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…)

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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…)

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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.

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Publication of EU Annual Report on Human Rights

On 19/05/2010In: EU

“Increasing concerns have arisen during the period, with the growing harassment of human rights defenders, public condemnation of their work, closing of their offices, arbitrary arrests, a lack of fair trials, introduction of laws aimed at hampering the work of NGOs, attacks on the freedom of expression and the use of new technologies to crack down on defenders. In response, the EU has continued to protect those women and men who protect and promote universal human rights. Under the period under review, 46 public statements were issued by the EU, notably on the assassination of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova in Russia, on the arbitrary detention of Roxana Saberi and Abdolfattah Soltani in Iran, and on the trial of Liu Xiaobo in China. The EU continued to support the cases of hundreds of defenders during the human rights dialogues and through dozens of démarches or informal inquiries delivered by the local EU Representatives.

The latest Human Rights Report was presented to foreign affairs ministers on 10 May by Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and chair of the Foreign Affairs Council. The report gives an overview of the wide range of EU activities to promote human rights worldwide, covering the period from July 2008 to December 2009.

Information on EU action towards human rights defenders is available on pages 13, 55, 56, 112, 122-127, 131, 133, 135, 139, 143-146, 149, 151, 159, 170-174

read report | visit reports section | (more…)

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Protecting human rights defenders and promoting their work

On 29/04/2010In: EU

P-002777-00-3Recommendations on enhancing the visibility of the work of human rights defenders and on providing EU emergency visas to enable them and their families to escape oppressive regimes are set out in a resolution drafted by Human Rights Subcommittee chair Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, FI) and approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The resolution also strongly condemns the use of new surveillance technologies to keep tabs on human rights defenders in their home countries. (more…)

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