WRITTEN QUESTION E-3123/03 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Council. Deportation of Chechens.
Date: 2003-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Belgium, EU policy, France, Russia, data collection, political asylum, political kidnapping, political refugee, removal, war of independence

C 84 E/222

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

In addition, the Directive on television without frontiers (Council Directive of 3 October 1989 89/552/
EEC (3) as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June
1997 (4)) contains several provisions which promote cultural diversity. In particular, it requires that, where
practicable, broadcasters reserve a majority of their transmission time for European works, and at least
10 % of their transmission time, or 10 % of their programming budget, for European works created by
producers independent from broadcasters.

(1) COM(2003) 397 final.
(2) COM(2003) 520 final.
(3) OJ L 298, 17.10.1989.
(4) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997.

(2004/C 84 E/0266)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3123/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Council

(22 October 2003)

Subject: Deportation of Chechens

A Chechen mother and her two children, aged six and seven, who arrived at Roissy airport on 2 October,
were deported to Moscow on 12 October. According to the newspaper ‘Libération’, the woman, whose
husband had been kidnapped by masked men, had chosen to flee Grozny after receiving threats whilst she
was looking for her husband. The French authorities deemed that the asylum claim was unwarranted, as the
woman had been unable to identify the men who had abducted her husband. In Brussels, the Belgian
authorities refused a request for asylum from Mr Said-Magomed Khachukaev, deputy editor of The
Chechen Times, and on Monday 13 deported him either to Germany or to Moscow, depending on the
source.

Is the Council aware of these deportations of Chechen citizens and those of Mr Khachukaev and the
mother and two children mentioned in Libération in particular? Does the Council have even a vague idea
of the dangers facing Chechens expelled to Russia? Does the Council intend to adopt a common position
according to which the Member States would agree not to deport Chechen refugees until the Russian
authorities were able to guarantee a minimum amount of respect for basic rights in Chechnya? What
initiatives does the Council plan to take to acquire the necessary means to collect ‘detailed information
about the cases of civilian abductions’ (see the Council’s answer to question E-0748/03 (1))? Does the
Council not think that the embassies of the 15 Member States and the 10 applicant countries, the
Commission Delegation in Moscow and organisations such as Amnesty International, Memorial, Human
Rights Watch and Médecins du Monde could provide it with in-depth information about the abduction of
civilians and, more generally, the very serious human rights violations committed in Chechnya?

(1) OJ C 51 E, 26.2.2004, p. 48.

Reply

(9 March 2004)

The Council informs the Honourable Parliamentarian that it is not competent to intervene in individual
asylum applications in the Member States.

Regarding the adoption of a common position as referred to in the question, the Council informs the
Honourable Parliamentarian that it is not, at that stage, for seen by the Council.

Finally, the Council invites the Honourable Parliamentarian to address directly his last question regarding
the in-depths information about the abduction of civilians to the relevant authorities.