Activities of Leopoldo LÓPEZ GIL related to 2022/2049(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter - annual report 2022 (debate)
Amendments (36)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15
Citation 15
— having regard to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted on 25 September 2015, in particular goals 1, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 106 thereof,
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the rise in authoritarianism, illiberalism and populism around the world threatens the global rules- based order and the values and principles on which the Union is founded; whereas, according to the Democracy Index 2021, less than half of the world's population (45.7%) now live in a democracy 'of some sort' and more than 37% live under authoritarian rule;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic led to human rights setbacks around the world as a consequence of the instruments and policies used to slow the spread of the virus, and in many cases those instruments and policies are linked to democratic backsliding in states;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the energy crisis, coupled with the production crisis facing Europe, may increase poverty and vulnerability in Europe, to the consequent detriment of human rights;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas the Iranian authorities is committing human rights violations and crackdown on protests throughout the country following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was killed after being arrested for allegedly wearing an improper hijab;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms the universality and indivisibility of human rights and the inherent dignity of every human being; stresses, in this regard, its strong commitment to addressing first and foremost the challenges to human rights worldwide and reiterates the duty of the EU and its Member States to act as a global leader in the promotion and protection of human rights, freedom and democracy in line with the founding values of the Union;
Amendment 85 #
4. Deplores the fact that despite the need to concentrate on responses to the threats posed by climate change and the recovery from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through global solidarity, some authoritarian leaders have intensified repression of political opposition, members of independent civil society, NGOs, human rights defenders and the media, fuelled and expanded existing internal and international conflicts, and sparked new ones with devastating effects on human rights;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine; expresses, in this regard, its deep grief at the human suffering and serious human rights violations caused by the Russian armed forces at the EU’s borders; welcomes the joint efforts of the EU and its Member States in response to the war; welcomes, moreover, the solidarity shown by a great number of countries towards Ukraine, as highlighted by their stance during the sessions and votes of the UN General Assembly on the crisis in Ukraine and calls for those countries that have remained on the sidelines to speak out and condemn the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory; calls for the EU and its Member States to give the Ukrainian people the support they need to defend freedom, democracy, human rights and international law; welcomes the unprecedented ambition of the sanctions imposed in the context of the war and calls for the EU and its Member States to continue to use all of the instruments at their disposal to support the Ukrainian people in their fight to free Ukraine from its occupiers;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises the importance that the EU and its Member States consistently act together and in unity, particularly in multilateral forums, to address global challenges to human rights and democracy;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges the EU and its Member States to intensify their efforts all over the world to support democracy and human rights; calls on the EU and its Member States, in this regard, both individually and in cooperation with like-minded international partners, to thwart unacceptable attempts to weaken democratic institutions and universal human rights, especially those that present authoritarian regimes as superior to democracies and diminish the space for and role of independent civil society; reasserts the value of multilateralism as a tool to achieve those aims;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Fully supports the work of the EU Special Representative (EUSR) for Human Rights in defending and advancing human rights in the world through engagement with third countries and cooperation with like-minded partners, and his important role in enhancing the effectiveness of the EU’s human rights policies through efforts to increase their coherence; underlines the need for close cooperation between the EUSR for Human Rights and other EUSRs onhuman rights representatives in other countries and regions in order to further improve this consistency, and calls for greater visibility for the role of the EUSR for Human Rights;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes with deep regret that the post of the EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU has remained vacant for more than a year; reiterates its and calls for the Council and the Commission to carry out a transparent and comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness and added value of the position of the Special Envoy as part of renewing and reinforcing its mandate,appointment of the new Envoy without further delay; reiterates its call for the Council and the Commission to provide the Special Envoy with adequate resources, and to adequately support the Special Envoy’s institutional mandate, capacity and duties; recalls that the Special Envoy’s duties should focus on promoting freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, and the rights to non-belief, apostasy and the espousal of