WRITTEN QUESTION E-1019/00 by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL) to the Council. Five cases of torture and violation of human rights in Turkey.
C 46 E/106 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 13. 2. 2001 (2001/C 46 E/111) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1019/00 by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL) to the Council (6 April 2000) Subject: Five cases of torture and violation of human rights in Turkey In the past week, several newspapers, non-governmental organisations and sources from the International Red Cross and the UN have brought to Parliamentís attention the serious case of five Turkish professionals, engineers and entrepreneurs ü Halil Muftuoglu, Emre Nil, Ferhat Terkoglu, Hasan Basri Guner and Timur Ayan ü who, after prolonged and excruciating torture, were forced to sign false confessions to crimes against the state. According to the victimsí declarations and evidence gathered from several sources, but not reported by the Turkish press, the torture comprised electric shocks to the testicles, jets of freezing water and beatings with clubs wrapped in towels to avoid bruising. The torture was inflicted by officers and officials of the Istanbul directorate for organised crime, a body which is part of the Turkish governmentís criminal investigation department. All five are now being detained in Bayrampasa prison while awaiting trial. Does the Council not consider that these continuing grave violations of human rights provide a 1. startling contradiction to the statements made by the Prime Minister, Mr Ecevit, and the entire Turkish government to the effect that the reform of the judicial system, which should facilitate Turkeyís accession to the EU, is already under way? 2. Does the Council not consider that the essentially positive opinion expressed by the Commissioner for enlargement, Mr Verheugen, after his recent visit to Istanbul, on the progress achieved by Turkey in this regard is largely unjustifiable, or at the very least, premature? 3. Should the Council not ask the Turkish government to provide immediate explanations for the inhuman treatment of the five aforementioned prisoners before starting negotiations on the accession of Turkey to the European Union? Reply (10 July 2000) The European Union has raised, and will continue to do so, the issue of human rights with the Turkish Government, most recently in connection with the EC-Turkey Association Council on 11 April 2000. The EU is concerned about reports of human rights violations and will continue to closely monitor the human rights situation in Turkey and, if necessary, raise individual cases with Turkish authorities. Turkey has embarked on a process of reform in this area. The EU welcomes Turkeyís intention to improve the human rights situation and will continue to support and encourage the Turkish efforts in this regard. The EU looks forward to further progress in this area. In this context, the EU recalls that compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria, which include guaranteeing human rights, is a prerequisite for the opening of accession negotiations. Consequently, no such negotiations have yet started with Turkey. (2001/C 46 E/112) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1023/00 by Niels Busk (ELDR) to the Commission (29 March 2000) Subject: Payment of co-responsibility levy Council Regulation (EC) 603/95 (1) on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder introduced an EU quota system for the dried fodder industry which sets a production quota for each Member State. If