WRITTEN QUESTION E-0425/03 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council. Violation of human rights in Chechnya.
Date: 2003-02-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: OSCE, Russia, human rights, humanitarian aid, regional security, technical cooperation, war of independence

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/23

The Commission has been financing concrete actions in favour of indigenous people in sectors such as
health, education, reinsertion of refugees and gender promotion. These initiatives will be reinforced within
the next months by means of a series of co-operation programmes aimed at sustaining the access of the
indigenous people to the judiciary system, supporting the National Attorney’s Office by creating a Fiscalía
indígena, a specific department to deal with the promotion of the rights of indigenous people and
sustaining the Procuradoría de los Derechos Humanos (the Ombudsman’s office) in following up the
situation of the indigenous people at local level.

Additionally, the Commission is preparing complementary initiatives, aimed inter alia at reinforcing the
participation of the civil society, consolidating the State’s decentralisation process, promoting gender and
human rights and developing rural areas, whose beneficiaries will be mostly the Mayan origin people.

Guatemala is also a Latin America focal country in the framework of the ‘EU Initiative for Human Rights
and Democracy’ (EIHRD) for the period 2002-2004, which provides support in different priority areas,
such as the fight against racism and xenophobia, intimidation and impunity and reconciliation and torture.
The Commission will also support a National Observatory for Human Rights dealing with indigenous
people and is also involved in the preparation of a report on ‘Rights of indigenous people and its
accomplishment in Guatemala’ to the special United Nations Rapporteur for indigenous people.

It is also worth underlining that the coherence and co-ordination of the Commission’s initiatives in
Guatemala are reinforced by the so called Mesodialogo, which is a permanent forum on community
the Guatemalan
co-operation with Guatemala composed of
Government,
local and European non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Within this framework, a
specific sub-group dealing with indigenous people’s issues was established in December 2002.

the Member States,

the Commission,

Concerning the potential participation of general Ríos Montt in the next presidential elections, the Frente
Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG), the Government’s party, has not yet decided who will be the party’s
official candidate. Furthermore,
the Commission understands the Constitutional Tribunal has already
expressed itself against the candidature of Mr Ríos Montt in previous occasions and would re-examine the
case if necessary.

(2004/C 51 E/024)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0425/03

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council

(18 February 2003)

Subject: Violation of human rights in Chechnya

With a Council of Europe resolution on Chechnya in view, three international organisations have made a
joint statement calling on the Council of Europe to consider the following issues:

(cid:1) the fact that those responsible for acts of violence against civilians on both sides have not been called

to account or brought to justice,

(cid:1) the practice of both sides in the conflict of making targets of civilians in violation of international

humanitarian law,

(cid:1) the Russian Government’s suspension of the OSCE support group in Chechnya on 31 December 2002
and the continued refusal to publish the reports by the European Commission for the Prevention of
Torture on the situation in the Russian Federation.

Does the Council concur with the above statements and what measures will it take towards safeguarding
human rights in the region and, in particular, lifting the ban on the access of international observers to
Chechnya and putting an end to the lack of
transparency surrounding the information available
concerning violations?

C 51 E/24

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

26.2.2004

Reply

(29 September 2003)

The Council shares the concerns expressed in the statements mentioned by the Honourable Member.

The Council has raised its concerns about the human rights situation, including the lack of transparency
surrounding human rights violations, humanitarian assistance and the suspension of the OSCE Assistance
Group in Chechnya on several occasions with the Russian authorities.

Most recently, these concerns were expressed at the Political Directors Troika with Russia on 16 January
2003 and at the Ministerial Troika meeting with Russia in Athens on 24 January. The Council also raised
the Chechnya issue at the Cooperation Council meeting with Russia on 14 and 15 April 2003.

The Council greatly deplores the closing down of the OSCE Assistance Group on 31 December 2002 and
supports unreservedly all the efforts made by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to ensure a longer-term,
constructive OSCE commitment in the region. To this end, the Council welcomes the proposal made by
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to implement a programme of technical cooperation between the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office and the Russian authorities on the development of a timely, coherent and concrete
programme of activities, based on the Chechen Republic’s real needs on the one hand and on the OSCE’s
expertise and experience in all three of its dimensions on the other hand.

Moreover, in the framework of the UN Commission for Human Rights, the EU tabled a draft resolution on
the situation in the Chechen Republic in which it expressed serious concern about the human rights,
security and humanitarian situation on the ground in Chechnya. Unfortunately, the resolution did not
receive sufficient support for it to be adopted.

(2004/C 51 E/025)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0431/03

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(18 February 2003)

Subject: Equal responsibility among the Member States for combating illegal immigration

Preventing and combating illegal immigration is a fundamental element of the Union’s common policy on
asylum and immigration, stressed in the Conclusions of the Tampere European Council of October 1999
on combating illegal immigration.

Cooperation and strong determination are needed to tackle the criminal networks referred to in the
Communication of 15 November 2001 on a common policy on migration, which calls on the Council of
the European Union to adopt, as soon as possible, an action plan to prevent and combat
illegal
immigration.

We should bear in mind the recent tragic events on the Italian coast at Santa Maria di Leuca, where illegal
immigrants from Turkey died after receiving supplies and being transferred to other vessels by Greek
traffickers. Although one of the Greek Government’s priorities during its six months’ presidency of the EU
is the harmonisation of European policy on illegal immigration, in actual fact it is not combating the
traffic in migrants who are travelling to other European Union countries. As the Italian Under-Secretary
Alfredo Mantovano said ‘Turkey and Greece do not carry out the necessary checks’.

Can the Commission:

(cid:1) call on European governments to cooperate more closely;

(cid:1) ascertain whether the Greek authorities’ negligent attitude to border controls may constitute a

violation of current Community legislation governing cooperation in combating illegal immigration;