atheistic views;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines that human rights dialogues with third countries represent a unique opportunity to focus on human rights challenges and calls for them to be harnessed to their full potential; reiterates its call for the human rights dialogues to be based from the outset on a clear set of benchmarks enabling their effectiveness to be monitored; stresses the role of independent civil society organisations and the need to ensure their legitimate participation in the seminars before those dialogues; calls for the EEAS to systematically carry out evaluations of the outcomes of the dialogues and to follow up on them accordingly; stresses that in order to be effective, the dialogues must not be used as a standalone tool, but should instead be integrated within the EU’s comprehensive set of activities with the third countries concerned, which would streamline the human rights dimension and reinforce the messages conveyed in the dialogues; draws attention to the importance of raising individual cases, in particular those highlighted by Parliament in its resolutions, in the context of human rights dialogues and of ensuring adequate follow-up to and transparency of these cases;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on all EU delegations in third countries to have human rights focal points to provide regular support to human rights defenders, in line with the EU guidelines in this area, to visit members of democratic oppositions, activists and members of independent civil society imprisoned in those countries, to monitor their situations, to attend trials and to raise their cases in EU human rights dialogues with the countries in question;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the fact that the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime has been increasingly used as an essential tool that strengthens the EU’s role as a global human rights actor through the use of targeted sanctions by the Council; calls for the restrictive measures that have already been adopted to be implemented effectively and in full, and for the adoption of additional measures if necessary; reiterates its request for a legislative proposal to extend the scope of the GHRSR to include acts of corruption or, alternatively, for a proposal for a new thematic sanctions regime against serious acts of corruption in order to effectively target the economic and financial enablers of human rights abusers; reiterates its call for the introduction of qualified majority voting for the Council’s decisions and implementation of sanctions under the GHRSR; reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to strive to incorporate Parliament’s recommendations for future targeted sanctions, as stipulated in its resolutions and elsewhere; calls on its member states to rigorously implement sanctions; calls for cooperation with like- minded democracies to be promoted with a view to coordinating the adoption of targeted restrictive measures jointly, in order to maximise their effectiveness;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that corruption seriously hinders the enjoyment of human rights worldwide; calls for the fight against corruption to be a part of all of the EU’s efforts and policies to promote human rights and democracy, by formulating a dedicated global anti-corruption strategy, including programmes under the EU’s external financial instruments and enhancing Parliament’s role of scrutiny; underlines the utmost importance for the EU and its Member States to lead by example by applying the highest transparency standards to their external funding and by stepping up their support for civil society organisations, activists and investigative journalists engaged in the fight against corruption; encourages the promotion of cooperation between the European Union, its Member States, third countries and international organisations, particularly at judicial, law enforcement and intelligence levels, with a view to exchanging best practices and effective tools in action to tackle and prevent corruption;
Amendment 196 #
15. Highlights that 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of Parliament’s decision to exert political leadership in committing to a major advancement in its democracy support activities, which it has implemented through a Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach since 2014; welcomes, in particular, its support for capacity-building for partner parliaments, mediation and fostering a culture of dialogue and compromise, including among young political leaders, as well as for empowering women parliamentarians, human rights defenders and representatives from civil society organisations and the free media; calls on the Commission to continue to pursue and step up its activities in these areas and to bolster funding and assistance for EU bodies and agencies, as well as other grant-based organisations; underlines that in the current context of heightened global tensions and repression in an increasing number of countries, direct support for civil societythe work of the free press, civil society, human rights defenders and people who express critical and dissenting opinions is of the utmost importance; stresses the importance of EU election observation missions and Parliament’s contribution to developing and enhancing their methodology; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to consider updating the election observation methodology to reflect the developments of the last two decades; urges the states to put into practice the recommendations made by the EU's election observation missions with a view to improving the organisation and environment of electoral processes and thus boost their transparency and legality with a view to improving the democratic standards of the state in question;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Reaffirms that the effective protection of human rights around the world requires strong international cooperation at a multilateral level; underlines the particularly important