Home > Parliamentary question by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission and answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission
Parliamentary question by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission and answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission
Parliamentary questions
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0561/03
by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission
(18 February 2003)
Subject: Hunger strike by Mr Jebali
Mr Hamadi Jebali, the former editor of the Al Fajr weekly periodical, has been on hunger strike since 13 January 2003, i.e. for 36 days. According to Tunisia's International Association for Political Prisoner Support he was transferred on 12 February 2003 to the emergency ward of a hospital in Bizerte. Despite numerous appeals from within Tunisia and around the world calling for Mr Jebali's release, there has still been no reaction from the Tunisian authorities. On 6 February a member of Reporters sans frontières, who had asked to be allowed to visit Mr Jebali in the Nador prison in Bizerte (in the north of the country), had his request turned down by the Directorate-General for Prisons. Mr Jebali's lawyer, Mr Mohamed Nouri, and his wife have reported that he is coming under intense pressure from members of the State Security Department to abandon his hunger strike. His wife and his daughters - whose house is under surveillance - have now had their passports taken away from them. In 1992 the military court in Tunis sentenced Mr Jebali to 16 years in prison for 'belonging to an illegal organisation'. At the time he had just completed a one-year prison sentence for having published an article in which he criticised the military court system.
What action has the Commission taken in order to help Mr Jebali? Has it been able (via its delegation in Tunis) to make direct enquiries regarding the conditions in which Mr Jebali is being held and the state of his health, now that he has been on hunger strike for over a month? Has it raised the issue of a general amnesty for crimes of conscience committed during the 1980s and 1990s and, if so, how have the Tunisian authorities reacted?
E-0561/03FR
E-0646/03FR
Réponse donnée par M. Patten
au nom de la Commission
(21 mars 2003)
La Commission suit avec préoccupation la grève de la faim de M. Hamadi Jebali ainsi que celles d’autres détenus dans la même situation. L’honorable parlementaire est informé de la position de l’Union et de la Commission en particulier au sujet des conditions de détention en Tunisie et des instruments à notre disposition pour améliorer la situation notamment des prisonniers politiques. (Cf. les réponses de la Commission aux questions écrites de l’honorable parlementaire E-0250/03 et E-0263/03 , E-3031/02 , et E-2526/02, E-2597/02 et E-2629/02 ).
L’Union par l’intermédiaire de ses chefs de mission à Tunis continue de suivre le mouvement de grèves de la faim dans les prisons tunisiennes, y compris la situation de M. Jebali.
La question d’une amnistie générale pour les crimes d’opinion commis entre 1980 et 1990 n’a pas été évoquée par la Commission avec les autorités tunisiennes.
Quant à M. Mohammed Charfi, la Commission n’est pas informée des faits que rapporte l’honorable parlementaire à son sujet. Elle n’a donc pas connaissance des actes et propos attribués aux autorités religieuses de Kairouan, mais cherchera des informations à ce sujet par le biais de sa Délégation à Tunis.
Quant au respect des valeurs démocratiques qui constituent un élément essentiel de l’accord d’association, la Présidence de l’Union, de même que la Commission qui est associée à celle-ci dans les tâches relevant de ces questions, poursuit son dialogue politique avec les autorités tunisiennes en faveur de leur application concrète en Tunisie.
