Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2009/2199(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (19)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. Whereas human rights defenders face human rights violations themselves in the course of their work and whereas these violations include killings, death threats, abductions and kidnappings, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other actions of harassment and intimidation, for example through defamation campaigns and whereas all these violations can also target family members, including their children, and relatives of human rights defenders, so as to refrain them from continuing to carry on their activities,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. Whereas women human rights defenders are particularly at risk and other groups and categories of defenders who are particularly exposed to attacks and human rights violations as a result of the work they carry out, include but are not limited to, defenders working to promote economic, social and cultural rights and(including trade-unionists), those working with minorities' and community rights, indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and people fighting against corruption,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ia (new)
Recital Ia (new)
Ia. Whereas the specific difficulties faced by associations and assemblies of human rights defenders remain the seizure of furniture, the closure of premises and the meticulous and subjective scrutiny of bank accounts,
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Pays tribute to the invaluable contribution human rights defenders make to the protection and promotion of human rights, the rule of law, democracy and the prevention of conflicts at the risk of their own personal security; welcomes that the UN Declaration of 1998 does not provide a strict definition of Human Rights defenders and in this sense, calls on the Council and the Commission to strongly support this approach;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reminds that implementation by the EU missions of the guidelines on human rights defenders has so far been unsatisfactory, but through the Lisbon Treaty, Commission delegations in third countries wishall now have a raremake full use of the new opportunityies to address this issue as they become Union delegations, with an increasingly important role in terms of representation of the EU and the implementation of the human rights policy; reiterates therefore its call to systematically appoint a highly qualified political official with a specific responsibility on human rights and democracy, and to integrate guidelines on human rights and their implementation in EU mission staff training programmes, job descriptions and appraisal processes;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Expects that the appointment of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is at the same time Vice-President of the Commission, and the creation of a common external action service, could considerably enhance the coherence and effectiveness of the EU in this field, and strongly recommends that the elaboration of local strategies in close cooperation with the local independent civil society, including their regular evaluation, be institutionalised by the HR/VP, so as to ensure a real implementation of the protecting measures enshrined in the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers it necessary to improve contacts, and systematically follow up on the latter, with the independent civil society, as well as access for human rights defenders to EU delegations and missions on the ground; welcomes in this regard the request by the Spanish Presidency to appoint a common local liaison officer from amongst the EU missions for human rights defenders, with the responsibility to coordinate the activities of the European Union; considers that this would facilitate exchange of information with civil society and the possibility of a rapid reaction in case of emergency, in a flexible manner; requests the EP to be informed of these appointments;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that the annual meetings between human rights defenders and diplomats requested in the EU guidelines can clearly contribute to the setting-up of such process, and encourages more regular meetings when possible;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Takes the view that major aspects of local strategies for the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders should be reflected in Country Strategy papers/National Indicative Programmes, ENP Action Plans, Annual Action Programmes of the EIDHR and the Instrument for Stability (IfS);
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Reiterates its request that the promotion and, protection and security of human rights defenders have to be placed as a priority issue in the EU relationship with third- countries and have to be integrated at all levels and in all aspects and instruments of the Union's Foreign policy in order to increase coherence, effectiveness and credibility of the EU support for human rights defenders; considers that the development, effective implementation and regular follow-up of specific country strategies on human rights and democracy could substantially contribute to this targeting approach;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that human rights defenders in third countries can be better protected by making the EU human rights dialogues more effective; stresses the need to systematically raise the situation of human rights defenders in all political and human rights dialogues with third countries, and more generally the situation and the improvement of the right to freedom of association, in national legislations, regulations and practices, reminding of the responsibility of States to ensure that all the obligations and rights embodied in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders are included in national law, including the right to freedom of association and the right to receive domestic and foreign funding in full transparency and in respect of their autonomy of decision, as well as freedom of expression, which is a right essential to the work of human rights defenders; underlines that partner states should also be reminded of the obligation and the responsibility to protect and promote respect of human rights defenders and their work, by creating conditions that fully enable the exercise of advocacy, monitoring and reporting on human rights;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18a (new)
Paragraph 18a (new)
18a. Calls for the Council and the High Representative to systematically denounce and reprimand international companies when providing oppressive regimes with surveillance technology, thereby facilitating persecution and arrests of human rights defenders;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses that public recognition and visibility given to human rights defenders and their work can also contribute to their protection in difficult circumstances, as perpetrators might refrain from action when abuses will not occur unnoticed; calls on EU Member States and EU delegation to, whenever possible, publish démarches and other activities undertaken regarding a specific case, always in consultation with the human rights defender and his or her family; calls on EU Missions to provide human rights defenders and/or their families as well as NGOs which alerted the EU on a particular case with systematic feedback about any action, whatever format, taken on their behalf, as spelled out in the guidelines;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Considers, in order to develop more result-oriented action, that the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy should regularly evaluate the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders by each EU delegations in third countries and prioritize, closely follow-up the work, and make recommendations to those missions for enhanced action where the implementation has been noticeably weak;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24a (new)
Paragraph 24a (new)
24a. Calls on the Council to make Europe more accessible for human rights defenders who are unable to stay in their home countries; calls for the Council and Commission to prepare and execute specific measures to ease access to Europe for such human rights defenders;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24b (new)
Paragraph 24b (new)
24b. Recalls the need to overcome the lack of a coherent strategy of protection and asylum by the systematic implementation of emergency measures and initiatives on a short and long term basis; Requests the High Representative to report to the European Parliament by the end of 2010 of the measures taken accordingly;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Emphasises the need to accompany these emergency visas with possibilities of temporary protection and shelter in Europe for human rights defenders; welcomes the Shelter Cities initiative promoted by the Czech Presidency, and requests it to be further advanced, providing for financial resources and housing to possibly shelter human rights defenders, as well as accompanying programmes (human rights activities, lecturing in European universities language courses, etc.); welcomes the Shelter Cities initiative promoted by the Czech Presidency, and requests it to be further advanced; invites therefore the High Representative to present to the European Parliament a manual on how to set up a shelter city as well as a framework proposal supporting networking between such cities; calls for further support to other existing initiatives in this regard;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. 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; welcomes in this respect the annual meetings organised by the Council of Europe as well as the "initiative takenter-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), and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), with the aim to strengthen 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 Commissioner for Human Rights, to explore ways to work closer together;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Believes that information sharing would also be facilitated by the creation of specific data bases, or "log books", in order to keep track of activities undertaken, especially in regard to individuals, while guaranteeing full respect for confidentiality;