Activities of Kristiina OJULAND related to 2013/2152(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Human rights in the world 2012 and EU policy on the matter (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World 2012 and the European Union's policy on the matter PDF (506 KB) DOC (416 KB)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers human rights to be at the centre of EU relations with all third countries, including its strategic partners; therefore repeats the call for the adoption of EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) Conclusions on strategic partners that would establish a common threshold for the Member States and for EU officials in terms of the human rights concerns that they have to raise, as a minimum, with their strategic partner counterparts; stresses that EU human rights policy needs to be consistent in complying with the Treaty obligations and avoiding double standards in external policies;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the VP/HR, EU Special Representative for Human Rights and the EEAS to pursue these commitments and mainstream human rights and democracy in the EU's relations with its partners, including at the highest political level, by making use of all relevant EU external policy instruments; regrets that EU too often channels criticism of abusive governments through quiet diplomacy using lower-level "dialogues" rather than high- level ministerial meetings to express concerns and demand corrections; considers that when faced with cases of persistent human rights violations the EU should speak up to ensure its message is heard both by abusive governments and their people;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises that EU institutions and all 28 member states have to exercise a firm, coherent and uniform approach to human rights abuses worldwide, in a transparent and accountable manner; calls on the EU Foreign Affairs Council to hold an annual public debate on human rights;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the effort to include activities by the European Parliament in the Annual Report and strongly encourages the VP/HR and the EEAS to specify which EU action has been taken to follow up on Parliament's resolutions, including on urgency resolutions on breaches of human rights;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes the continued difficulties in achieving concrete progress in several of the EU human rights dialogues and consultations; encourages the EU to seek new ways of making the dialogues with countries of concern more meaningful; believes that human rights dialogues and consultations should have the primary aim of strengthening and supporting civil society, human rights defenders, trade unions, journalists, lawyers and parliamentarians who stand up and challenge abuses at home and demand that their rights be respected; calls on the EU to ensure that human rights dialogues and consultations are ambitious and accompanied by clear public benchmarks based on which their success can be objectively measured; underlines the need to pursue determined, ambitious, and transparent human rights policy in these dialogues; calls therefore on the EU to draw clear political conclusions when the human rights dialogue is not constructive and, in such cases, to put more emphasis on political dialogue, démarches and public diplomacy; warns furthermore against diverting human rights discussions away from high-level political dialogues;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Recalls that in order to avoid human rights breaches in the first place, the respect for international law must be at the core of any EU strategy aiming to enhance human rights and democracy in the world, particularly in its relationships with those partners that are parties to an armed or frozen conflict; reminds the need to end any EU support given to parties to a conflict, be it financial, logistical or tactical, including the supply of weapons, munitions and all other types of military equipment as laid down in the EU Common Position on arms exports;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Points out that Parliament mayshould withhold its consent to international agreements on account ofwhen serious breaches of human rights occur, as in the cases of the conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Turkmenistan or the textile protocol of the EU-Uzbekistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
58a. Expresses concern regarding reports of cooperation of certain EU companies with states, including authoritarian regimes, in the field of information technologies and communications leading to human rights abuses such as censorship of information, mass surveillance, monitoring, tracing and tracking of citizens and their activities on (mobile) telephone networks and the internet; stresses that stringent respect for human rights, due diligence and transparency must be maintained in order to ensure CSR along the whole supply chain, and combat corruption, tax avoidance and illicit money flows; is convinced that European companies and their subsidiaries and subcontractors should play a key role in the promotion and dissemination of human rights standards worldwide and never compromise these values in their efforts to expand their markets abroad;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Calls attention also to the trapped transitions in countries and regions where reform movements and transitional processes have been stopped or put down by the ruling regime; calls on the EU to continue its efforts to persuade the ruling elites in these countries, as well as in other countries of concern still under authoritarian rule, to initiate a reform process to develop strong and stable democracies in which the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are upheld;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Recalls that countries and regions trapped in transition lack democratic reforms and political accountability; reiterates that all citizens have the right to fully and freely participate in political life in which free, fair and open elections take place with more than one party and different alternative media sources;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49a. Is concerned that even in countries well on their way towards democratisation, regions may remain which still experience a lack of respect for basic human rights, democracy, the rule of law and political and administrative accountability; urges the EU to actively engage with such countries to ensure that all regions benefit from EU funds and programmes, that there is a fairer distribution of development assistance and that EU programmes do not contribute to the discrimination of parts of the society in the recipient countries;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Expresses its serious concerns about recent repressive laws and their arbitrary enforcement by the Russian authorities, often leading to the harassment of NGOs, civil society activists, human rights defenders and minorities; and deplores the political use of justice as demonstrated in the cases of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Pussy Riot, Alexey Navalny and others; regrets the culture of impunity surrounding the deaths of individuals including Sergei Magnitsky, Natalia Estimirova, Stanislaw Markelow, Anna Politkovskaya and Vasily Alexanian.
