WRITTEN QUESTION P-0985/04 by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission. Disappearance of children in Mozambique.
Date: 2004-03-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Mozambique, aid policy, child protection, fight against crime, public safety, street children, trade in organs

C 88 E/718

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0738)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0956/04

by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Commission

(23 March 2004)

Subject: Decoupling, farm retirement and families

Will the Commission confirm that it has received an appeal from the West Cork group of retired farmers
regarding the damaging consequences of decoupling on the return of leased land, and does it realise that
the rights of these farmers (cid:1) who entered the early retirement scheme in good faith (cid:1) to hand over this
land to their sons and daughters as their rightful inheritance to develop to its full potential has been
seriously affected? What action does it intend to take to ensure that their sons and daughters can inherit
farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 April 2004)

for

The Common Agricultural Policy reform is addressed to active farmers. No provisions are established to
ensure payment entitlements
landowners who have retired during the reference period and
consequently whose land has been leased. The payment entitlements will be given to the tenants who
exercised an agricultural activity in the reference period on the land in question. As confirmed by the
European Court of Justice in a settled case-law, farmers cannot have a legitimate expectation that an
existing situation which is capable of being altered by the Community institutions in the exercise of their
discretionary power will be maintained.

Farmers can produce without entitlements or, but they are not obliged to, buy entitlements on the market
and, of course, they can continue to lease the land to farmers who have entitlements but not enough land.

Nevertheless, there is no intention to disqualify such farm families from future payment entitlements or to
prevent that sons and daughters can inherit farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood.

The Commission is aware of the fact that farmers that participated in early retirement schemes may have
leased their farm temporarily with the idea that eventually a son or daughter would take over the farm.

In order to ensure that the transfer of the holding or part of it within a family can easily take place, the
Commission, in close collaboration with the Irish authorities, has developed a solution to avoid a situation
in which children would be prevented from taking over a family farm that was leased out during the
reference period. Those persons will be considered to be in a special situation within the meaning of
Article 42 (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules
for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes
for farmers (1). As a result, in the Commission’s implementing Regulation in process of being adopted,
provision is made for the allocation to persons in such a situation of payment entitlements out of the
national reserve if they take over the farm.

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003.

(2004/C 88 E/0739)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0985/04

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 March 2004)

Subject: Disappearance of children in Mozambique

Since July 2003 there have been alarming reports of street children disappearing in Mozambique
(particularly in the Nampula area), to be sold and murdered, in some cases so that their organs may be
used in the illegal transplant organ trade.

8.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Attention was first drawn to this situation in February by missionary nuns in the Nampula diocese, the
Sisters Servants of Mary, who wrote to Bishop Tomé and gave the local authorities a detailed account of
the horrific events, backed up by statements from family members and teachers of the children who had
disappeared.

A Brazilian consecrated layperson, Elida Dos Santos, who lives in the monastery at Nampula, was able to
take video footage and photographs showing that these terrible events are very real and not merely the
subject of serious allegations. The pictures show the mutilated bodies of children with missing organs,
while some bodies have been found in sacks buried in remote spots.

What is more, as a result of the action taken by male and female missionaries in Mozambique against this
horrific ring of inhuman traffickers, on 24 February 2004 a Brazilian Lutheran missionary, Doraci Edinger,
who had come to the assistance of children in Nampula, was found dead in her flat. She had been battered
to death with a hammer.

Pope John Paul II has also officially intervened in this matter, bringing his full moral authority to bear by
calling during the Ash Wednesday homily for action to be taken in Mozambique to put a stop to the
‘obscene trafficking in organs and human beings’.

In the face of these alarming reports and the indifference shown by international organisations, can the
Commission make urgent representations to the relevant authorities in Mozambique with a view to
ensuring that the necessary action is taken to guarantee the safety of children and male and female
missionaries in Nampula?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(29 April 2004)

The Commission shares the concerns of the Honourable Member about these alleged abominable crimes
relating to the disappearance and trafficking of organs of orphans in Mozambique.

The Commission has contacted the Republic’s General Prosecutor through its Delegation in Maputo in
respect of these crimes. The Prosecutor has confirmed that a full investigation with a multi-institutional
team including the Attorney General’s office, the investigative police and the Nampula branch of the
Human Rights League is underway not only in this region but also in other regions of the country. The
investigation is ongoing and will go deeper into the allegations of trafficking. From the alleged cases no
evidence could be established that human organs are subject to illegal trafficking. Furthermore, there is the
political will in Mozambique to bring before the court any persons responsible for such crimes. This
serious issue was lengthily debated in the Mozambican Parliament and the Government was requested to
increase its efforts to find the truth and bring to justice any person involved in such crimes.

This issue will be raised within the framework of the EU-Mozambique political dialogue.

The Commission is aware of the concern regarding the nuns’ safety and although this matter falls outside
the Commission’s competences and can be best addressed through interventions from the respective EU
Embassies,
the EU co-ordination and EU-
Mozambique political dialogue the most appropriate way to raise this issue with the Government.

the Commission will examine within the framework of

Mozambique has been benefiting from assistance to the judiciary system (Strategic Planning, access to
justice, human rights, prison reforms, legal training, Maputo Civil Court, Police of Mozambique) by the EU
(Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal), Norway, United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Honourable Member can be assured that the Commission, within its competence, will continue
supporting the Government of Mozambique to reinforce its investigating capacity so that justice prevails in
this country.