WRITTEN QUESTION E-3865/02 by Jules Maaten (ELDR)and Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Council. Indonesia's ad hoc tribunals on East Timor.
Date: 2003-01-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU national, EU relations, East Timor, Indonesia, International Criminal Tribunal, civilian victim, criminal procedure, human rights

C 280 E/30

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.11.2003

(2003/C 280 E/029)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0034/03

by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Subject: The Penelope plan

A new constitution for the EU has been drafted within the Commission with the code-name ‘Penelope’.
Evidently the Commission has not collectively approved it. From the point of view of the Commission as a
whole, what is the status of this draft and how well does it represent the position of the Commission in its
entirety?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3860/02, E-3902/02 and E-0034/03
given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(17 March 2003)

At the request of Mr Prodi, President, in agreement with Mr Barnier and Mr Vitorino, a working party of
Commission officials prepared a feasibility study entitled ‘Contribution to a preliminary draft of a European
Constitution’. Mr Prodi informed the other members of the Commission of the existence of this working
document but it was not discussed by the full Commission and it does not commit the Commission.

It is for each Member of the Commission who has responsibility for a specific area, and for the President
where action by the Union is concerned, to ask Commission departments to draft preparatory documents,
study papers, feasibility studies, etc. A Commission decision is not needed to launch such work, which is
part of the normal activities of Commission departments, i.e. the preparation of decisions and the position
to be adopted subsequently by the Commission. Mr Prodi in agreement with Mr Barnier and Mr Vitorino
felt that a feasibility study on the European Constitution would help the Commission to adopt its position
with regard to the Convention.

The names of the officials who prepared the feasibility study are listed on the first page of the study, which
did not give rise to any costs other than Commission overheads.

(2003/C 280 E/030)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3865/02

by Jules Maaten (ELDR)
and Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Council

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Indonesia’s ad hoc tribunals on East Timor

Does the Council recognise that the trials on East Timor show, as the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights states, that Indonesia has not taken responsibility for crimes against humanity in East
Timor?

Is the Council aware of Indonesia’s minimal cooperation with investigations into the deaths of Dutch
citizen Sander Thoenes in September 1999 and British citizens Brian Peters and Malcom Rennie in 1975?

Will the Council invite the United Nations to establish an international tribunal on East Timor?

Will the Council become party to this international tribunal on East Timor?

21.11.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 280 E/31

Reply

(21 July 2003)

The Council shares the Honourable Member concerns over the functioning of the Indonesian ad hoc
1.
tribunal which was established to bring to justice the perpetrators of the serious human rights violations
taking place in East Timor in 1999, and over the handling of the investigation into the deaths of Sander
Thoenes, Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie.

2.
Since its establishment, the EU has been following the proceedings of the ad hoc tribunal closely.
The EU regrets that the tribunal, with its limited jurisdiction in time and scope, is only able to prosecute a
limited number of perpetrators and has so far not been able to reveal the systematic and widespread abuse
of human rights. Furthermore, the EU has on several occasions raised its serious concerns with the
Indonesian authorities that the quality of the prosecution and the tribunal procedures do not live up to
international standards. When the first sentences were handed down in August 2002, the EU expressed its
concerns to the Indonesian government that proceedings did not result in a substantiated account of the
violence in East Timor. The EU also took note of the small number of victims summoned to testify and the
important
absence of witnesses from Unamet and independent observers. The EU emphasised that
evidence had not been taken into account to substantiate the cases before the court, and expressed fear
that the failure to produce relevant witnesses and evidence would jeopardise the credibility of the court’s
verdicts. Finally, the EU expressed hope that the proceedings of the court in the following months would
be in conformity with international standards of justice. The EU will continue to follow carefully the
proceedings of the Court, and will raise the issue again in an appropriate manner with the Indonesian
government during political dialogue talks.

The murder of the Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes is one of the best documented human rights
3.
abuses committed in the aftermath of the East Timor referendum. Despite pressure by the EU and other
international actors, the competent authorities are still reluctant to bring the case to trial. The EU will
continue to urge the Indonesian authorities to make every effort to complete its investigations in the case
of Sander Thoenes and bring to justice, as soon as possible, those responsible, and to cooperate with the
UN investigation into the deaths of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters at Balibo in 1975.

The Council has neither discussed the question whether to invite the United Nations to establish an

4.
international tribunal on East Timor, nor its possible participation in such a tribunal.

(2003/C 280 E/031)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3874/02

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Council

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Improved European military resources for a greater margin of autonomy

It is clear that Europe now needs improved military resources if it is to achieve a greater margin of
autonomy and successfully develop a purely European Rapid Intervention Force.

On the political level, one of the great challenges facing the EU concerns the effective creation of an area
in which it can develop its own common security and defence policy, so as to ensure a certain guarantee
threshold for the preservation of peace throughout Europe: this goal seems more important than any
other, unrealisable objectives at world level.

Can the Council, in the context of its competences in the matter, provide information on its level of
diagnostic capacity as regards a regular review of the Union’s shortcomings vis-à-vis achievement of the
objective of establishing a genuine and authentically European security and defence policy?