WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1556/99 by Olivier DUPUIS The 3000 Kosovar prisoners still held in Serbia
C 27 E/130 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 1. 2000 (2000/C 27 E/158) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1556/99 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Council (1 September 1999) Subject: The 3 000 Kosovar prisoners still held in Serbia In the last days of the international policing operations in Kosovo, some three thousand Kosovar prisoners were abducted and forcibly transferred to Serbian prisons by Serbian military and paramilitary forces. The prisoners include Prof. Ukshin Hoti, a prominent member of the opposition, whose prison sentence expired in May 1999 and who has been nominated for the EPís 1999 Sakharov Prize, and Mr Albin Kurti, former leader of the Pristina studentsí movement. Can the Council provide detailed information about the whereabouts and conditions of detention of Prof. Hoti, Mr Kurti and the three thousand Kosovar prisoners still being held in Serbia? What steps does the Council intend to take to ensure that the Belgrade authorities immediately and unconditionally release these 3 000 people and allow them to be reunited with their families in Kosovo? Will the Council provide all the necessary assurances that neither the sanctions nor the embargo on Serbia and Yugoslavia will be lifted until the Belgrade authorities release all the Kosovar prisoners currently held in Yugoslav prisons? Reply (22 October 1999) Regarding detailed information about the whereabouts and conditions of detention of these prisoners, the Council wishes to inform the Honourable Parliamentarian that the ICRC has been allowed access to Serbian jails by the Belgrade authorities and that it has identified 2 000 Kosovo Albanian prisoners so far. On the issue of sanctions relief, the Council wishes to reassure the Honourable Parliamentarian that progress in democratic freedoms and respect for the rights of minorities will be key elements in deciding the lifting of sanctions targeting the Belgrade regime. (2000/C 27 E/159) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1557/99 by Rolf Linkohr (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1999) Subject: Questions on the EU complaints procedure ü Directive 65/65/EEC Has the Commission ascertained to what extent other EU States have fulfilled these requirements, and 1. what steps is it taking in this regard in the other EU States which are affected? 2. Can these scientific publications, as the only evidence that the products are effective and harmless, be considered to be a list of published references within the meaning of Article 4. 8(a) of Directive 65/65/ EEC (1)? 3. What, in the Commissionís view, are the prospects for the applicant achieving mutual European recognition for complementary medicinal products, for example through setting up a committee for alternative medicinal products? (1) OJ L 22, 9. 2. 1965, p. 369