Activities of György HÖLVÉNYI related to 2021/2181(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Human rights and democracy in the world – annual report 2021 (continuation of debate)
Amendments (48)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12
Citation 12
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, of 4 April 1997, and its Protocols;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17
Citation 17
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
— having regard to the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981;
Amendment 17 #
— having regard to the UN General Assembly resolutions A/RES/73/296, titled “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief” of 28 May 2019, and A/RES/72/165,establishing the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism of 19 December 2017;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 c (new)
Citation 17 c (new)
— having regard to the EU Guidelines on the protection and promotion of freedom of religion of belief, adopted on 24 June 2013;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 d (new)
Citation 17 d (new)
— having regard to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, and the resolution 43/29 adopted by the Human Rights Council on 22 June 2020 on the prevention of genocide;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 e (new)
Citation 17 e (new)
— having regard to the EU guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, adopted on 15 January 2019;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
— having regard to the UN Declarations on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted on 18 December 1992;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 b (new)
Citation 17 b (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, adopted on 5 November 1992;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18
Citation 18
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the importance of both the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020–2024 for this goal; recalls that the use of the rule of qualified majority voting within the Council on human rights issues would result in a more effective and proactive EU foreign and security policy, and would strengthen cooperation on matters of key strategic interest for the EU, while reflecting its fundamental values;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is deeply concerned by increasing number of illiberal democracies and autocratic regimestotalitarian, autocratic and dictatorial regimes worldwide, which are in the majority for the first time in 20 years; calls for the EU and the Member States to make full use of the tools at their disposal to support good governance, democratic institutions and space for civil society worldwide, including Churches and religious communities and associations;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
EU Special Representative for Human Rights and EU Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Shows its concern about the reported conflicts of interests of a number of UN experts financed directly by private foundations and aligning their positions with the private foundations' agendas; calls on the UN bodies and organs to be carefully scrutinised and to investigate these cases to avoid the reputation and credibility of the UN institutions from being undermined and eroded by lack of action; underlines the importance of a strict application of the mandates of the UN human rights’ rapporteurs, in particular, the respect of the principles of impartiality and independence, in order to maintain untouchable the required high moral standards required for these important positions;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Reiterates its strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the only international institution able to prosecute some of the world’s most heinous crimes and to bring justice to their victims, and highlights the importance of impartiality and independence of the Court; calls on the EU Member States to provide adequate financial support to enable the ICC to carry out its tasks; supports the universality of the Rome Statute and calls for the EU to include a specific clause on its ratification and access in agreements to be concluded with third countrie as well as to support alternative efforts to prosecute atrocity crimes in special chamber in national courts or hybrid courts; strongly condemns any attack on the staff or on the independence of the ICC; is of the opinion that attempts to undermine the credibility and essential role of the ICC constitute attacks on multilateralism and should be contested as such by the EU and its Member States; stresses that the ICC needs full access to the countries it investigates to be able to perform its tasks; underlines the potential of other innovative tools to bring perpetrators of international crimes to account, including universal jurisdiction at national-level judiciaries; underlines, in this context, the current discussions in the UN International Law Commission on the immunity of state officials and calls for follow-up to them; calls for the EU to continue to strengthen capacity building at national level in third countries, while supporting international criminal tribunals and mechanisms, as well as platforms and organisations dedicated to the fight against impunity such as the Coalition for the International Criminal Court;
Amendment 141 #
16. Underlines that COVID-19 has significantly strengthened the recent trends of totalitarian, dictatorial or authoritarian regimes to dilute weakening democracy; deplores the abuse of the epidemiological crisis by these regimes to further constrain the freedom of expression, religion and of assembly through restricting the functioning of democratic institutions, the repression of dissent, including limiting media freedom both online and offline and targeting critics with defamation campaigns, banning or heavily restricting worship and religious gatherings, the mass use of surveillance tools, disinformation campaigns, limiting access to information through blanket internet shutdowns, bandwidth throttling and content blocking, emergency measures implemented without clear criteria for their revocation and the restrictions placed on the democratic exercise of elections;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Highlights the highly negative impact of COVID-19, which has disproportionately affected women, LGBTIQ persons andgroups in vulnerable groupssituation, including women, LGBTIQ persons, the