WRITTEN QUESTION E-2213/03 by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Council. 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: 2003-07-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cuba, human rights, political prisoner, prison system

C 65 E/116

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

(2004/C 65 E/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2213/03

by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Council

(2 July 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 Council:

(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?

Reply

(17 November 2003)

The Council is aware of the preoccupying conditions and health situation of some political prisoners in
Cuba and has made various demarches, calling for immediate release of all political prisoners and
demanding that in the meantime they do not suffer unduly and are not exposed to inhumane treatment.
In support of this line, steps have been taken, notably on 26 March, when the local Troika in Havana
carried out a demarche expressing strong concern over the detention of dozens of Cuban dissidents by the
Cuban authorities. On 5 June, the EU issued a second declaration to the Cubans expressing deep concern
over the violation of the human rights of the opposition and called once again for the Cuban authorities to
release all political prisoners immediately. The EU further requested that prisoners not be exposed to
inhumane treatment and that access for the Red Cross be guaranteed. On 1 August a third, specific
demarche was made by the EU Presidency in Rome to the Cuban Ambassador expressing preoccupation
over the deteriorating health of Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello and Oscar Espinosa Chepe and requesting full
access to medical care for these prisoners. HOM’s are continuing to monitor the situation.

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/117

For a more complete picture of the Council’s efforts in favour of Cuban dissidents, the Council refers to the
answers given to various parliamentary questions recently (questions H-243/03, H-313/03, H-396/03).
Furthermore, the Council would refer the Honourable Parliamentarian to the conclusions it adopted on the
occasion of its meeting on 21 July regarding the re-evaluation of the EU Common Position on Cuba.

(2004/C 65 E/130)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2214/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(2 July 2003)

Subject: European security project

The cultural association ‘Gruppo Atlante 2000’ has for many years been developing a European security
project based on the Equal programme and now the recent Agis programme. The project essentially entails
recording the number of asylum seekers, identifying those who genuinely fall into this category, setting up
reception centres geared to accommodation and assistance requirements and providing EU citizens with a
high level of security within an area of freedom and justice.

The constant increase in the flow of asylum seekers in Italy in recent years illustrates the need for a
uniform government strategy to improve reception facilities and at
illegal
immigration. Action is also needed to prevent asylum seekers becoming involved in organised crime and
the black economy.

the same time combat

In the light of the above, will the Commission say:

1. what contribution this association could make to the work performed by Europol and Eurojust?

2. whether similar initiatives have been taken in the EU?

3. what general security framework exists in Europe?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2003)

Member States shall have to ensure that material reception conditions are available to third country
nationals and stateless persons who make an application for asylum at the border or in the territory of
Member States, in order to ensure a standard of living adequate for their health capable of ensuring their
subsistence, after the deadline for transposition of Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying
down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers (1). The deadline for transposition is
6 February 2005.

Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishes criteria and mechanisms for
determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for asylum lodged in one of the
Member States by a third-country national (2). Accordingly, this instrument prevents applicants for asylum
from pursuing multiple procedures and may thus diminish the need to set up new reception facilities.
The implementation of this Regulation is facilitated by the operation of the Eurodac system, as established
by Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 of 11 December 2000 concerning the establishment of
‘Eurodac’ for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin Convention (3).
Under this Regulation, Member States are required to promptly take fingerprints of every applicant for
asylum and of every alien who is apprehended in connection with the irregular crossing of an external
border of a Member State, if they are at least 14 years of age.

To combat illegal
immigration, the Council adopted on 28 February 2002 an action plan on illegal
immigration (4). Proper implementation of these measures by the Member States may reduce irregular flows
and may thus, in the long term, also diminish the need of Member States to set up new reception facilities
for asylum seekers.