31 Amendments of Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS related to 2021/2055(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
— having regard to UN General Assembly resolution on promoting a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites, adopted on 21 January 2021,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 29 a (new)
Citation 29 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2020 on forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas women face more difficulties in exercising their right to leave a religious or belief community due to lack of social or economic independence or threats of violence or loss of custody of their children;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas indigenous beliefs or religions' practices are part of a people's cultural identity and that indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and maintain their institutional structures and their distinctive customs, spirituality, traditions, procedures, practices according to international human rights standards;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief forces many individuals and communities to migrate or become internally displaced; whereas the instrumentalization of religion and belief constitutes an important driver of conflict worldwide;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas the lack of knowledge and recognition on the role that religions and beliefs play for individuals and communities fuels intolerance, hate speech, stereotypes and contributes to increase discriminatory attitudes and behaviours;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas social networks are increasingly used as a forum for incitement to hatred, intimidation and violence by religious, political and organized groups;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Affirms its unwavering commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of persons belonging to religious and belief minorities everywhere in the world, including their right to change or choose their religion or belief, in respect of the principles of equality and non- discrimination; condemns in the strongest terms all persecution, violence, incitement to violence and terrorism targeting any minority on the grounds of religion and belief;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes the view that, regardless of their religion and belief, it is essential to promote and help to ensure the inclusion of all citizens in their societies and in political and cultural life;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that freedom of religion or belief, including freedom to worship, and freedom to believe or not believe, is a human right, and that it often serobservance, practice and teaching, freedom to adopt, change or abandon one's religion or belief and freedom to believe or not believes as a last bastion of liberty and as a source of fierce dend to manifest one's religion or belief, is a human right protected under intermination in highly repressive settingsal law;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Recognizes the important contribution of faith-based non- governmental organizations to development; acknowledges the growing role of some of these organizations in the fight against environmental degradation and in advocacy for peace and reconciliation;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Deplores the genocide of Uyghurs in China, along with persecution of members of other religious communities in attempts to discourage religious practice; condemns Chinese government’s efforts to interfere into the process of naming the successor of the Dalai Lama;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Strongly condemns terror attacks on places of worship, including the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka in 2019, when nine suicide bombers carried out a series of attacks, including on three churches, and increasing numbers of attacks against worshippers in Afghanistan, including May 2021 attack at Sunni mosque in Kabul, which took place during a cease- fire to celebrate the Eid holiday and killed at least 12 people;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Stresses the paramount importance of holding accountable perpetrators of human rights abuses against persons belonging to religious minorities; calls on the EU and Member States to urgently work towards the establishment of UN mechanisms and committees to investigate current human rights violations against religious minoritbased on religion or beliesf around the world;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Council and EU Member States to apply sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for or involved in systematic abuses or violations of the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities, as provided for by the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regimfreedom of religion or belief, as provided for by the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act); notes that the Rome Statute covers both crimes against humanity and genocide based on the persecution of groups on the basis of religion or belief and establishes a fundamental international legal framework to fight impunity; calls on the EU and its Member States to increase their political and financial support to the International Criminal Court and calls on UN member states to commit to the fight against impunity in this context through the ratification of the Rome Statute;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Council and EU Member States to apply sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for or involved in systematic violations of the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities, as provided for by the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act);
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Is appalled by the exacerbation of persecution against religious minority groupand belief minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic; denounces the fact that persons belonging to religious and belief minorities have been scapegoated, blamed for spreading the COVID-19 virus, and have been denied or faced discrimination in access to public healthcare, food or humanitarian aid, on the basis of religious or belief criteria;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to recognize the rights, beliefs and values of indigenous peoples, and to commit to address the specific discrimination of indigenous populations based on their beliefs, in a comprehensive manner through EU's external action;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Underlines that women belonging to religious and belief minorities have been specifically and increasingly targeted with the purpose of inflicting harm on their community as a whole; condemns all types of gender-based violence against