WRITTEN QUESTION P-3851/02 by Arie Oostlander (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Kidnapping of Mr Arjan Erkel in the Russian Republic of Dagestan.
Date: 2002-12-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Russia, humanitarian aid, illegal restraint, non-governmental organisation, the EU's international role

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/21

(2004/C 70 E/023)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3851/02

by Arie Oostlander (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 December 2002)

Subject: Kidnapping of Mr Arjan Erkel in the Russian Republic of Dagestan

On 12 August 2002 Mr Arjan Erkel, 32, who works for Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland, was
kidnapped by three unknown gunmen in Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian Republic of Dagestan.
Since then, nothing more has been heard of him.

Is the Commission prepared to approach the Russian authorities and take steps which may assist his
release and return to the Netherlands?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3751/02 and P-3851/02
given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2003)

the Head of mission of MSF-
The Commission is extremely concerned at the fate of Arjan Erkel,
Switzerland who was abducted in Daghestan last 12 August 2002, a few weeks after another humanitarian
worker, Nina Davidovitch, was abducted in Chechnya.

The Commission officially reacted through a Presidency declaration, on 26 August 2002, which strongly
condemned both abductions and asked for the immediate and safe return of the hostages. In addition, the
Union Presidency took the opportunity of the release of two workers of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC), who had also been kidnapped subsequently, to reiterate its concerns, on 20 November
2002, and ask for immediate release of both aid workers that remain missing.

In parallel, the Commission is following the case very closely. It has raised the issue in several meetings
with the Russian authorities and will continue to do so until the safe release of Arjan Erkel. The fate of
both workers was addressed again in Moscow, on 23 December 2002, during a joint demarche of the
Union Troika, the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands to the Deputy Minister for Migration of
the Russian Federation, Mr Chernienko. Unfortunately, co-operation from Russian authorities has so far
not been as forthcoming as the Commission would have expected. Most recently, on 10 January,
Commissioner Nielson took the opportunity of the release of Nina Davidovitch to publicly call for the
immediate and safe release of Arjan Erkel.

MSF-Switzerland, funded by the Humanitarian Office through MSF-Holland, was one of the very few
international organisations working in Daghestan at the time, providing essential health assistance to the
vulnerable Chechen and local population in this poor republic of the Russian Federation. Since Arjan
Erkel’s abduction, MSF has had to stop all its operations there and its absence is another blow dealt at the
victims of the conflict in Chechnya, whom Mr Erkel had courageously gone to Daghestan to help.

(2004/C 70 E/024)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3759/02

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(23 December 2002)

Subject: Verification of the origin of ACP sugar

In its answer to my Written Question E-2533/02 (1), the Commission states that, while it is perfectly
possible to carry out verifications of the origin of ACP sugar, such verifications have never been carried
out. The Commission admits that it ‘has no reason to believe that the sugar imported under the Sugar
Protocol does not originate solely in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries concerned’. The vast
difference between the price of sugar on the world market and the price in the European Union certainly
constitutes a good reason for the carrying out of such verifications.