WRITTEN QUESTION E-1195/00 by William Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Council. Religious persecution in India.
C 46 E/142 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 13. 2. 2001 The Commission fully understands that the issues involved are sensitive and that they currently, in certain localities in France, involve serious problems for the French authorities. It must, on the other hand, be observed that failure to respect the fundamental provisions of Council Directive 93/119/EC of 22 December 1993 on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing and relevant Community sanitary rules involves serious breaches of Community law and risk to public health. The Commission is currently awaiting a formal report from the French authorities on the recent Eid-el- Kabir. In the light of this report the Commission will consider if further initiatives are necessary including the possible opening of the Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty infringement proceedings. (2001/C 46 E/163) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1195/00 by William Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Council (13 April 2000) Subject: Religious persecution in India Attacks are being reported in several states of India on Christian communities in the shape of murder, gang-rapes, beatings, threats, and destruction and desecration of churches. Meanwhile legislative initiatives have been undertaken in a number of Indian states which seek to restrict religious freedom. In Orissa state, for example, the state government passed an order at the end of 1999 prohibiting conversion without the prior permission of the local police and the district magistrate. In Gujurat state, a freedom of religion bill was introduced last year which established stiff penalties for the crime of converting individuals from one religion to another. Although the bill was shelved this February, it is thought likely that attempts might be made to revive it at a later date. Christians there believe that the bill is open to subjective interpretation and may be used to halt their humanitarian efforts amongst the poor as well as curtailing any public expression of their faith. In the light of these events, does the Council intend to address the question of religious tolerance and freedom at the upcoming EU-India summit? Reply (10 July 2000) The Council is aware of the problems mentioned in the honourable MEPís question. In the framework of the regular political dialogue between the European Union and India, the Council has already, on several occasions, raised the issue of tolerance, religious freedom and the rights of minorities in India. Similarly, the EU Heads of Mission in New Delhi have raised individual problems directly with the Indian authorities. Whenever necessary, the Council will continue to voice its concerns over Human Rights problems, including at the forthcoming EU-India Summit. The Union pursues also at a multilateral level its efforts aimed to counter intolerance and violence based on religion or belief. In this context, Member States recently cosponsored the resolution Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Beliefí, introduced by Ireland and adopted by consensus at the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (20 March-28 April 2000)