Activities of Janina OCHOJSKA related to 2021/2204(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders
Amendments (19)
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas there has been a substantial increase in the number, range and severity of attacks on HRDs and their families and lawyers in recent years; whereas the global analysis published by the NGO Front Line Defenders reported that 358 HRDs had been killed across 35 countries in 2021 alone, and since under-reporting is common, the actual figure is likely to be much higher; whereas 227 environmental defenders were killed in 2020, with more than half of those killings occurring in only three countries, Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines, according to the NGO Global Witness;, and whereas a large number of HRDs are under threat and attack because they raise concerns about the adverse human rights impacts of business operations, oftensometimes in the context of large development projects that affect access to land, water and livelihoods;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. whereas, according to the World Organisation Against Torture, 331 HRDs were killed in 2020, while the total number is unknown due to lack of access or limited information;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
I b. whereas journalists are most frequently exposed to attacks in connection with their work; whereas organisations defending journalists report that more than 100 were killed and hundreds imprisoned between 2021 and 2022, according to official figures;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I c (new)
Recital I c (new)
I c. whereas, at a time when democracy is in crisis and authoritarian regimes are strengthening, the number of HRDs, in particular journalists, who are suffering persecution is increasing year on year;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Praises and thanks all human rights defenders for their courageous and crucial work for humanity and the planet; acknowledges that they have to do their work under increasingly difficult circumstances and face new challenges, often at a heavy cost for them, their families and their communities;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the efforts by many EU delegations and Member States’ missions to give visibility and recognition to HRDs, in particular by establishing local human rights working groups with staff from EU missions, proactively reaching out to and holding regular meetings with HRDs, conducting systematic field visits to areas where HRDs are at risk (such as in Mexico and Colombia),; developing rosters of diplomats for trial monitoring (for example in Russia), recognising outstanding contributions by HRDs through annual awards (for example in Uganda and Honduras), providing emergency support to HRDs, challenging laws that criminalise HRDs and supporting the development of HRD protection networks; highlights, as an example of best practice, the innovative #DefendamosLaVida initiative launched by the EU delegations and Member States’ missions in Colombia and, most recently, Mexico;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the regular training on human rights, including on HRD policy, for staff members working as focal points in both the political and cooperation sections of EU delegations; is, however, concerned by reports that awareness and knowledge of the Guidelines remain inadequate; calls for this training to be expanded to stakeholders;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 – indent 9
Paragraph 18 – indent 9
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. the development of a strategy for action and to support the families and loved ones of HRDs in long-term detention;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the EEAS, the Commission and the Member States to address the threats against and attacks on HRDs by non-governmental actors, including criminal groups and local communities, as well as threats in conflict and transition settings; urges the EU to integrate violence against HRDs into its crisis management policy and provide, where possible, an effective protection response to HRDs in need of relocation in crisis situations;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Believes that, in the light of the large and growing number of threats and attacks faced by HRDs who raise concerns about the adverse human rights impacts of certain business operations, the EU should coherently integrate the promotion and protection of the rights of HRDs, particularly trade union representatives and defenders of land, indigenous peoples’ rights and the environment, into its trade agreements and instruments, such as the Generalised Scheme of Preferences;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Highlights the increasing phenomenon of transnational threats against HRDs by their national authorities or proxies, including in Member States; calls on the Commission and the Member States to identify and tackle these threats within the EU as a priority and as an integral aspect of the Guidelines; encourages the Commission and the Member States to consider provideing foreign HRDs residing in the EU with adequatebasic financial and other means to enable them to continue their human rights work remotely;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Notes the improvement of EU support for relocating HRDs at risk and the adoption of best practice in some Member States, such as Ireland and Spain, but deploresand takes note of the fact that many HRDs and their families continue to see their urgent relocation or visa requests denied;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Stresses that visas are a keyhumanitarian visas are an important protection tool and that, in order to effectively assist HRDs at risk, the Commission should take a proactive role towards the establishment of an EU- wide scheme for issuing short-termhumanitarian visas for such HRDs; believes that, in particular, Member States should facilitate the issuance of visas 1): procedurally, by ensuring that their embassies’ and consulates’ processes are swift, comprehensible, accessible and achievable, and 2) structurally, by creating a specific category in the EU Visa Code9for HRDs at risk, amending the Temporary Protection Directive10to allow HRDs at risk to be granted temporary protection status in the EU, and including dedicated instructions in the EU Visa Code Handbook11on granting facilitation procedures to HRDs and their family members; underlines the need to make visa requirements and conditions less stringent for HRDs in need of emergency evacuation; calls for efforts to raise Member States’ officials’ awareness of the particular needs and challenges of applications by HRDs; suggests making full use of MEPs and their networks to help secure visas; _________________ 9 Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code), OJ L 243, 15.9.2009, p. 1. 10 Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof, OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p.12. 11 Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas (Visa Code Handbook I) of 28 January 2020 (C(2020)0395).;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on EU delegations’ human rights focal points to identify and raise particular emergency relocation needs with Member States’ missions and make recommendations on the issuance of visas to individual HRDs;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls on the Member States to facilitate the issuance of temporaryshort-term, multiple-entry visas for HRDs seeking to travel to Europe for advocacy or professional training purposes;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Stresses that the revision of the Guidelines should also expand the scope of EU engagement with HRDs beyond the traditional interlocutors in capitals to include individuals and groups in remote or rural, rural or hard-to-reach areas, and those working to defend the rights of refugees and migrants;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Calls forEncourages the VP/HR, in cooperation with the Member States and Parliament, to adopt an annual list of focus countries of serious concern in relation to the plight of HRDs, to be modified according to developments on the ground, which would, inter alia, allow for: 1) a fully coordinated Team Europe practical response on the ground; 2) greater access to resources, particularly under a Team Europe funding facility, for emergency protection and longer-term funding to address the broader institutional and structural human rights context; 3) enhanced local human rights monitoring; 4) dedicated national implementation strategies; 5) additional resources at headquarters and delegation levels;