.

EU GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

|MANDATE| |REPORTS| |STATEMENTS| |RESOLUTIONS|

______________________________________________________________________________________

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the situation of Human Rights Defenders in the North Caucasus

On 18/07/2010In: EU

Brussels, 16 July 2010 – The European Union expresses its preoccupation at the continuing human rights violations in the North Caucasus and the worsening of the situation of human rights defenders in the region, as also noted in Dick Marty´s (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) report on the human rights violations in the North Caucasus, one year after the assassination of Mrs Natalia Estemirova of the Non-Governmental Organisation Memorial.

The European Union is concerned at the recent threats received by the NGO Memorial and the charges brought forward against its Director, Mr Oleg Orlov.

The European Union recalls the importance of protecting human rights defenders in Russia and worldwide, and allowing them to freely exercise their activities in accordance with the Declaration of the United Nations General Assembly on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998. (more…)

Tags: • •
 
0 Comments
React

EP resolution on Zimbabwe, notably the case of Farai Maguwu

On 08/07/2010In: EU

The European Parliament ,

–   having regard to its numerous previous resolutions on Zimbabwe, most recently that of 17 December 2008(1) ,

–   having regard to Council Common Position 2010/92/CFSP of 15 February 2010(2) renewing until 20 February 2011 the restrictive measures against Zimbabwe imposed under Common Position 2004/161/CFSP(3) , and to Commission Regulation 1226/2008 of 8 December 2008(4) , amending the Common Position,

–   having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 22 February 2010 on Zimbabwe, and to the conclusions of the 10th EU-South Africa Ministerial Political Dialogue of 11 May 2010 on Zimbabwe,

–   having regard to previous UN resolutions on blood diamonds, and in particular to UN Security Council resolution 1459 (2003) on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme,

–   having regard to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which requires its members to certify that rough diamonds are not used to finance armed conflicts,

–   having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples” Rights, which Zimbabwe has ratified, (more…)

Tags: • •
 
0 Comments
React

EU policies in favour of human rights defenders

On 18/06/2010In: EU

European Parliament resolution of 17 June 2010 on EU policies in favour of human rights defenders

“The European Parliament [...] welcomes current cooperation between the existing protection mechanisms at European and international level, which could be further strengthened through systematic exchange of information and strategy, so as to ensure a better complementarity between all of them in terms of both sharing information for emergency cases and coordination for long-term support actions, e.g. through the use of a secure online platform accessible to all official stakeholders; welcomes in this respect the annual meetings organised by the Council of Europe as well as the ‘inter-mechanisms’ annual meetings organised by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), with the aim of strengthening the interaction between international and regional mechanisms and institutions for the protection of human rights defenders; invites the existing taskforces on human rights defenders in Europe, within the framework of the Council Working Party on Human Rights and the Council of Europe – the latter being an initiative of the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights – to explore ways to work more closely together;” (more…)

Tags: •
 
0 Comments
React

EU Parliament strongly condemns the killing of human rights defender Chebeya

On 16/06/2010In: EU

On the eve of celebrations of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s fiftieth anniversary of independence, the European Parliament has adopted unanimously an emergency resolution condemning in the strongest terms the murder of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, a well respected Congolese human rights defender and president of the NGO “Voice of the Voiceless” (VSV), found murdered in his car in the suburbs of Kinshasa, on the 2 June, and the fate of his driver Faithful Edad Bazan, who has still not been located.

On 4th June Heidi Hautala and Rebecca Harms, Co-president of the Green/Efa Group, sent a letter to the Ambassador of DRC calling for an effective investigation into the killing. (see press release) | (all EU resolutions) | (more…)

Tags: • • •
 
0 Comments
React

Declaration by the High Representative Catherine Ashton on behalf of the EU on human rights in China

On 12/06/2010In: EU

Brussels, 11 June 2010 – The EU deplores the Sichuan Provincial High People’s Court decision to uphold Tan Zuoren’s sentence of 5 years on the charge of “subversion of state power”. The verdict against Tan Zuoren is entirely incompatible with his right to freedom of expression and does not meet international standards of fairness.

The EU also deeply regrets that Mr Tan was not allowed to conduct a proper defence and that the trial that led to this verdict was procedurally flawed, depriving Mr Tan of the opportunity to exercise fully his right to defend himself. The EU regrets that international calls for the re-opening of the case have been ignored. The EU therefore reiterates its calls to the Chinese government unconditionally to release Mr. Tan Zuoren.

Tags: • •
 
0 Comments
React
1234567
Top »