BETA

18 Amendments of Milan UHRÍK related to 2021/2181(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Underlines the importance of both the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020–2024 for this goal; recalls that the use of the rule of qualified majority voting within the Council on human rights issues would result in a more effective and proactive EU foreign and security policy, and would strengthen cooperation on matters of key strategic interest for the EU, while reflecting its fundamental values;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Is ~~deeply concerned by increasing number of illiberal democracies and autocratic regimes, which are in the majority for the first time in 20 year~~conscious of the diversity of democracies and regimes; calls for the EU and the Member States to make full use of the tools at their disposal to support good governance, and democratic institutions ~~and space for civil society worldwide~~;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. ~~Welcomes~~Takes into account the contribution of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights (EUSR) to defending and advancing human rights in the world; underlines the EUSR’s important role in enhancing the effectiveness of the EU’s human rights policies through engagement with third countries, cooperation with like- minded partners to advance the human rights agenda and increasing the coherence of the EU’s policies in the field;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Stresses that all civil society actors, in particular independent civil society organisations, have a vital role to play in the dialogues, in terms of providing input both to the dialogues and to evaluation of their outcomes; underlines that such organisations should therefore be consulted within the framework of official and informal dialogues, as well as exploratory talks; calls on the EEAS and the Commission to improve communication and transparency with regard to civil society organisations; to this end, calls on the EEAS and the Commission to appoint human rights focal points at the geographical divisions of their headquarters;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Underlines that COVID-19 has significantly ~~strengthened the recent trends of authoritarian regime~~revealed the EU’s inability to react and thus weaken~~ing~~ed democracy; deplores the abuse of the epidemiological crisis by ~~these~~democratic and authoritarian regimes to further constrain the freedom of expression and of assembly through restricting the functioning of democratic institutions, the repression of dissent, including limiting media freedom both online and offline and targeting critics who express a different opinion with defamation campaigns, the mass use of surveillance tools, disinformation campaigns, limiting access to information through blanket internet shutdowns, bandwidth throttling and content blocking, emergency measures implemented without clear criteria for their revocation and the restrictions placed on the democratic exercise of elections;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Highlights the highly negative impact of COVID-19, which has disproportionately affected women, LGBTIQ persons and vulnerable groups, including the poor, children, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, minorities, informal workers and persons in prison or detention, among others; stresses that vulnerable groups are also more affected by the negative economic and social consequences of the pandemic, as well as the restrictions in access to healthcare and education; notes with concern the increase in hate speech against certain vulnerable groups, in particular minority groups;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Stresses that the EU should increase its support to tackle the negative consequences of COVID-19, particularly for vulnerable groups; to this end, calls for the EU to urgently strengthen its efforts to bring to an end the alarming imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines, thereby fulfilling its previous commitment to embrace the COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good through, among other things, technological transfer and the ramping up of local production for all groups; stresses the importance of supporting the strengthening of education and healthcare systems to make them resilient to future threats; calls for greater support for innovative technologies to that end and welcomes Team Europe’s response in this regard; acknowledges the right to physical and mental health, which in many countries is still subject to stigma and discrimination, and underlines how the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed enormous neglect in the provision of mental health care;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Expresses its serious concern about the restriction of academic freedom and the increase in the censorship and ~~imprisonment of scholars worldwide, which has important consequences for the right to education~~self- censorship also in the so-called democracies of European states, where there is strong pressure for political correctness and inadmissibility of debate if opinions go beyond that, especially in the field of the humanities, neoliberal trends and the requirements of cancel culture;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Highlights the interdependence between human rights, a healthy environment and combating climate change, and welcomes the UN’s call for global recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; underlines the vital role played by environmental human rights defenders and local and indigenous populations in preserving such an environment, despite the threats of violence that they often face from those responsible for, and profiting from, environmentally harmful practices; encourages the EU and the Member States to promote the recognition of ecocide as an international crime under the Rome Statute of the ICC, and requests that the Commission study the relevance of ecocide to EU law and EU diplomacy;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Regrets the fact that the overall progress in women’s rights is far below the UN countries’ commitments included in the Beijing Convention in 1995 and is concerned at the trend of backsliding in progress achieved; in this regard, is extremely concerned about the deterioration of the right of every individual to have full control over matters related to their sexuality, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights, without coercion and discrimination, in particular with regard to safe and free access to abortion; calls for the EU and its Member States to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights as part of their international commitments and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Underlines the difficult situation, discrimination and threats to life faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people around the world; welcomes the fact that the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020–2025 includes the EU’s commitment to include LGBTIQ issues in all its external policies, including support under the NDICI – Global Europe Instrument and Instrument for Pre-Accession funds;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Fully supports the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to hold a belief, or not to believe, and the right to manifest and to change or leave one’s religion or belief without fear of violence, persecution, or discrimination; deplores the persecution suffered by minorities on the grounds of belief or religion in many places in the world; condemns the abuse of blasphemy laws to perpetuate discrimination and deplores the use of religion and religious institutions to the detriment of human rights through the persecution, including by legal means, of belief or religious minorities, women and LGBTIQ persons;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32

