after 11 September 2001 according to reports by Human Rights Watch.
Date: 2002-09-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, United States, common foreign and security policy, cruel and degrading treatment, human rights, prison system, prisoner of war, right to justice, terrorism

C 155 E/28

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.7.2003

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2526/02, E-2597/02 and E-2629/02
given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2002)

The Commission is aware of the general problem concerning the conditions in which prisoners are kept in
Tunisia, and of the particular cases referred to in the question.

No expert opinions or studies specifically concerned with conditions of imprisonment are currently
available to the Commission. Not even the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to
Tunisian prisons. The Commission regrets this lack of impartial information, which is an additional cause
for concern regarding the mass hunger strike.

As the Commission has already indicated in its reply to questions E-1845/02 from Mr Cappato and
P-2065/02 from Mr Dupuis (1),
it is concerned about Mr Yahyaoui’s case, and particularly about the
conditions in which he is being held in the Bordj El-Amri prison, as described by other prisoners and
visitors.

The Commission regularly draws the Tunisian authorities’ attention to the need to respect freedom of
expression as an inalienable right and to allow civil society to play more than a token role in public life.
With these concerns in mind, the Commission has doubts concerning the re-arrest of Mr Abdallah Zouari
and the legitimacy of the administrative measure behind it.

The chief consequence of suspending the Association Agreement, quite apart from the fact that it would
take a unanimous decision by the Council, would be to deprive the EU of regular political dialogue with
Tunisia and compromise cooperation between Tunisia and the EU, with its beneficial effect on the
development of Tunisian society as a whole.

With the goal of exerting a positive influence on Tunisian justice, the Commission is now drafting a
judicial modernisation programme. This could include a section on prison reform. In more general terms,
it will seek to create a momentum for modernisation amongst the people and authorities responsible for
the justice system.

(1) OJ C 52 E, 6.3.2003, p. 107.

(2003/C 155 E/030)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2530/02

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

(11 September 2002)

Subject: Torture inflicted on prisoners held by the United States after 11 September 2001 according to

reports by Human Rights Watch

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, published on 15 August, the policy pursued by the United
States after 11 September 2001, under its President George Bush, has led to people being arbitrarily
detained, human rights violations, prisoners being held in solitary confinement for long periods without
any formal charges being brought, and cases of torture. What steps is the Council taking vis-à-vis the Bush
Administration to put an end to such criminal behaviour?

Reply

(20 February 2003)

As laid down in Articles 6 and 11 of the EU Treaty the promotion and protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms and the attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and rule of law are
essential elements of the EU’s common foreign and security policy.

3.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155 E/29

The fight against terrorism is a priority for the European Union. Terrorism is not only a threat to the
security of States but also one of the most serious threats to the exercise of human rights, the right to life
and human dignity. However, the fight against terrorism must respect human rights and the rule of law, as
the Laeken, Barcelona and Seville European Councils have underlined. This position has been made known
to the United States in both official and informal contacts over the last year.

The EU maintains a dialogue on the theme of human rights with the United States. The EU will continue
to use such meetings to make known its position of the need to respect human rights in all situations,
including in the fight against terrorism. There can be no exceptions under any circumstances to the right
freedom from torture or cruel and degrading
to life,
treatment, irrespective of nationality, race or religion.

freedom of thought, conscience and religion,

(2003/C 155 E/031)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2531/02

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Council

(11 September 2002)

Subject: Giving in to terrorism

The Council decided to include a series of Iranian opposition groups in the list of terrorist organisations in
Decision 2002/334/EC (1) of 2 May, among them the ‘Mujahedin-e-Khalq’.

During the negotiations between the US Administration and the Iranian regime, known as the Iran-Contra
case, the US Congressional Investigative Committee already recognised that one of the bargaining counters
secured by the regime in the agreement was the outlawing of this opposition group.

More recently, in 1998, it was publicly acknowledged in the press that the British authorities accepted the
same condition in return for the Iranian regime’s promise to suspend the terrorist campaign against the
British citizen Salman Rushdie. This decision was condemned by a majority of British MPs.

In these circumstances, can the Council say what proof it has that the inclusion of the ‘Mujahedin-e-Khalq’
on the list of terrorist organisations was not a result of the Council’s giving in to terrorist blackmail by the
Iranian regime?

Is it not true that the Iranian regime was legally recognised as guilty of terrorist crimes in various Member
States and that there are no suspicions of any terrorist act having been committed on European soil by the
‘Mujahedin-e-Khalq’?

Does the Council not consider that sentencing women to be stoned to death and children to be flogged for
acts considered unlawful by the religious police (cid:1) publicly admitted in the press by Iranian officials and
reported by Amnesty International (cid:1) is an act of base terrorism?

(1) OJ L 116, 3.5.2002, p. 33.

Reply

(4 March 2003)

The decision taken by the Council on 2 May 2002 to include the ‘Mujahedin-e-Khalq’ in the EU list of
persons and groups involved in terrorist acts was based on a detailed and in-depth examination of
available information fully respecting the criteria laid down in Article 1(4) of Common Position 2001/931/
CFSP of 27 December 2001 and other relevant commitments.