role of the UN and its bodies as the main forum which must be able to effectively advance the efforts for peace and security, sustainable development and respect for human rights and international law; calls for the EU and its Member States to continue supporting the work of the UN, both politically and financially; underlines the need for the EU and its Member States to strive to speak with one voice both at the UN and in other multilateral forums; recalls the obligations of all UN member states to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in the Founding Charter of the United Nations and UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251; stresses the responsibility of the UN Human Rights Council to address all the grave violations of human rights around the world; highlights the work of UN commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions, which are increasingly used to respond to situations involving serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law and to combat impunity; welcomes, in particular, the work carried out by the independent international fact-finding mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and calls strongly for its mandate to be renewed;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is deeply concerned by growing attacks against the rules-based global order by authoritarian regimes, including undermining the functioning of UN bodies; deplores the fact that countries such as Cuba and Venezuela, among other authoritarian regimes accused of violating their citizens' human rights, are part of the UN Human Rights Council; underlines that the diminished effectiveness of these bodies brings with it real costs in terms of conflicts, lives lost and human suffering, and seriously weakens the general ability of countries to deal with global challenges; calls on the EU Member States and like-minded partners to intensify their efforts to reverse this trend;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Deplores the abuse of the UN Human Rights Council by authoritarian and totalitarian regimes which continue to abuse it for their own ends, in particular, to undermine its functioning, and erode the human rights norms regime; calls for the EU and its Member States to support a comprehensive reform of the HRC;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes with concern the increasing disregard for international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly in the ongoing conflicts around the world; underlines the utmost importance for humanitarian aid agencies to be able to provide full, timely and unhindered assistance to all vulnerable populations and calls on all parties to armed conflicts to protect civilian populations, including media workers and humanitarian and medical workers; calls for the systematic creation of humanitarian corridors in regions at war and in combat situations, whenever necessary, in order to allow civilians at risk to escape the conflict, and strongly condemns any attacks on them;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Strongly welcomes the continuous contribution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the fight against impunity; calls for the EU and its Member States to provide the ICC with sufficient support to enable it to carry out its work; calls on the EU and its Member States to encourage their partners to ratify the Treaty of Rome and thus expand the Court's jurisdiction; reiterates its condemnation of continuous efforts to undermine the legitimacy and work of the ICC by authoritarian and illiberal regimes and calls for the EU and its Member States to continue their efforts to counter them; welcomes the fact that the EU has provided support for the very first time to the ICC’s investigation capacities to help it scale up its investigations into war crimes committed by Russian armed forces in Ukraine;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Reaffirms that the credible evidence about birth prevention measures and the separation of Uyghur children from their families amount to crimes against humanity and represent a serious risk of genocide; calls on the Chinese authorities to cease all government- sponsored programmes of forced labour and mass forced sterilisation and to put an immediate end to any measures aimed at preventing births in the Uyghur population;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates its principled opposition to the death penalty, which is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is irreversible; stresses that the EU must be relentless in its pursuit of the universal abolition of the death penalty as a major objective of its human rights foreign policy; calls on all countries that have not yet done so to abolish the death penalty or establish an immediate moratorium as a first step towards its abolition; condemns any incidents of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings and deplores the fact that they continue to be common in many countries; notes with great concern the trend of increasing instances of torture worldwide and widespread impunity of its perpetrators;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls for the EU and its international partners to strengthen their efforts to ensure full enjoyment of human rights by women and their equal treatment with men; underlines that women continue to be the main victims in violent crises and that sexual and gender-based violence has continued in many places around the world, notably being used in armed conflicts as a weapon of war; calls for more concerted efforts to eliminate the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and fight impunity of the perpetrators of such violence; stresses the need to pursue efforts to fully eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation; stresses that women human rights defenders, activists, journalists and lawyers have been particularly targeted, with online harassment and intimidation increasing rapidly; highlights the increase in domestic violence and setbacks to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in both developing and developed countries and calls for the EU and its Member States to fully support the right of women to bodily integrity, dignity and autonomous decision-making;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Reiterates that it condemns the practice of surrogacy, which undermines the human dignity of the woman since her body and its reproductive functions are used as a commodity; considers that the practice of gestational surrogacy which involves reproductive exploitation and use of the human body for financial or other gain, in particular in the case of vulnerable women in developing countries, shall be prohibited and treated as a matter of urgency in human rights instruments;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)