poor, children, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, religious and national minorities, informal workers and persons in prison or detention, among others; stresses that groups in vulnerable groupsituations are also more affected by the negative economic and social consequences of the pandemic, as well as the restrictions in access to healthcare and education; notes with concern the increase in intolerance, discrimination and hate speech against certain vulnerable groups, in particulaand even persecution of religious communities and other minority groups;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Is seriously concerned at the precarious situation of human rights defenders and deplores the fact that they are the victims of increasing violence, including targeted killings; underlines the particularly severe situation, further aggravated by COVID-19, of female, children, environmental, labour, environmental and indigenous human rights defenders; deplores the increased use of techniques such as harassment, criminalisation and defamation campaigns, arbitrary arrests and unlimited detention in inhumane conditions used to silence human rights defenders, often on the basis of ill-defined terrorism charges; reiterates its call to EU Delegations and Member States’ embassies in third countries to regularly visit activists in prison, monitor their trials and advocate their access to justice and protection;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Highlights the interdependence between human rights, a healthy environment and combating climate change, and welcomes the UN’s call for global recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; underlines the vital role played by environmental human rights defenders and local and indigenous populations in preserving such an environment, despite the threats of violence that they often face from those responsible for, and profiting from, environmentally harmful practices; encourages the EU and the Member States to promote the recognition of ecocide as an international crime under the Rome Statute of the ICC, and requests that the Commission study the relevance of ecocide to EU law and EU diplomacy;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Underlines the crucial importance of advancing women’s rights and welcomnotes the EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in External Action 2021–2025 (GAP III) as a sign of the EU’s commitment in this field; commends the important role played by female civic activists in political, social and environmental movements, and deplores the fact that women often become targets of violence as a result of both their gendersex and their activities, even paying for them with their lives;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Deplores the fact that women continue to make up the majority of victims of gender-based violence, such as domestic violence and sexual violence and abuse, including female genital mutilation, and that they face discrimination in political and professional life, as well as in access to education and healthcare; stresses that the provision of care, protection and access to justice for victims of gender- based violence and trafficking has significantly decreased as a result of the pandemic, and calls for the EU to promote the development of emergency assistance plans and protocols both at UN level and in partner countries, with the aim of adapting assistance programmes to the circumstances of the pandemic, its aftermath and future crises; highlights the need to protect mothers in vulnerable situation, in particular single mothers and those who have a large family, to avoid poverty and social exclusion; and points out the need to create a social and economic environment and conditions that allows mothers to continue their professional development;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to step up their efforts to eliminate all forms of abuse against children; welcomes the new EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child adopted by the Commission, but stresses that children continue to be victims of violence, early and forced marriage, forced conversion, child pornography and paedophilia, sexual abuse, including genital mutilation, trafficking, child labour and recruitment as child soldiers, and that they suffer from a lack of access to education and healthcare, and from malnutrition and poverty, in particular in humanitarian crises and armed conflicts; stresses that 2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour; calls for the streamlining of the rights of the child and the children and armed conflicts (CAAC) agenda in all the EU’s external policies; calls on the Member States to uphold their responsibilities with regard to the protection of foreign fighters’ children who are EU citizens; calls for the full respect of the right of children to be educated and taught in accordance with the religious, philosophical or pedagogical tenets or their parents, as expressed by Article 14.3 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates its strong condemnation of discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance, persecution and killings linked to race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, disability, caste, religion, belief, age, sexual orientation and gender identity or sex that continue to be a major problem in many countries; welcomes the launch of the EU’s anti-racism action plan 2020– 2025, which recognises not only the individual and social dimensions, but also the structural nature of this phenomenon; stresses that in spite of 20 years of work since the signing of Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in 2001, racism, discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance continue to be a scourge around the world and calls for a zero-tolerance approach to them;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Underlines the difficult situation, discrimination and threats to life faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people around the world; welcomes the fact that the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020–2025 includes the EU’s commitment to include LGBTIQ issues in all its external policies, including support under the NDICI – Global Europe Instrument and Instrument for Pre-Accession funds;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Fully supports the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to hold a belief, or not to believe, and the right to manifest and to change or leave one’s religion or belief