Sous-commission Droits de l'homme (DROI) - Parlement européen

The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The COVID-19 pandemic has deprived a number of older people of a dignified end of life around the world. It has also amplified the existing human rights violations suffered by dependent ones, such as abuse, neglect and discrimination. On 11 July DROI will hold a hearing to examine the current situation on the protection of the rights of dependent elderly people and other dependent persons under international and national laws.

It will also identify ways to strengthen those rights, respond to their needs, improve their living conditions, promote respect for their dignity and increase social inclusiveness. Participants should discuss how the Parliament could contribute to the future EU human rights foreign policy in this area.

Invited speakers will address the Subcommittee: Claudia Mahler, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Richard Koon, Member of the House of Representatives, Liberia and Sandra Hirst, Associate Professor, University of Calgary and Co-Chair of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.

Location : SPINELLI 3E2
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The COVID-19 pandemic has deprived a number of older people of a dignified end of life around the world. It has also amplified the existing human rights violations suffered by dependent ones, such as abuse, neglect and discrimination. On 11 July DROI will hold a hearing to examine the current situation on the protection of the rights of dependent elderly people and other dependent persons under international and national laws.

It will also identify ways to strengthen those rights, respond to their needs, improve their living conditions, promote respect for their dignity and increase social inclusiveness. Participants should discuss how the Parliament could contribute to the future EU human rights foreign policy in this area.

Invited speakers will address the Subcommittee: Claudia Mahler, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Richard Koon, Member of the House of Representatives, Liberia and Sandra Hirst, Associate Professor, University of Calgary and Co-Chair of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The following is a qualitative, comparative analysis of international state and non-state mechanisms and tools aimed at protecting and ensuring the safety of journalists, and the extent to which they are used and valued in three non-EU countries: the Philippines, El Salvador and Tunisia. Emphasis is placed on the role of the EU in using and strengthening its own and other international instruments. The findings are based on 15 expert interviews and a literature review carried out between mid-February and late April 2022. The study concludes that while EU Delegations and other international actors in these countries are active in promoting journalist safety and freedom of expression to varying degrees and their presence and support is valued by civil society organisations (CSOs), there is considerable room for improvement. Across the three countries, certain protection mechanisms and tools were frequently mentioned by both EU/UN and CSO representatives, while others were not mentioned/used or appeared under-used. A series of recommendations are made, including to: continue and increase support of the most used mechanisms/tools; build awareness/capacity around using the full range of instruments; address the disconnect between the EU’s preference for private action and CSOs’ desire for more public action; and commission a full external evaluation into the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Expression.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Durée de la vidéo : 165'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 127'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 82'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 144'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

The DROI subcommittee will hold on 15 June, in association with the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, and the Delegation for relations with Belarus a debate on the fight against impunity since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, on the specificity of the crime of aggression and the potential need to establish a special international tribunal for its trial.
This meeting will specifically focus on the follow-up of the 19 May 2022 resolution and the coordination of ongoing investigations of alleged war crimes and other international crimes. The situation in Ukraine will also be in the near future further addressed by a joint DROI-JURI meeting on 12 July 2022 with national parliaments, focusing on the use of the principle of universal jurisdiction
Draft agenda and meeting documents
Subject file on Mechanisms established for the fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine
Watch the meeting live
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The European Parliament has repeatedly and in the strongest terms condemned the unprovoked, illegal, and unjustified Russian war of aggression. In the resolution of 19 May 2022, Members of Parliament expressed their utmost outrage and indignation over reported atrocities, and their full support to the Ukrainian authorities to investigate and prosecute such acts.
The resolution also encouraged and supported international and national efforts to secure evidence of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, and help bring to justice those responsible. Due to the multiplication of initiatives from various institutions, mechanisms and the civil society, the resolution insisted on the need to increase coordination of said initiatives and called on the EU institutions to support coordination efforts.The DROI subcommittee has held several meetings on the fight against impunity since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, on the specificity of the crime of aggression and the potential need to establish a special international tribunal for its trial.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

On 15 June DROI Members will discuss how journalists are essential to ensure transparent and accountable information and that media freedom is vital. The safety of journalists continues to be under serious threat and to tackle the issue of violence against journalists DROI will draw up an own initiative report “on the safety of journalists in non-EU countries and the role of the EU on the matter".
In this context Members will have a presentation of the IN Depth Analysis 'Safety of journalists in non-EU countries: state and non-state mechanisms, protection and the role of the EU'. Several prominent journalists will take part in the debate.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On 16 June Members will have a discussion with Richard Bennett, UN Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, on the alarming human rights situation in Afghanistan, despite Taliban's initial promises concerning upholding human rights. The discussion will focus on support to civil society and, equally importantly, integrating a gender perspective.

These two aspects are at the heart of DROI'S concerns and the European Parliament strongly condemns both ongoing harassment, intimidation and killings of the human rights defenders, and brutally trampling women's and girls' fundamental freedoms.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights will take place on Wednesday 15 June 2022, 09.00 - 12.00, 13.45 - 15.00 and 16.45 - 18.45, and Thursday 16 June 09.00 - 12.00 in room: Altiero Spinelli (3G3)

EP Calendar 2022
DROI Meetings 2022
Urgency Resolutions on human rights
Book by HR/VP Josep Borrell Fontelles on "European foreign policy in times of COVID-19"
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions on the respect for human rights in China, Nicaragua and Georgia.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Since 2012 media freedom has been in general decline. While statistics for the 2002-2021 time-period show that the number of killings of journalists has declined somewhat in recent years (since 2013), there has been a marked erosion of legally enabling environments and an increase in other damaging forms of targeted attacks on the media. These include non-lethal physical violence; legal, digital, psycho-social, gender and identity-based intimidation; and state-led capture of the media landscape, often accompanied by politically-motivated denigration and exclusion of critical media voices. Our findings show: (i) political journalism remains most at risk; (ii) major social shocks or crisis (exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic) have been widely used as pretexts for intrusive government measures to constrain media freedom; and (iii) media pluralism and independence are declining. Impunity remains unacceptably high with most cases of killings remaining unresolved. Imprisonments are on the rise while online spaces are becoming increasingly hostile and replete with gender-based hate speech. Countering the wide range of overt and covert threats will require an unequivocal reversal of global trends towards authoritarian controls and suppression of independent media. To undertake this, the European Parliament and concerned institutions need access to reliable data which reflects the realities of the multiple threats that impede the work of journalists globally.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a corporate sustainability due diligence directive. This In-depth Analysis for the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights (DROI) initially presents the EC proposal and its main features, contextualising these against broader European and international developments in business and human rights regulations. It then undertakes an in-depth comparative analysis of the EC’s 2022 draft Directive against (i) the position adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET/DROI) in its opinion for the Legal Affairs Committee of 25 November 2020; (ii) the final EP position as adopted in March 2021. This is followed by evaluation of the EC draft Directive’s approach on key elements relating to human rights and environmental due diligence from the point of view of human rights standards and in light of the rationale presented in the EC’s Impact Assessment Report (23 February 2022) and Annexes (29 March 2022). Overall, the analysis provides an assessment of the extent to which key positions of AFET/DROI and the Parliament regarding human rights due diligence, as well as relevant international and regional legal standards, policies and guidance, are either reflected in the EC draft Directive or might be better reflected in it.
Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 70'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2022 - PE