WRITTEN QUESTION P-3643/02 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission. Forced repatriation of Chechen refugees from the Iman camp in Aki Yurt, Ingushetia.
Date: 2002-12-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Russia, civilian victim, forced migration, human rights, international convention, international issue, offence, refugee, return migration, the EU's international role, war of independence

C 137 E/236

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

12.6.2003

(2003/C 137 E/267)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3643/02

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(10 December 2002)

Subject: Forced repatriation of Chechen refugees from the Iman camp in Aki Yurt, Ingushetia

The authorities of the Russian Federation and Ingushetia have begun to implement the decision to close all
the refugee camps in Ingushetia. These camps house more than 100 000 Chechens who have fled the war,
round-ups, torture, rapes, kidnappings, summary executions and other forms of persecution which the
Russian authorities are systematically inflicting on the civilian population of Chechnya. In the last few
days, the Russian authorities have carried out the forced repatriation of some 2 000 Chechen refugees
living in the Iman camp in Aki Yurt. In accordance with the instructions issued by Moscow, all the other
camps in Ingushetia must be closed before the end of December,
in mid-winter. Last week, the
Commission, through Commissioner Nielson, expressed its concern regarding this matter to the Russian
Federation, pointing out that the European Commission and the international community as a whole have
repeatedly called on the authorities not to close any refugee camps in Ingushetia until such time as the
displaced persons can be guaranteed a safe return to their homes.

i.e.

Has the Commission officially reacted to this umpteenth violation of the relevant international agreements
by the authorities of the Russian Federation and, if so, in what form and in what terms? What practical
steps does the Commission plan to take in order to persuade the Russian authorities to call an immediate
halt to the forced repatriation of Chechen refugees and to comply with the spirit and the letter of
international agreements on refugees? In the light of the extremely serious health and food-supply situation
facing the more than 100 000 Chechens who are still refugees in Ingushetia and the more than 300 000
Chechens who are refugees within Chechnya itself, does the Commission not feel it has a duty to propose
to the Council and Parliament an emergency plan so that these Chechen refugees, or a substantial number
of them, can be temporarily housed on Union territory?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(15 January 2003)

The Commission has always followed the Chechen conflict and the resulting humanitarian tragedy very
closely. The Commission is aware of the scale of the fundamental rights violations in Chechnya and of the
breach of international humanitarian law, which requires protection of the civilian population. On a
number of occasions it has expressed its deep concern to the Russian authorities about the threat to close
the camps for displaced people in Ingushetia. The Commission is also taking part in a number of
diplomatic initiatives launched by the EU in the framework of the political dialogue with the Russian
Federation.

Its formal response to the closure of the Aki Yurt camp has taken a number of forms. The Commissioner
responsible for development and humanitarian aid has strongly condemned this forced displacement of
civilians in the middle of winter. The EU delivered the same message at the ministerial meeting of the
Organisation for Economic cooperation and Development (OECD) at Porto and again on 9 December
2002 to Mr Vladimir Chizov, the deputy foreign minister, when it called on the Russian authorities not to
close other camps for displaced persons. The Troika of EU Ambassadors in Moscow were to meet the
Russian federal minister, Mr Stanislav Ilyasov, who is in charge of reconstruction in Chechnya, on
16 December and inform him of the EU’s deep concern.

The appropriate solution for the terrible situation in Chechnya is,
in the Commission’s opinion, an
immediate halt to human rights violations and pursuit of all those responsible for such violations. The EU
has also invited the Russian authorities at the highest level to work towards a political solution that would
lay the foundations for lasting peace, stability and reconstruction in Chechnya. The EU will remain
extremely attentive to the issue of human rights in Chechnya and will raise the problem in all appropriate
forums of the bilateral political dialogue with the Russian Federation. It will also take an active part in the
discussions and initiatives concerning Chechnya within the Council of Europe and the OECD.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Apart from these political initiatives, the Commission remains the biggest humanitarian aid donor in the
North Caucasus, which, since the onset of the second conflict, has received over EUR 90 million in aid for
the victims of the fighting. The Commission will also continue to raise the question of access and the
multiple obstacles the Russian authorities put in the path of humanitarian organisations on the ground, an
issue which is at the centre of discussions between the EU and Russia.

(2003/C 137 E/268)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3672/02

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: The practice of stomatology

In Italy, access for doctors to the practice of stomatology is subject to inclusion on the register of dental
practitioners, who are not physicians, for the simple reason that the professional associations want to
regulate medical practice in the field of stomatology via the ‘dentist directives’, thereby obliging doctors
who want to practice stomatology to be included on a professional register alien to their actual profession,
in blatant contravention of Community Directive 93/16/EEC (1).

This misguided requirement has been causing serious prejudice, not least in the legal sphere, to those
doctors who have relied on the provisions of Directive 93/16 in order to treat mouths and teeth in their
role as doctors on the medical register, a right recognised by Directive 93/16 for holders of a degree in
medicine.

This attitude, which has already been censured twice in infringement proceedings brought against Italy
(cases C-40/93 and C-202/99), both of which resulted in a guilty verdict on the grounds that Italy had
treated as identical two different professions regulated by different directives which treat them separately
(cf. the Commission’s answers to written questions E-1522/96 (2), E-1649/97 (3), E-2698/98, E-2699/98
and E-2700/98 (4)).

Can the Commission say whether the degree in medicine and surgery awarded in Italy to people who
started their medical
training in the 1980/81 academic year or later have the minimum training
requirements allowing them to practice medicine in Italy in the field of odontostomatology or whether the
exercise of this activity is subject to possession of a specialised qualification or inclusion on the register of
dental practitioners, who are not physicians?

(1) OJ L 165, 7.7.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 356, 25.11.1996, p. 52.
(3) OJ C 391, 23.12.1997, p. 113.
(4) OJ C 135, 14.5.1999, p. 99.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2003)

Except where provided for by specific derogations,
the Member States have been prohibited from
authorising non-specialist doctors to practice dentistry or odontostomatology since the entry into force of
Council Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC of 25 July 1978 (1) concerning the mutual recognition of
dental practitioners’ diplomas and the coordination of their professional training. This situation was
confirmed by the Court of Justice in its judgment of 1 June 1995 in Case C-40/93 (Commission v Italian
Republic (2)), which stated that Member States may not, under any circumstances, create categories of
dental practitioners that are not provided for by the aforementioned Directives.

The only derogation affecting Italy appears in Article 19 of Directive 78/686/EEC, which expressly allows
Italian doctors who began their university and medical training before 28 January 1980 to continue to
practice dentistry in Italy and to move to any other Member State for that purpose. Because there was no
specific dental training and profession which were separate from those open to medical practitioners in
Italy at the time of the adoption of Directives 78/686/EEC and 78/687/EEC, the rights of the doctors in
question had to be preserved whilst the new profession was being established.