32. Welcomes the adoption of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act) as an essential addition to the EU’s human rights and foreign policy toolbox, which strengthens the EU’s role as a global human rights actor by allowing it to take restrictive measures against legal and natural persons involved in grave human rights violations in the world; condemns any arbitrary and unjustified retaliatory restrictive measures imposed on the EU or other entities as a response to the EU’s decisions under the EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act; regrets the fact that the Council has decided to apply unanimity instead of qualified majority voting when adopting sanctions on human rights issues;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Calls for the extension of the scope of the EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act to include acts of corruption in order to ensure the effective targeting of the economic and financial enablers of human rights abusers; stresses the need for an effective strategy to implement the EU GHRSR-EU Magnitsky Act, consistent both with the EU’s other external policies, in particular with its human rights policies, and with the existing international frameworks on sanctions, international criminal law and international humanitarian law; welcomes the Commission’s announcement that in 2021, it will conduct a review of practices undermining sanctions and of the existing reporting obligations for Member States on their implementation and enforcement;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34

34. Reaffirms the inalienable human rights of migrants and refugees, and calls for the EU and its Member States to fully uphold them in their cooperation with third countries, both in terms of the establishment of high legal standards and, equally importantly, their operationalisation in order to ensure the effective protection of these rights in practice; reiterates its call on the Commission to carry out a review of the human rights impact of migration policy frameworks and of the EU’s cooperation on migration with third countries; underlines the risks related to informal arrangements on return and readmission, which are not subject to judicial scrutiny and therefore do not allow for effective redress for human rights violations suffered by migrants and asylum seekers;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Equally, calls for independent, effective mechanisms to monitor formal readmission agreements, both at the EU’s borders and in partner countries in order to ensure full respect for human rights, including the principle of non- refoulement; recalls that the right to asylum is guaranteed by Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; expresses its hope that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, including the new European Union Agency for Asylum, will help the EU Member States in creating efficient, properly functioning asylum systems, improving protection for asylum seekers and respecting the principles of the fair sharing of responsibility and solidarity among Member States; reiterates the need for a European agreement on a humanitarian visa or on the use of the European Temporary Protection Directive;deleted

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44

44. Underlines the important role played by digital technologies, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; stresses that these technologies will continue to be implemented around the world in the post- pandemic period and that they should be appropriately regulated to leverage their strength while avoiding their negative effects on human rights; in particular, stresses the importance of effective safeguards to the right to privacy and data protection in the health-related systems of mass surveillance, and of their proportionate use, which ~~should~~must also be limited in time;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46

46. Stresses the vital role of social platforms in advancing freedom of expression and of organisation, but underlines the need for proper safeguards to prevent, on the one hand, the unjustified censorship of users’ content, including automated censorship~~, and, on the other, the spread of hate speech, fake news and disinformation~~; welcomes the adoption of the new EU rules on the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use technologies;

2021/10/13
Committee: AFET