Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-16-Speech-4-180"
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"en.20020516.9.4-180"2
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". – Mr President, the Commission very much shares the honourable Members’ preoccupation with the continued violence in the Indian State of Gujarat, a situation that gives serious cause for concern on humanitarian grounds.
Like the diplomatic missions of several Member States, the Commission Delegation in New Delhi sent a fact-finding mission to Gujarat to assess the situation on the ground. The Commission has a significant cooperation programme in Gujarat of more than EUR 100 million. I was there in January meeting the state government, inspecting the devastation after the earthquake a year before and trying to accelerate our reconstruction activities.
The mission I am talking about was different and more problematical because of its background, but it was necessary to send a mission to Gujarat to assess whether the riots had implications for the principles on which our cooperation is based, including respect for human rights and democracy and the rule of law.
The findings were deeply worrying. Violence was not only widespread, but in many cases extreme brutality was used. Unofficial figures set the death toll at 2000, most of them Muslims. The mission also heard accusations from the Indian media and the Indian Human Rights Commission that the Gujarat state authorities had been complacent in their handling of the Hindu rioters.
In line with India's healthy and vigorous democratic tradition, a lively debate has been going on in the country about the consequences of the events in Gujarat and the responsibilities of the government at state and national level. I am confident that India's commitment to democracy and the rule of law will ensure that those who were responsible for these atrocities will be held to account, and that the victims will be provided with relief. The central government and the state government have already taken steps in this direction.
Both in Delhi and in Madrid, the EU troika has raised our concerns about the crisis with the Government of India, and the Commission has participated in these démarches. From a humanitarian point of view, the Commission is currently examining the possibility of giving humanitarian assistance to the victims of the riots through ECHO. A decision on this is expected within the next two weeks. The honourable Members will, of course, be informed immediately."@en1
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