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50a. Calls on the on the establishment of an EU-wide "Magnitsky list," which would include a visa ban and asset freeze of Russian officials associated with serious human rights abuses;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Stresses the need for international monitoring of the human rights situation in China and Tibet and calls on EU Member States to actively engage in establishing this monitoring in light of the failure of the EU- China dialogue on human rights to achieve significant and tangible results;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
51a. Urges the Chinese authorities to engage seriously with the Tibetan people in order to assess the underlying causes of the high number of self-immolations linked to the strengthening of the stability maintenance approach and patriotic education system and stresses that recent reports about harsh sentences against Tibetans charging them with incitement to self-immolations raise strong concerns; condemns the non-voluntary resettlement and relocation of Tibetan nomads, which is exacerbated by the absence of civil and political rights, and considers it a threat to the survival of a way of life that is integral to Tibetan identity as well as to the livelihoods of Tibetan nomads;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 b (new)
Paragraph 51 b (new)
51b. Urges the EEAS, in line with the newly adopted EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion and Belief, to pay particular attention to the issue of religious repression in Tibet and call on China to put an end to its restrictive policies on Tibetan Buddhism;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63 a (new)
Paragraph 63 a (new)
63a. Emphasises, in view of principles of international humanitarian law spelled out in the 1907 Hague Regulations (arts 42-56) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV, art. 27-34 and 47-78) as well as in provisions of Additional Protocol I, the need for the EU to ensure that those partners falling under the category of occupying power, respect their duties towards the population in occupied territories; reminds that according to international humanitarian law, public health standards, provision of food and medical care to the population under occupation must be granted by the occupying power; reiterates that any transfer of civilian population of the occupying power into the occupied territory is prohibited, and that the accused of criminal offences must be provided with proceedings respecting internationally recognized judicial guarantees, such as being informed of the reason for their arrest, charged with a specific offence and given a fair trial as quickly as possible;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64 a (new)
Paragraph 64 a (new)
64a. Calls on European Foreign Ministers to adopt Foreign Affairs Council conclusions affirming the strong support of the EU and its member states for the International Criminal Court, taking note of the EU's efforts to continuously review, update, and expand its instruments on the International Criminal Court, and expressing renewed commitment to work towards the universality of the Rome Statute in order to widen access to justice for victims of serious crimes under international law;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69 a (new)
Paragraph 69 a (new)
69a. Stresses the importance of increasing assistance to the national prosecution of serious crimes under international law, consistent with the Rome Statute's principle of complementarity; welcomes the 31 January 2013 adoption by the European Commission and the European External Action Service of a "Joint Working Document on Advancing the Principle of Complementarity"; calls for the promotion and implementation of this document as a roadmap for strengthening EU assistance to national prosecution of serious crimes under international law; invites EU member states to consider adopting national guidance notes to mainstream assistance to complementarity projects within their development assistance;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Recalls the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and are entitled to the rights and freedoms therein without distinction of any kind, including race, colour, sex, language, religion, caste, social origin, birth or other status; reiterates its call for the EU to combat discrimination and intolerance as a key part of its human rights policy, and to base this policy on an inclusive and comprehensive definition of non-discrimination; emphasises that respect for the rights of minorities is a crucial element for peace, development and democracy; welcomes and further encourages EU engagement with the United Nations and regional organisations in this cause;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72
Paragraph 72
72. Calls for the EU to pay particular attention to discrimination based on forms of social stratification, such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status, which have a seriously harmful and sometimes destructive impact on the prospects for equal enjoyment of human rightondemns the continuing human rights violations against people suffering from caste-based discrimination, including the atrocities committed against them with impunity, and the persisting untouchability practices; calls on the EU to pay particular attention to this form of discrimination in human rights policies and strategies at all levels;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79
Paragraph 79
79. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European External Action Service, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, to the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the candidate countries, to the United Nations and the Council of Europe, and to the governments of the countries and territories referred to in this resolution.