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

Parliament is inviting African leaders to Brussels on 22 November to discuss development ahead of the next EU-Africa summit. The conference is set to discuss issues such as peace and security, human rights, sustainable development and migration. African political leaders, African Union representatives and UN officials will debate with MEPs, Parliament President Tajani and Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign affairs chief.
Further information
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Venezuela’s Democratic Opposition are this year's laureates of the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The award ceremony will be held in Strasbourg on 13 December. Full press release below
Further information
Press release
Extracts from the announcement by the President of the European Parliament
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © Union européenne, 2017 - PE

In the light of the Istanbul court ruling on 25 October which resulted in the release of eight human rights activists, including Amnesty International’s Turkey Director İdil Eser, who had been in pre-trial detention since July 5, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) made a statement on behalf of the Subcommittee:
"While I welcome the release of the eight activists, pending their trial, I remain gravely concerned about the arrest and detention of several prominent civil society figures and human rights defenders and stress unequivocally that charges against all human rights defenders in Turkey should be dropped.

I remain disappointed and concerned about many other cases. The continuation of the pre-trial detention of Taner Kılıç, chair of the board of Amnesty International's Turkey section was confirmed. Mr Osman Kavala, a well-known and widely respected leading civil society figure was arrested last week, following meetings in Gaziantep. Mr Kavala is the chair of Anadolu Kültür, a cultural institution. His initial period of detention has been extended by a further seven days, and he should be released forthwith. In all cases due process should be guaranteed. Many others in Turkey are also affected by arbitrary detentions or face limited travel rights and revoked passports."

Further information
Press statement - full text
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The Chair of the DROI Subcommittee, Mr Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) has welcomed the release of Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen, detained in prison in Egypt for 4 years and stated: “The Egyptian court’s decision to drop all charges against Ibrahim Halawa has reinforced our conviction about his arrest. We have always considered Mr. Halawa to be a prisoner of conscience, detained for having exercised his right to freedom of expression, ..." read more below
Further information
Full press release
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © Union européenne, 2017 - PE

Alarmed by the reports coming from Kirkuk, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Mr Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) made the following statement:

"Just weeks after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for an independent Kurdistan, Kirkuk has become a territory disputed between the government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Iraqi army has advanced towards Kirkuk, thousands of Kurds have already fled the city and there are even reports of terrible crimes being committed against the population of Kirkuk and the neighbouring villages..."

Full press release
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Alarmed by the reports coming from Kirkuk, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Mr Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) made the following statement: "Just weeks after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for an independent Kurdistan, Kirkuk has become a territory disputed between the government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Iraqi army has advanced towards Kirkuk, thousands of Kurds have already fled the city ..." read more below
Further information
Full press statement by Mr Panzeri
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders.

Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year's finalists for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought following a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 10 October.

Press statement
Statement by David McAllister, Chair of AFET on the three Sakharov finalists
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

On the exchange of views between the EP's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Pier Antonio Panzeri (Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights) and Dariusz Rosati (Chair of the EP's Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee) stated: "We discussed a wide range of issues affecting the human rights situation and challenges in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. We expressed our firm condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the occupation of some regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, in breach of international law and of Russia's commitments and obligations under its membership of international organizations..."

Press statement in full
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

On the exchange of views between the EP’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Pier Antonio Panzeri (Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights) and Dariusz Rosati (Chair of the EP’s Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee) stated:
"We discussed a wide range of issues affecting the human rights situation and challenges in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. We expressed our firm condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the occupation of some regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, in breach of international law and of Russia's commitments and obligations under its membership of international organizations..."
Further information
Press statement in full
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights will take place on Wednesday 22 November from 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.30 - 18.30 and on Thursday 23 November from 9.00 - 12.30 in meeting room ASP A3E2

Representatives of NGOs as well as other organisations are requested to accede to the EU Transparency Register and follow the procedures therein for access to the European Parliament.
Further information
Watch the meeting live
Draft agenda and meeting documents
Press statements issued by the DROI Chair
Press releases issued by the EP press service on the activities of DROI
Calendar of DROI Meetings 2017
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Durée de la vidéo : 213'
Vous pouvez télécharger manuellement cette vidéo au format WMV (1.9Gb)

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, 2017 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 150'
Vous pouvez télécharger manuellement cette vidéo au format WMV (1.4Gb)

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, 2017 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 170'
Vous pouvez télécharger manuellement cette vidéo au format WMV (1.6Gb)

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, 2017 - PE

The finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders. Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year's finalists for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought following a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 10 October. Full press statement below.
Further information
Press release in full
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders.

Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year's finalists for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought following a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 10 October.

Press statement
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

There are six nominees for the 2017 Sakharov Prize : Asia Bibi, Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, Dawit Isaak and Pierre Mbonimpa nominated for Sakharov Prize 2017.

The next steps are:

• 10 October: the foreign affairs and development committees vote on a shortlist of three finalists
• 26 October: the Parliament President and the political group leaders announce the laureate(s)
• 13 December: award ceremony takes place at the Parliament in Strasbourg

Press release on the nominees for 2017
Audiovisual : Presentation of the candidates
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP