WRITTEN QUESTION P-2199/03 by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Commission. Imprisonment in Cuba, in inhuman and degrading conditions, of 75 opposition figures sentenced by show trial in April 2003, and the particular case of Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello.
Date: 2003-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cuba, EU relations, cruel and degrading treatment, human rights, political prisoner, prison system

C 88 E/390

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

The preliminary results of this work, which still remain to be analysed in detail and confirmed, also
suggest, that foreign owned subsidiaries, who are significant players in many public procurement markets,
have had a rate of success in winning tenders comparable to that of domestic suppliers. The results also
indicate a continued active interest on the part of Union firms in bidding for public procurement contracts
in Member States other than their own.

The Commission will be happy to keep the Honourable Member informed of the final results of this work,
which should be available by October 2003 in time to contribute to the annual report on the functioning
of Community product and capital markets.

(1) OJ C 330 E, 21.11.2000.

(2004/C 88 E/0396)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2199/03

by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Commission

(27 June 2003)

Subject: Imprisonment in Cuba, in inhuman and degrading conditions, of 75 opposition figures sentenced

by show trial in April 2003, and the particular case of Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello

Knowing that:

(cid:1) in Cuba in April 2003, 75 opposition figures (intellectuals and independent journalists) received

sentences following a show trial;

(cid:1) human Rights Watch has said that the only crime committed by these prisoners was to promote ideas

which are forbidden in Cuba;

(cid:1) the one woman member of this group is Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello (aged 58), the director of the
Cuban Institute of Independent Economists named after Manuel Sánchez Herrero. She is also a writer,
economist and political activist;

(cid:1) martha Beatriz Roque Cabello was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment and is being kept under a
maximum-security regime in the Manto Negro jail, in a windowless, 1,5 m by 3 m cell infested by
rodents and cockroaches, with only a hole for her personal necessities and the light permanently on,
and is obliged to drink foul water;

(cid:1) she is now suffering from severe rheumatic ailments and a stomach ulcer, and has high blood
pressure; the entire left-hand side of her body is paralysed; since April, she has lost more than 14 kilos
and has been denied proper medical care and the drugs needed for treatment;

(cid:1) ms Roque Cabello is well known in Cuban dissident circles:

in 2002 the New York Academy of
Sciences awarded her the Human Rights for Scientists prize, and she has recently been declared a
prisoner of conscience by a number of international organisations. Since the 1980s she has been a
member of the Transnational Radical Party.

The Commission:

(cid:1) is it aware of these facts? If so, what initiatives has it taken, or what initiatives does it intend to take,
vis-à-vis the Cuban authorities to secure the release of the 75 prisoners or, at all events, to ensure that
they are guaranteed conditions of imprisonment that are compatible with fundamental human rights;

(cid:1) has it asked for the prisoners (cid:1) and especially and immediately Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello (cid:1) to be
visited by a delegation from the EU and any other relevant and recognised international organisation?
If not, when does it intend to do so?

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/391

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2003)

The Commission is closely following the human rights situation in Cuba and the recent detention and
sentencing of 75 dissidents and independent
including Martha Beatriz Roque,
particularly through our Delegation in Havana.

journalist

in Cuba,

The recent large-scale arrest of dissidents, the unfair trials and the arbitrary sentences imposed on them
have had a prompt, firm and sustained reaction from the Union. The Commission has fully and actively
supported the actions that have been taken in this context.

The Union has strongly condemned such arrests in two declarations published on 26 March 2003 and
5 June 2003, followed in each case by a formal démarche in Havana, calling for the immediate release of
all political prisoners. In its declaration and démarche of 5 June 2003, the Union also appealed to the
Cuban authorities that,
in the meantime, the prisoners do not suffer unduly and are not exposed to
inhumane treatment.

The Union has decided a series of political sanctions against Cuba, including limits to high-level visits and
an early re-evaluation of the Union common position.

The Commission considered on 30 April 2003, that the examination of the Cuban request for membership
of the Cotonou Agreement should be delayed, signalling that these recent developments are not conducive
to furthering cooperation between the Union and Cuba. The Cuban authorities decided on 16 May 2003
to withdraw their application to accede to the Cotonou Agreement.

Through these actions, the Cuban authorities have been made aware that detentions on political grounds
are not acceptable and that the Union urges the release of all prisoners held due to their opinions or
political activities. In this context, we will certainly bring the case of Martha Beatriz Roque to the attention
of the Cuban authorities, and will follow this matter closely, exerting continued political pressure on the
Cuban authorities.

(2004/C 88 E/0397)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2217/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(2 July 2003)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Slovenia

Given that:

(cid:1) the Office for Religious Communities (UCR) was established in Slovenia in 1999;

(cid:1) Natasa Sivic,

leader of the Hindu community in Slovenia, has been attempting to register her
community since 21 March 2002. The community has made all the changes to its registration papers
requested by the office, but has received no written answer since the date of its application;

(cid:1) Sivic accuses UCR director, Drago Cepar, of being responsible for the illegal situation in which the

Hindu community now finds itself;

(cid:1) fifteen months after the application for registration by the Hindu community and five months after
that by the Buddhist community, neither has received a reply from the Office for Religious
Communities. Both the Hindus and the Buddhists blame Drago Cepar for the delays;