Paragraph 25 c (new)
25 c. Calls on the Commission and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights to address the issue of forced marriage, including the phenomenon of underaged girls being forced to marry older men from outside their religion or belief, as a means of (re-)conversion from one religion or belief to another; condemns in strong terms any such use of forced marriage, house arrest, rape and other degrading treatment against women;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase their efforts in promoting equal rights for persons with disabilities through external action; emphasises the need to increase pressure on candidate countries to implement reforms to improve the situation of persons with disabilities and to increase their efforts in terms of deinstitutionalisation; calls on the Commission to assist candidate countries to develop a structured process for consulting persons with disabilities and their representative organisations;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34 a. Strongly condemns the Iranian authorities’ brutal crackdown on protests throughout the country following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed after being arrested for allegedly wearing an improper hijab; urges the EU and Member States to call on the Iranian authorities and President Raisi to immediately stop using violence against the protesters and cease shutting off access to the internet inside the country;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Is deeply concerned about the violence against people belonging to minorities on the grounds of their belief or religion as a global phenomenon; deplores that it affects many religious communities, namely Christians (including Copts, Syriacs, Assyrians), Jews, Muslims (including Uyghurs, Ahmadis and Alevis), Buddhists, Hindus and smaller religious groups, such as Baha’is, Sikhs and Zoroastrians, as well as groups of people who are atheists, humanists, agnostics or do not identify with any religion;
Amendment 390 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Paragraph 35 b (new)
35 b. Fully supports the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion without fear of violence, persecution or discrimination; stresses the importance of addressing persecution on the grounds of religion or belief and condemns the persecution suffered by minorities on these grounds in many places around the world; calls on the Member States and the EEAS to take note of these cases and to respond to them accordingly;
Amendment 397 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 c (new)
Paragraph 35 c (new)
35 c. Calls on the Commission and the Council to implement ambitious programmes to defend freedom of religion or belief worldwide, including encouraging and supporting international efforts to collect evidence of crimes of atrocity, bringing the perpetrators to court, rendering criminal sentences effective, and compensating the victims; calls on the Council, the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to work with third countries to adopt measures to prevent and fight hate crime;
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Reaffirms the inalienable human rights of migrants, refugees and forcibly displaced persons, which must be reflected in the EU’s migration policy and in its cooperation with third countries in this area; stresses that the EU should step up its efforts to acknowledge and develop ways to address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement, building the resilience of migrants’ communities of origin and helping them offer their members the possibility to enjoy a decent life in their home country; calls for the EU and its Member States to continue and where possible step up their support for countries hosting most refugees, as well as transit countries; reiterates that close cooperation and engagement with third countries remain key to preventing migrant smuggling; stresses, in this regard, that the dissemination of information and awareness-raising campaigns on the risks of smuggling is crucial; calls for EU- funded humanitarian operations to take into consideration the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children and to ensure their protection while they are displaced; underlines the importance of developing an effective framework of safe and legal pathways to the EU and welcomes, in this regard, the Commission communication on attracting skills and talent to the EU13, including the development of Talent Partnerships with partner countries; _________________ 13 Commission communication of 27 April 2022 on attracting skills and talent to the EU (COM(2022)0657).urges for solidarity and responsibility at European level to alleviate the burden that front-line Member States bear owing to their geographical location;
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)
39(a) Deplores the fact that, according to UNHCR/OAS data, in 2022 Venezuela and Ukraine (with 6.8 million displaced people per country) were hardest hit by the migrant/refugee crisis, followed by Syria (6.6 million), Afghanistan (2.7 million) and South Sudan (2.3 million); stresses that Venezuela is top of the list despite being the only country on it that is not involved in any armed conflict;