without fear of violence, persecution, or discrimination; deplores the persecution suffered by minorreligious communities on the grounds of belief or religion in many places in the world; condemns the abuse of blasphemy laws to perpetuate discrimination and deplores the misuse of religion and religious institutions to the detriment of human rights through the persecution, including by legal means, of belief or religious minorities, women and LGBTIQ persons; for political, economic or other spurious goals: invites EU member states which are not yet part of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, to join it in order to increase the efforts to promote and protect this crucial human right; encourages member states to appoint a special representation or envoy for religious freedom in third countries and create a EU net that could work jointly with the EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion of Belief;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Laments the precarious position of the EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, regrets the excessive time that took to designate a new one, and the fact that, once again, the post is vacant; demands a reinforcement of its mandate, and allocation of sufficient financial and human resources, and a quick designation of a high profile responsible person for this important position;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)
Paragraph 30 b (new)
30b. Calls on the EU and its member states to encourage and support international efforts to collect evidences of atrocity crimes against religious communities and minorities, bringing the perpetrators to court, making effective the criminal sentence, and compensating the victims;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 c (new)
Paragraph 30 c (new)
30c. Shows its concern about the increasing number of situations and cases, mostly in Western countries, where the right to conscientious objection, which is rooted in the freedom of conscience, religion or belief, is attacked, undermined or eroded, and their holders are fined, punished, fired from their works for exercising it, or face social intolerance and discrimination; demands EU institutions, including the EEAS, to pay attention to this worrying trend and to protect the victims, and consider their defenders and supporters of the right to conscientious objection as human rights defenders; reminds that the right to conscientious objection is recognised in Article 10.2 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 14 a (new)
Subheading 14 a (new)
National, ethnic and linguistic minorities
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Calls for governments of the EU’s partner countries to respect the fundamental human rights of national, ethnic and linguistic minorities, including their culture, language, religion, traditions and history to preserve cultures and diversity; reiterates the need to fulfil the obligations and commitments they have assumed under international treaties and agreements, so as the Council of Europe’s recommendations;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)
Paragraph 30 b (new)
30b. Deplores that many countries despite their international obligations and commitments to protect minorities are pursuing a policy of forced assimilation of national, ethnic and linguistic minorities by disregarding their fundamental and human rights;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 16
Subheading 16
EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime ("EU Magnitsky Act")
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Welcomes the adoption of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU GHRSR-"EU Magnitsky Act") as an essential addition to the EU’s human rights and foreign policy toolbox, which strengthens the EU’s role as a global human rights actor by allowing it to take restrictive measures against legal and natural persons involved in grave human rights violations in the world; condemns any arbitrary and unjustified retaliatory restrictive measures imposed on the EU or other entities as a response to the EU’s decisions under the EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act; regrets the fact that the Council has decided to apply unanimity instead of qualified majority voting when adopting sanctions on human rights issues;
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls for the extension of the scope of the EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act to include acts of corruption in order to ensure the effective targeting of the economic and financial enablers of human rights abusers; sStresses the need for an effective strategy to implement the EU GHRSR- "EU Magnitsky Act", consistent both with the EU’s other external policies, in particular with its human rights policies, and with the existing international frameworks on sanctions, international criminal law and international humanitarian law; welcomes the Commission’s announcement that in 2021, it will conduct a review of practices undermining sanctions and of the existing reporting obligations for Member States on their implementation and enforcement;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 17
Subheading 17
Migration and Asylum
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Reaffirms the inalienable human rights of migrants and refugees as recognised in international treaties, and calls for the EU and its Member States to fully uphold them in their cooperation with third countries, both in terms of the establishment of high legal standards and, equally importantly, their operationalisation in order to ensure the effective protection of these rights in practice; reiterates its call on the Commission to carry out a review of the human rights impact of migration policy frameworks and of the EU’s cooperation on migration with third countries; underlines the risks related to informal arrangements on return and readmission, which are not subject to judicial scrutiny and therefore do not allow for effective redress for human rights violations suffered by migrants and asylum seekers;
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Equally, calls for independent, effective mechanisms to monitor formal readmission agreements, both at the EU’s borders and in partner countries in order to ensure full respect for human rights, including the principle of non-refoulement; recalls that the right to asylum is guaranteed by Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; expresses its hope that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, including the new European Union Agency for Asylum, will help the EU Member States in creating efficient, properly functioning asylum systems, improving protection for asylum seekers and respecting the principles of the fair sharing of responsibility and solidarity among Member States; reiterates the need for a European agreement on a humanitarian visa or on the use of the European Temporary Protection Directive;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Paragraph 35 b (new)
35b. Requests the EU and member states to make effective the primary right not to migrate and to remain in one’s homeland in safety, security and dignity; to support the right of refugees and asylum seekers to return to their homelands, once the situation of persecution or violence that provoked their displacement has disappear, while respecting the principle of non- refoulement;
Amendment 345 #
36. Underlines that universal respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law is of the utmost importance, and calls for the parties in the world’s armed conflicts to ensure the full, timely and unhindered access of humanitarian aid agencies to vulnerable populations and areas, and to protect these civilian populations, particularly women and children, as well as humanitarian and medical workers as well as religious personnel; underlines the importance of contributing to the creation of humanitarian corridors for emergency situations, including those involving a risk or imminent risk of escalating into widespread and major human rights abuses;
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36a. Calls on the EU institutions to admit the important role of the faith based organizations in responding to humanitarian crises; stresses that religions can contribute to promoting peace in different ways, address non- violence in their communities and stress universal respect for justice and human rights; underlines that religious communities have indispensable potential in conflict-management in developing countries towards political transitions as being key mediator in negotiations;
Amendment 353 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Stresses the multi-faceted threat to the enjoyment of human rights brought about by modern armed conflicts, which, in addition to states, often involve non-state agents and terrorist organisations; reiterates its call for the EU to strengthen its response to conflicts in collaboration with partner countries and regional organisations, including a strong focus on conflict prevention, mediation and good offices efforts, as well as reconciliation, addressing the root causes of the conflicts, humanitarian aid, providing the necessary support to the international peacebuilding and peacekeeping missions, as well as EU missions in the framework of the common security and defence policy, and post- conflict reconstruction operations supporting and applying strong integration and scrutiny of human rights and a robust gender perspective;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Emphasises that the EU has a unique opportunity to exert leverage on businesses to uphold human rights at global level with the upcoming EU binding legislation on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability, obliging companies to prevent, identify, communicate, account for and remedy potential and/or actual adverse impacts on human rights, the environment and good governance in their value chain; calls for the strategy to apply to all large undertakings governed by the law of a Member State, established in the territory of the Union or operating in the internal market, as well as publicly listed small and medium-sized companies; stresses the need to establish and enforce sanctions to make the legislation effective; calls for companies’ due diligence strategies to be made public; welcomes the full entry into force in 2020 of the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation and the EU Taxonomy Regulation as constructive steps in this field;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 21
Subheading 21
Importance of strong human rights clauserecommendations in international agreements
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Reiterates its call for the systematic inclusion of human rights clauserecommendations in all international agreements between the EU and non-EU countries; calls for these clauses to be enforced through clear benchmarks andrecommendations to be monitored, with the involvement of Parliament, civil society , and the relevant international organisations; underlines that the establishment of specific benchmarks could lead the EU to explore the introduction of proportionality into sanctions for non-compliance; underlines that breaches of agreements should trigger clear consequences, including, as a last resort, suspension or the withdrawal of the EU from the agreements well as Churches and FBOs, and the relevant international organisations; underlines that breaches of agreements should trigger clear consequences; recommends the inclusion of monitoring mechanisms on human rights in trade and foreign investment agreements, as well as complaints mechanisms, in order to ensure effective recourse to remedy for affected citizens and local stakeholders;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Underlines the strong link between trade and human rights and the incentivising role played by access to trade on upholding human rights conditionality for third countries; notes the ongoing review of the GSP+ Regulation, which is an opportunity to further strengthen this link; underlines that access to GSP+ is contingent on progress in the area of human rights and calls for the strict application of corecommendiationalitys to partner countries including, if warranted, the swift revocation of GSP+ status;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Stresses the vital role of social platforms in advancing freedom of expression and of organisation, but underlines the need for proper safeguards to prevent, on the one hand, the unjustified censorship of users’ content, including automated censorship, and, on the other, the spread of hate speech, fake news and disinformation; welcomes the adoption of the new EU rules on the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use technologies; calls on member states to adopt a judicial or administrative mechanism that allows any user of social platforms to challenge the legality of any decision adopted by these platforms to censor the content posted by the user;