WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2245/97 by Kirsi PIHA to the Commission. Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
17. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 82/49 improving social protection in the European Unioní (2). In this communication, emphasis is given to adapting social protection to the new balance of the sexes in terms of participation in working life, and to changes in family structures. In addition, in its 1997 report on social protection, the Commission will include the efforts of Member States to make progress towards the individualisation of rights without jeopardising the economic situation of women. (1) COM(87) 494 final. (2) COM(97) 102 final. (98/C 82/90) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2245/97 by Kirsi Piha (PPE) to the Commission (2 July 1997) Subject: Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo According to press reports large refugee camps have been discovered in Congo which have been revealed to be mass extermination camps. It is estimated that there are some 40 000 refugees in Congo, and no-one can say exactly how many of them have already died or will die in these inhuman camps. What measures does the Commission propose to take to help ensure that the events which led to this disastrous situation are investigated and that those responsible are found and brought before an international court? Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (4 September 1997) The rebellion staged at the end of 1996 by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) caused Rwandan refugees who had been in Kivu since 1994 to scatter. An estimated 600 000 to 800 000 refugees returned to Rwanda; the remainder, whose numbers are difficult to estimate (almost 200 000 according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), fled the advancing AFDL forces. Some sought refuge in remote areas of the country or in states bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but a great many others were very probably persecuted and died of that or of exhaustion. In the light of revelations by a number of non-governmental organisations in particular, detailing grave human rights violations and massacres, the United Nations decided to send a fact-finding mission to the area. The Union has called on the government of President Kabila, by means of public declarations and overtures by the European troika, actively supported by the Commission, to comply fully with humanitarian law and to grant humanitarian organisations unrestricted access to all regions to assist the refugees. The Union has also asked the government to grant immediate authorisation to the UN mission to conduct a full investigation into the alleged massacres in Congolese territory. (98/C 82/91) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2262/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (2 July 1997) Subject: Annual report on the Cohesion Funds for 1995 Will the Commission say why there have been delays in the submission of the 1995 annual report on the Cohesion Funds (COM(96) 388 final) and why in some cases sufficient comparative data are not available on the projects?