WRITTEN QUESTION E-0243/03 by Nirj Deva (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Kenya Westlands-St Austins road scheme.
Date: 2003-02-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, European Commission, Kenya, aid policy, environmental liability, health aid, hydraulic works, image, water supply

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/715

members of the local human rights NGO ‘Forum for Truth and Justice: Sahara Section’ who participated in
the meeting were prosecuted by the occupying Moroccan authorities. The Saharawi participants were the
president of
the NGO, Mr Moutik Lahoussine, Mr Eddymaoui Abdessalem, Mr Ennassiri Ahmed,
Mr Elmoussaoui Edkhil and Mr Mohamed Elmoutaouikil.

Mr Moutik Lahoussine was fired from his job (in the company Sepomer Sahara SARL) due to his meeting
with the European Parliament Ad Hoc Delegation. The other members of the Saharawi delegation were
detained on several occasions and prosecuted for political reasons.

Several members of the Sahara section of the Truth and Justice Forum and Saharawi human rights
militants have currently been targeted by intimidation measures.

What is the European Commission doing against these violations of human rights?

As the Kingdom of Morocco is the occupying power in Western Sahara, what kind of action at diplomatic
level is the European Commission taking in this respect to improve the situation of the above-mentioned
persons who met the Ad Hoc Delegation?

What kind of measures can the European Commission provide concerning the next European Parliament
missions to this non-self-governing territory?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2003)

The relations between Morocco and the Union are governed by the Association Agreement and the
questions related to human rights as well as those connected with the Western Sahara are treated in the
framework of the political dialogue (Article 2) during the Association Councils and Committees.

In the future months, the Union and Morocco are expected to engage in a even more constructive dialogue
on the questions of democratic principles and human rights which will lead to the possibility of discussing
alleged cases of ill-treatment, including the present one.

Regarding the next missions of the Parliament to the territory of the Western Sahara, which are organised
by the services of the Parliament, the Commission remains at the Honourable Member’s disposal for any
information she might consider necessary.

(2004/C 84 E/0803)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0243/03

by Nirj Deva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 February 2003)

Subject: Kenya Westlands-St Austins road scheme

Will the Commission ensure that it complies with its duty under Article 288 (ex 215) to make good any
damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties in the light of
suggestions made by local people at the instigation of Lutz Salzmann, former Head of the EU Delegation
in Kenya, in 1996?

Will the Commission fund the borehole that has been requested by the local community in the light of the
destruction of the water table and the contamination of the general water supply brought about by
contractors working for the EU?

Will it also consider supporting the creation of a health clinic in the Rungiri/Gitaru area to counteract the
respiratory damage which affects local people and was caused by the contractors during construction
work?

C 84 E/716

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2003)

Please refer to decision by the European Ombudsman on complaint 983/29.10.96/ABU/KENYA/XD/BB
against the Commission of 29 April 1999, in which the Ombudsman concluded that ‘on the basis of the
European Ombudsman’s enquiries into this complaint, there appears to have been no mal-administration
by the European Commission, and the European Ombudsman has therefore decided to close the case’.

Consequently, it is not correct to say that the Commission or its servants caused any damage, destruction
and contamination to the water supply, health, or the general environment affecting local people.

This not withstanding the Commission Delegation in Kenya has repeatedly advised and continues to advise
the local community about the funding possibilities for community based projects through the Community
Development Trust Fund (CDTF) programme, which is financed from the European Development Fund.
The fund very successfully aims to help local communities to meet some of their priority needs (health,
water, education, roads, income generating activities, etc). Furthermore, the Delegation facilitated contacts
between the local community and CDTF and provided them with an outline proposal for a community
water project in their areas prepared by a local engineering and development consultancy.

Unfortunately, the local community to date failed to introduce any application for project funding with
CDTF.

(2004/C 84 E/0804)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0453/03

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(19 February 2003)

Subject: Boris Shikhmuradov

Is the Commission aware of the case of Boris Shikhmuradov, the Turkmen opposition leader, charged with
the attempted assassination of President Nyazov?

Shikhmuradov has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Halk Maslikhat, Turkmenistan’s supreme
representative body, and therefore has not received a fair trial through the court process.

Can the Commission bring pressure to bear on the Turkmenistan authorities requesting observation of
international standards in allowing the defendant access to a fair trial?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

The case of Boris Shikmuradov is well-known to the Commission. The Union has expressed its concerns in
demarches on this case as well as on the other human rights cases in Turkmenistan following the
assassination attempt against President Niyazov on 25 November 2002.

Mr Shikmuradov was a direct interlocutor with the Commission at the time he was Foreign Minister of his
country. His video-taped confession and his trial, organised five days after his arrest, without proper
defence and international assistance, is not in line with Turkmenistan commitments in the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Commission agrees with the assessment
that
Mr Shikhmuradov has not received a fair trial. More generally, the Union’s concern, expressed in the
OSCE Permanent Council, is with the methods used in the investigation and follow-up to the events of
25 November 2002. While conscious of
the absence of political dialogue within our Trade and
Cooperation Agreement, with Turkmenistan, the Commission will continue to exert pressure on this and
other human rights issues through diplomatic channels.