91997E3397

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3397/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (23 October 1997)

Subject: Human rights

'The rules here are not clear, either as regards the right to take photographs of women or on other matters'. That was the first comment by Emma Bonino, the Member of the Commission responsible for human rights, who was detained for several hours by the fundamentalist Taliban militia while on assignment in Kabul. Mrs Bonino told the American television station CNN that she, along with the entire delegation travelling with her, had been arrested near a women's hospital that she had just visited. The decision to arrest the delegation seems to have been taken because some of its members photographed the women and filmed them with television cameras, acts apparently prohibited by the Taliban version of Islamic law.

Will the Commission report forthwith on the sequence of events?

Is it true that some members of the delegation took photographs and shot films although they were forbidden by law to do so?

Will any changes be made to the ECHO programme?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino behalf of the Commission (2 December 1997)

The incident that occurred on 29 September 1997, while the member of the Commission in charge of humanitarian aid and her delegation were visiting a clinic in Kabul, had its origin in a misunderstanding between the press people accompanying her and the religious police. The incident was closed with the apologies of two members of the Taliban administration.

During her humanitarian assessment mission to Afghanistan, the member of the Commission could verify that huge humanitarian needs remain, and therefore, the urgency of continuing the assistance to the people of Afghanistan both in the Taliban controlled territory and in the Northern Alliance controlled region.

The Commission will continue to provide funding to United Nations agencies and programmes, international relief organisations and European non-governmental organisations to assist the population of Afghanistan, provided that this aid can be distributed freely, without harassment, and in accordance with international humanitarian conventions.