The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the
own-initiative report by Josef WEIDENHOLZER (S&D, AT) on the
Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2015 and
the European Union’s policy on the matter.
Centrality of human rights in EU external
policies: Members expressed their
serious concern that the protection of human rights and democratic
values are under threat worldwide. They called on all the EU
institutions and Member States to act on their commitments to
promote democracy and the rule of law, protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms, including the right to development by all
peaceful means, and to place human rights at the centre of the EU's
relations with all third countries
They were also deeply concerned that many human
rights defenders are under attack nowadays, and called on the
EU, and the VP/HR in particular, to adopt a policy to denounce,
systematically and unequivocally, the killing of HRDs and any
attempt to subject them to any form of violence or threat. The
report also wanted to see the EU and its Member States promoting a
free space for civil society, calling for the establishment
of a system to monitor civil society space effectively and with
clear benchmarks and indicators. It reiterated the importance of
the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) in
providing urgent direct financial and material support for HRDs at
risk. It supported the EU Special Representative's focus, as a key
priority during his mandate, on the promotion and protection of an
open space for civil society and HRDs, and called for regular
reports to Parliament after his visits.
In addition, Members encouraged:
- the establishment of national human rights
institutions (NHRIs), in accordance with the United Nations' Paris
Principles, with sufficient mandate, resources and expertise to
fulfil the safeguarding of human rights.
- further inter-parliamentary relations between the
Union and its partner countries.
They went on to welcome the adoption of the EU
Strategic Framework and the new Action Plan on Human Rights and
Democracy (2015-2019), calling also for sufficient
resources and expertise, both in terms of dedicated human resources
in delegations and at the Commission and the European External
Action Service (EEAS).
The report made the following
recommendations:
- Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategies
(HRDCSs) should correspond to EU
actions to be implemented in each country depending on specific
situations, and should contain measurable progress indicators. The
European Parliament should give access to the HRDCSs and as well as
information on how the EU implements these strategies;
- the EEAS should develop a mechanism for reviewing
Human Rights Dialogues, with a view to improving them, and
alternative tools to support the advancement of human rights should
dialogues fail ;
- the Commission should conduct a thorough evaluation of
the implementation of the Guidelines on human rights by EU
Delegations and Member States' diplomatic representations in all
third countries;
- the EU and its Member States should support, in the
process of building sustainable reconciliation, the systematic
participation of women as a vital component of peace
processes;
- further European military integration is needed improve European armed forces' readiness and
flexibility, in order to allow them to respond to threats and to
instances of grave violations of human rights, genocide or ethnic
cleansing;
- the concept of 'Responsibility to Protect' should be
consolidated into international law.
On migration, the report called urgently for
measures to improve the coherence of the migration policies, and
stressed the need for a holistic approach to find sustainable,
long-term and coherent solutions, based on international human
rights standards while tackling the root causes of the refugee
crisis. The EU and the Member States were asked to establish full
transparency concerning the funds allocated to third
countries for cooperation on migration, and ensure that such
cooperation does not benefit, directly or indirectly, security,
police and justice systems involved in human rights
violations.
Moreover, Members stressed the following
points:
- the EU must make the fight against trafficking in
human beings a priority in its external policies, addressing
both the demand and supply side of the phenomenon, with all Member
States implementing Directive 2011/36/EU;
- human rights for all must be a cross-cutting feature
in the achievement of all goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development;
- the EU should ensure that the necessary guidelines,
impact assessments and reporting mechanisms make Policy
Coherence for Development a reality in EU policies and in those
of its Member States;
- trade and human rights can go hand in hand, and there should be comprehensive
implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights;
- the Commission should ensure that implementation of
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD) is raised systematically in human rights dialogues with
third countries;
- women’s rights cannot be compromised in deference to specific
proscriptions by any religion or belief, and the EU should
step up its support to the implementation of the obligations and
commitments in the area of women’s rights;
- the EU should systematically consult with local and
international child rights organisations, and raise, in its
political and human rights dialogues with third countries, the
issue of State parties’ obligations to implement the UN
Convention on the Rights of Child to which the EU should
accede;
- the EU should contribute further to reflections on the
recognition of same-sex marriages or same-sex civil unions
as a political, social, human and civil rights issue;
- the EU should further protect the rights of
indigenous people and of persons belonging to minorities, who
are particularly affected by human rights violations related to
resource extraction;
- the EU should continue to use cooperation and
diplomacy in all possible forums worldwide to advocate against
the death penalty;
- the VP/HR should launch an initiative aimed at
imposing an EU arms embargo against countries that are
accused of serious allegations of breaches of international
humanitarian law (IHL), notably with regard to the
deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Lastly, Members expressed grave concern over the
use of armed drones outside the international legal
framework, urging Member States to articulate clear policy and
legal positions and reiterating their call for an EU common
position on the use of armed drones, which upholds human rights and
IHL.