Parents attack delays in crèche abuse case

Date: 15/04/1999

By Rory Watson

PARENTS of young children who were allegedly raped and indecently assaulted two years ago in a Brussels crèche owned by the European Commission have appealed to the Belgian Premier Jean-Luc Dehaene to speed up the investigation.

In an open letter to Dehaene and Belgium's justice and foreign ministers, the parents express their "profound disillusion over the frustrating slowness of the inquiry and the judicial system".

They point out that the examining magistrate's application to question an MEP, made almost a year ago, has still not been processed by the Belgian authorities and presented to the European Parliament, which must decide whether or not to lift the member's immunity.

" If this is not done straight away, then it will already be too late for the present legislature," warn the parents. The current Parliament's mandate ends in little over a month.

They have also alerted Dehaene to the six-month delay in replying to the examining magistrate's request for €15,000, to pay for the second expert's opinion requested by the defence.

The parents' decision to go public with their criticisms, although they have asked not to be named to protect their children's identities, is a clear sign of their frustration at what they see as foot-dragging in the investigation into allegations that six young children at the crèche were abused during the first half of 1997.

Their frustration is largely directed at the Commission, which they accuse of failing to accept any responsibility for the running of the crèche, which is subcontracted to an outside company. "The Commission handling of the whole issue has been a classic example of how it is difficult to find anyone in the institution who has the slightest sense of responsibility, to quote the wise men's report," said one.

MEPs are now rallying behind the parents. "What is not acceptable is that the Commission has done nothing and has not replied clearly to questions put to it. It is an abrogation of responsibility," said Belgian Liberal member Philippe Monfils.

Monfils, along with the staff committee which represents parents of children at EU crèches and schools, also believes the Commission should end the contract with the outside firm.

The parents' demands for the subcontracting arrangement to be cancelled have been fuelled by widespread dissatisfaction at the way the crèche is currently run.

But a senior Commission official insisted this week that there was no need for a swift decision as the current contract does not run out until the end of July.

The parents are also being supported by Claude Lelièvre, the Ombudsman for Children's Rights in Belgium's French-speaking community. He has already contacted authorities in Italy and Catalonia, where the two former crèche workers at the centre of the allegations now live.