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.
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The Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) held its Seventh Congress, the first since 1980, from 6 to 9 May 2016. In theory, the Congress is the highest deliberative body of the only governing party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Congress yielded relatively modest results, with no real breakthrough, apart from establishing the 'defensive' nuclear deterrence concept. Kim Jong-un’s position as North Korea's supreme leader was fully formalised and now seems to be stronger than ever. The Party is likely to gain further power at the expense of the military. Nuclear deterrence is now firmly enshrined in the Party's statutes as well as the country’s constitution. Pyongyang has made clear that no nuclear deal is possible unless the US and its allies accept North Korea as a 'nuclear state'. Despite its propaganda announcements, North Korea is not ready to modernise its sclerotic economy. While some cautious developments cannot be ruled out, the regime's open criticism of the Chinese economic model suggest that any reforms would be limited and very probably inconclusive.
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En Irak et en Syrie, les Chrétiens, les Yézidis ainsi que d’autres minorités religieuses sont la cible de persécutions menées par l’État islamique. Massacrées en masse et parfois obligées de fuir, ces populations risquent de disparaître. Lundi 30 mai, les députés de la sous-commission des droits de l’homme ont organisé une audition autour de leur situation. Nous avons rencontré quelques représentants de ces minorités pour en savoir plus.
Sous-commission "droits de l'homme"

Source : © Union européenne, 2016 - PE

In this issue you can read about the exchanges of views with Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman, Golog Jigme, Tibetan human rights activist and Taslima Nasreen, Sakharov Laureate. DROI missions to the 31st Session of the UN Human Rights Council and to Phnom Penh are also covered.
Issue 26
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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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.
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On 30 May DROI will hold a hearing on minorities caught between the Syrian civil war and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. A panel made up of experts including representatives of some of the main minorities in the region, Christian, Turkmen and Yazidi, will provide first hand observations on the general conditions in these two countries.
Further information
Programme
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European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights Chair Elena Valenciano (S&D, ES) welcomes the release of the anti-slavery activists Biram Ould Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane by the Supreme Court of Mauritania. She made the following statement:

"On behalf of the Subcommittee on Human Rights I encourage the government of Mauritania to continue its effort to fulfil its international human rights obligations. While recognising that progress has been made by the government in taking legislative measures aimed at fighting all forms of slavery, the lack of effective implementation contributes to the persistence of such practices. I therefore call on the authorities to enact effectively the anti-slavery laws to eradicate the practice".
Press statement
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

On 30 May DROI will hold a hearing on minorities caught between the Syrian civil war and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. A panel made up of experts including representatives of some of the main minorities in the region, Christian, Turkmen and Yazidi, will provide first hand observations on the general conditions in these two countries.
Location : ASP 3G3, Brussels
Programme
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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A delegation of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights visited Turkey on 16-18 May 2016. The delegation was led by Marietje Schaake (ALDE, NL), accompanied by Arne Lietz (S&D, DE) and Liliana Rodrigues (S&D, PT). Its main focus was the human rights aspects of the EU-Turkey agreement reached on 18 March to better manage migration flows, as well as the general rule of law situation in Turkey, including the conflict in the South East, freedom of expression and of the media.

For full statement see below.

Press statement
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Elena Valenciano, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights in the European Parliament, on the human rights situation of the Crimean Tatars:

"Today, as we commemorate the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin's totalitarian Soviet Union, we also acknowledge with concern the current increased persecution of this vulnerable minority. The arbitrary arrests, torture in detention and severe restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, religion and belief must stop.

Full press release below
Press statement
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Human rights: Mejlis ban in Crimea, arrests in The Gambia, elections in Djibouti

Parliament condemns the banning of the Mejlis, the representative body of ethnic Crimean Tatars, urges the immediate release of all protestors arrested in an April electoral reform demonstration in The Gambia, and calls for a thorough investigation into the transparency of the re-election of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh in Djibouti, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

Press release
Crimean Tartars
Gambia
Djibouti
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Human rights: Mejlis ban in Crimea, arrests in The Gambia, elections in Djibouti

Parliament condemns the banning of the Mejlis, the representative body of ethnic Crimean Tatars, urges the immediate release of all protestors arrested in an April electoral reform demonstration in The Gambia, and calls for a thorough investigation into the transparency of the re-election of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh in Djibouti, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

Further information
Press release
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Workshop on "Human rights in North Korea: accountability vs. engagement?", held on 20 April 2016 in the European Parliament.
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In early research on land grabbing, the initial focus was on foreign companies investing abroad, with a particular focus on those based in countries such as China, Gulf States, South Korea, and India. In recent years, it has become evident that the range of countries land investors originate in is far broader, and includes both North Atlantic - and EU-based actors. In this study, we offer both quantitative and qualitative data illustrating the involvement of EU-based corporate and financial entities in land deals occurring outside of the EU. This study also analyses the global land rush within a human rights framework, examining the implications of particular land deals involving EU-based investors and their impact on communities living in areas where the investments are taking place. The research presented here builds partly on Cotula’s 2014 study on the drivers and human rights implications of land grabbing, but differs in that it focuses explicitly on particular cases of possible, actual or potential human rights abuses and violations, in the context of activities involving European corporate and financial entities. In our conclusions, we offer a series of recommendations on how the EU can more effectively address these issues.
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The present study provides a detailed overview of the actual human rights situation in the frozen conflict regions of EU’s Eastern neighbourhood, namely in Crimea, Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The focus of the analysis is on the access to the justice system, as well as on the abilities of the de jure or de facto authorities to administer justice.
Particular attention is paid to Crimea because the rapidly worsening human rights situation there affects far more people than the population of the other four frozen conflicts combined.
Further information
The frozen conflicts of the EU's Eastern neighbourhood and their impact on the respect of human rights
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The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights requested a study that would feed into the debate on the application of the universal jurisdiction principle. The goal of this study is to help the European Parliament form opinions and make decisions in this respect whilst at the same time providing practical recommendations to the European Union (EU) on ways to improve the application of the principle in its Member States and third countries. For the full study please see link below
Further information
The application of universal jurisdiction in the fight against impunity
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