8 Amendments of Soraya POST related to 2016/2324(INI)
Amendment 2 #
1. Deplores the fact that certain states often limit or restrict freedom of expression in order to silence dissent or criticism; reminds that certain groups, such as women, youth, LGBTI, minorities, such as Roma, indigenous peoples, disabled persons suffer disproportionately under these restrictions; recalls that the long-term stability and resilience of a society can only be achieved and maintained by ensuring openness of the civic space and the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association, including on the internet;
Amendment 18 #
2. Considers that the EU should use its internal and foreign policy instruments, including human rights and development instruments, to deal with the structural roots of the shrinking space problem and to design a multifaceted approach, since regimes are now using not only draconian NGO laws but also a wide range of direct and indirect tactics to limit the operation or financing of civil society organisations (CSOs), such as arbitrary registration and reporting requirements, distorted criminal charges, raids and audits, and counterterrorism measures; recalls that these measures disproportionately affect CSOs working on human rights, including on women, youth, LGBTI, minorities, such as Roma, indigenous peoples, disabled persons and on peace and security;
Amendment 23 #
2 a. Calls on the EU to reinforce its instruments and policies addressing institution building and rule of law to include strong benchmarks on accountability and fight against impunity for arbitrary arrest, police abuse, torture and other ill-treatment of human rights defenders, bearing in mind that women and men experience these differently;calls for conditionality which should be linked to overall performance assessments, and that support should not be limited to its technical aspects, but should include political backing as necessary;
Amendment 33 #
3. Calls on the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Member States and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights to be more vocal, consistent and timely in expressing objections to restrictive CSO laws, including those labelled as counterterrorism measures, and to exert effective and tailored pressure on the host governments in question and raise this issue systematically in political and human rights dialogues; considers that the establishment of youth militia as a red line that must not be crossed;considers that EU actors could exert more positive conditionality by allocating additional funds to those governments allowing a wider space for civil society;
Amendment 39 #
4. Calls on all EU actors to advocate more effectively in multilateral fora the strengthening of the international legal framework underpinning democracy and human rights, inter alia by engaging with multilateral organisations including the UN Special Procedures and the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism and regional organisations such as the Organisation of American States (OAS), the African Union (AU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Community of Democracies Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society;
Amendment 50 #
5. Requests the establishment of a ‘Shrinking Space Early Warning’ mechanism, with the involvement of the relevant EU institutions, capable of issuing an alert when a given government, including a EU Member State government, is preparing serious new restrictions against civil society so that the EU is able to respond in a timelier, coordinated and tangible manner;
Amendment 57 #
6. Calls on the Commission to increase the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) funds relevant to the shrinking space, since the annual sums per country are at an extremely low level; calls on the Commission to identify new forms of activism to be funded by the EIDHR and to put in place a more flexible and simplified procedure for accessing EIDHR funding, especially towards youth, including more significant exceptions for those CSOs in particular danger and support for unregistered groups; considers that greater emphasis should be put on local groups and actors, since human rights issues are often experienced in a more real and acute way at local level; while recognizing the importance of coalitions or consortiums of international and national civil society actors to facilitate and protect the work of local NGOs against repressive measures;
Amendment 61 #
7. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to establish best practices and to develop clear gender-inclusive benchmarks and indicators related to shrinking space in the context of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, the Gender Equality and Women´s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020, and the EIDHR mid-term review in order to measure tangible progress.