WRITTEN QUESTION P-2007/03 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission. Vietnam: continuing imprisonment of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do.
Date: 2003-06-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Viet Nam, barring of penalties by limitation, human rights, political prisoner, right to justice

C 84 E/480

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2003)

The European Union has been fully informed about
initiatives to require a
strengthening of controls and anti-terrorist measures in ports exporting to the United States, and the
distortions of competition between ports to which these measures could give rise.

the US authorities’

The USA has selected 20 ‘mega ports’, mainly in Europe, not on the basis of the port security measures in
place, but to cover as much container traffic as possible, in particular 98 % of containers shipped between
the EU and the USA.

The second stage of the introduction of the US Container Security Initiative (CSI) is intended to cover other
ports. The choice of these ports may be guided by considerations relating to port security, but the US
Customs Service has also indicated that, in this second stage, ports would be chosen on the basis of
strategic criteria such as the main shipping routes to the Middle East and/or Africa.

The Community’s reply must therefore meet two requirements: it must be global so that it can be part of a
world-wide approach, and it must meet EU internal market requirements, in particular by guaranteeing
equality of treatment of all EU exporters.

In order to preserve equality of treatment throughout the customs union, the Commission at the beginning
of the year sent letters of formal notice to the Member States which signed ‘declarations of intent’ relating
to the introduction of the Container Security Initiative.

At the same time, it proposed to the Member States a cooperation plan with the US authorities to establish
an agreement to replace the provisions of the declarations of intent which are incompatible with the
customs union and the internal market.

On 18 March 2003, the Council approved negotiating directives for the Commission to negotiate, in areas
covered by Community competence, a widening of the scope of the customs cooperation agreement
concluded between the Community and the USA in 1997 in order to guarantee better coordination of
security checks on moving goods.

Furthermore, on 2 May 2003 the Commission adopted a Communication on improving the security of
shipping, and a proposal for a Regulation on enhancing ship and port facility security (1).

The Commission plans to adopt other legislative initiatives on port security, the security of the intermodal
transport chain and a revision of the Community Customs Code.

(1) COM(2003) 229 final.

(2004/C 84 E/0557)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2007/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(11 June 2003)

Subject: Vietnam: continuing imprisonment of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do

The 75-year-old Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, the second-highest authority in the Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam, is still being held in prison, although he should have been released on Sunday, 1 June
2003 after serving the full two-year ‘administrative detention’ sentence (Ref.: 3208/QD-UB) which was
handed down on him on 31 May on the basis of a ‘Decision’ by the Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Court.
According to the local court, this new sentence constituted a reactivation of the five-year sentence of
‘preliminary imprisonment’ to which the religious leader had been sentenced in August 1995, although he
had been released under a general amnesty in September 1998. As justification for its ‘Decision’, the Ho Chi
Minh City’s People’s Court claimed that it was acting in order to prevent Thich Quang Do from pursuing
activities exerting a malign influence on politics and public order. Such ‘reactivation’ of a sentence is not
only arbitrary and against the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Vietnam, it also
constitutes a manifest breach of Vietnamese law in that the amnesty from which Ven. Thich Quang Do

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Official Journal of the European Union

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benefited was determined by the President of the Republic, while the ‘reactivation’ of the sentence was the
outcome of a simple decision taken by the Ho Chi Minh City authorities and against which Ven. Thich
Quang Do was unable to defend himself before any court whatsoever. Furthermore, according to AFP,
quoting sources inside the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the Vietnamese authorities were thinking about
possibly releasing him on 2 September 2003.

Is the Commission aware of these sad developments in what may henceforth be referred to as the ‘Thich
Quang Do Case’? What new measures does the Commission intend to take with a view to informing the
Vietnamese authorities that the continuing imprisonment of Ven. Thich Quang Do constitutes a serious
breach of Vietnamese law, international Conventions to which Vietnam is signatory and the letter and the
spirit of the Cooperation Agreement which links Vietnam to the EU? More generally, what measures will
the Commission take to ensure that the Vietnamese authorities radically change their attitude and revive
the spirit of dialogue which they demonstrated during the recent meeting between the Patriarch Thich
Huyen Quang and the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr Phan Van Khai?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(30 June 2003)

The Commission is well aware of the continued housearrest for the most Venerable Thich Quan Do.

The Commission’s policy towards Vietnam is to encourage and support continued progress on human
rights and democratisation, and to raise concerns where abuses occur or where a deterioration in the
situation becomes evident. The Commission works closely with the Member States in monitoring human
rights developments in the country and participates in all Union démarches to the Government of Vietnam
on human rights issues, including those pertaining to the situation of Persons of Concern.

The Commission and the Member States have repeatedly urged the Government of Vietnam to strengthen
its respect for political and religious freedoms, to further strengthen economic and social freedoms and to
create a legal framework for a supportive environment to allow the development of a strengthened civil
society.

The Commission will continue to follow closely the human rights situation in Vietnam, together with the
Diplomatic Missions of the Member States in Vietnam, and take appropriate action.

(2004/C 84 E/0558)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2154/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(24 June 2003)

Subject: Delays in the disbursement of funding for SMU projects

One of the aims of the 5th and 6th Framework Programmes for Research is to encourage innovation.
Against this background, the Commission asked interested parties to submit by 15 March 2002 proposals
for innovative projects under the reference number INN/01/02. Following the assessment process, in June
2002 31 projects were approved. However, by late December 2002 only four contracts had been
concluded.

Can the Commission state why, more than one year following the award of funding, contracts have not
been drawn up for 27 of the 31 projects and when it intends to conclude those contracts?

Does the Commission share my view that delays of this kind pose a serious threat to individual projects?
If so, what measures is the Commission taking in order to minimise the problems which these delays may
cause?