women; stresses that they are particularly exposed to violent attacks, kidnapping, rape and sexual violence, forced conversion, female genital mutilation, beatings, forced and early marriage and domestic incarceration, and that lockdown measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic have made their human rights situation even more precarious; strongly condemns the use of forced sterilization against women as an extremely violent form of persecution;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Condemns the imposition of discriminatory norms based on gender and sexuality rooted in religious orthodoxy, which are often translated into national legislation as secular restrictions; stresses that the defence of "tradition" or "public morality" cannot contradict, in any case, international human rights provisions subscribed by States; expresses deep concern about the situation of LGBTI+ and transgender people, women and girls who, in many contexts, see their conduct criminalized, are subject to gender-related violence and whose access to basic services such as health and education is restricted on the basis of narrow interpretations of religious beliefs or principles, which are often instrumentalized to justify discrimination;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 b (new)
Paragraph 26 b (new)
26b. Deplores the instrumentalization of religion or beliefs to restrict sexual and reproductive rights and women's access to safe and free abortion worldwide;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Condemns the use by authoritarian regimes of legislation on security, sedition and the fight against terrorism and extremism as an instrument to persecute persons belonging to religious and belief minorities, to outlaw the practise or expression of their religion and gatherings ofor believersf, and to deter the registration of religious or belief associations; calls on the Commission and European External Action Service (EEAS) to monitor carefully the implementation of such legislation, and to consistently raise this issue in bilateral dialogues with the governments concerned; urges EU Member States to reject any request by foreign authorities for judicial and police cooperation in individual judicial cases if they are based on such legislation;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Strongly condemns any practice of coercive detention, forced labour and exploitation of belief or religious' minorities as well as the extensive use of digital surveillance technologies to monitor and control population belonging to belief or religious minorities;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27b. Deplores the restriction on access to legal documentation and registration for organizations and individuals belonging to religious and belief minorities, and recalls that legal identity is a right that must be guaranteed for all citizens on an equal manner;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Deplores the fact that more than 70 countries in the world enforce criminal laws or seek to introduce new legislation which provide for punishments for blasphemy, apostasy and conversion, including the death sentence; notes that laws already in place are used disproportionately against people belonging to religious and belief minorities, and are thus seen, with good reason, as an instrument of oppression; calls for the EU to intensify its political dialogue with all countries concerned with a view to repeal those laws;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Underlines the importance of strategic approaches and educational initiatives aimed at addressing religious intolerance and hate speech, encouraging interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and building mutual respect and understanding;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Deplores destruction and damage to the religious sites, which constitute an integral part of the cultural heritage, and calls for their protection and restoration;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Council, the Commission, EEAS and EU Member States to address persecutions based on belief or religion as a priorityn important element of EU human rights foreign policy, in line with the EU action plan for human rights and democracy for 2020-2024; stresses that a multi-layered and multi-actor approach is needed to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief, encompassing human rights, conflict resolution and interfaith initiatives that involve multiple state and non-state actorsdialogue and mediation, conflict resolution and prevention in cooperation with multiple state and non-state actors such as faith-based organisations, religious leaders and actors, non- believer's groups, civil society organizations and human rights defenders; calls for enhanced cooperation with UN initiatives on this matter; reiterates its call for a public review of the EU Guidelines on freedom of religion or belief, allowing for the assessment of their implementation and of proposals for their update; also calls for progress reports on the implementation of the Guidelines to be communicated regularly to Parliament;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Urges the EEAS and EU Delegations to include objectives specifically related to the protection of religious minorities for all relevant situations, as part of the human rights and democracy country strategies (HRDCSs) for 2021-2024. and to consistently raise general issues and specific cases relating to the persecution of religious and belief minorities during human rights dialogues with partner countries including a gender- perspective; reiterates its call for Members of the European Parliament to be given access to the content of HRDCSs;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Recommends strengthening EU multilateral engagement with like-minded states and other actors with a view to promoting and mainstreaming the respect for religious and belief minorities in human rights policies everywhere in the world; calls for the EU and EU Member States to enhance cooperation with the UN, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to intensify its dialogues with the African Union and, the Organization of American States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and other regional organisations, and to forge alliances with third countries in order to provide international responses to human rights issues faced by religious and belief minorities, in particular those who are most vulnerable or targeted in conflict areas; also recommends that the EU continue to be the lead sponsor of resolutions on freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief in the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council and reiterates its call to step up cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on this matter;