WRITTEN QUESTION No. 384/99 by Ursula STENZEL to the Commission. Selection procedure
C 297/156 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 15. 10. 1999 (1999/C 297/213) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0373/99 by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council (17 February 1999) Subject: Worrying state of health of Mr Ukshin Hoti and disappearances and arrests without charge in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia In an urgent resolution adopted on 14 May 1998 (1) Parliament called on the Council to do everything in its power to persuade the Belgrade authorities to release Mr Ukshin Hoti, a Kosovan university professor imprisoned by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for crimes of conscience in 1995. Since then, the state of health of Mr Hoti, who is still in prison, has deteriorated very seriously as a result of the very harsh conditions in which he is being held. Can the Council Presidency, through its ambassador in Belgrade or by any other means, check on the spot the conditions under which Mr Hoti is being held and the medical treatment available to him and take every possible step to ensure that Mr Hoti is released not at the end of his sentence, in May 1999, but immediately? More generally, can the Council Presidency give the number of prisoners of conscience and an estimate of the number of persons who have been arrested without charge or have disappeared (desaparecidos) in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since the beginning of 1998? (1) OJ C 167, 1. 6. 1998, p. 197. Reply (26 April 1999) The Council fully shares the Honourable Member’s worries about the health state of Mr. Ukshin Hoti. Consequently, the Presidency has instructed its Ambassador in Belgrade to enter into contact with the local representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in order to verify the medical and detention conditions of Mr. Hoti and to assess the possibilities for an early release. Representatives of the ICRC have been able to meet with Mr. Hoti on 1st March 1999. The Presidency endeavours to keep Parliament informed of any information that the representatives of the ICRC will make available to its Ambassador in Belgrade. The Council does however want to caution the Honourable Member against undue optimism as the relations between Belgrade and the European Union are seriously strained notably due to the current crisis in Kosovo and the demands the Council has addressed to the Belgrade authorities in that respect. The Council is not in a position to give an accurate account of the number of persons currently incarcerated for their beliefs, that have been arrested without inculpation or that have disappeared. According to figures released by the ICRC in August 1998, the organisation was investigating the cases of 138 Serbs and Montenegrins reportedly abducted by the Kosovo Liberation Army, and over 400 Albanians reportedly detained by Serbian forces. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gave a total of 400 gathered during its registration of those reported as unaccounted for. The UNHCR believes that around 200 of these are currently in police detention. (1999/C 297/214) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0384/99 by Ursula Stenzel (PPE) to the Commission (19 February 1999) Subject: Selection procedure Further to its answer to my question E-3079/98 (1) concerning the competition held on 14 September 1998 and the cheating that occurred during it, can the Commission answer the following questions: 1. What security measures were taken or what checks were made in connection with the competition held on 6 February 1999? 2. Can the possibility of cheating be ruled out in this case?