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Europaudvalget 2003-04
EUU Alm.del Bilag 1085
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Europaudvalget

(Alm. del - bilag 1085)

udenrigsministerråd

(Offentligt)

_____________________________________________

URU, Alm. del - bilag 333

Folketinget

Medlemmer og suppleanter

af Retsudvalget, Udenrigsudvalget

og Europaudvalget

København, den 2. juli 2004

Amnesty International retter hermed henvendelse til Folketinget for at sende vore anbefalinger på

menneskerettighedsområdet til det hollandske EU formandskab. På et tidspunkt hvor menneskerettighederne

desværre alt for ofte bliver krænkede er det vigtigt med et stærkt talerør for at fremme

menneske-rettighederne i verden og EU er en vigtig global aktør. Holland overtager EU- formandskabet på et

vanskeligt tidspunkt, men det er vores forhåbning, at det nye formandskab vil gå aktivt ind i kampen for at

beskytte menneskerettighederne. EU bør omsætte ord til handling og det næste halvår giver rig mulighed for

at styrke menneskerettighederne.

I vores vedlagte rapport:

”Closing the gap between rhetoric and practice”

og vores pressemeddelelse

beskriver vi de områder, hvor EU især bør prioritere beskyttelsen af menneskerettighederne. Det er vigtigt at

tilgodese menneskerettighederne i EU´s asyl og immigrationspolitik, i kampen mod terrorismen og i

retsvæsenet. Kvinders rettigheder bør fremmes, diskrimination af mindretal herunder romaer bekæmpes, og

flere initiativer for at eliminere tortur bør iværksættes, herunder øge pres på de lande, der endnu ikke har

ratificeret tillægsprotokollen til torturkonventionen. EU står stærkt placeret til at opfordre lande, såsom

Tyrkiet, Kina, Iran og Sudan til at tilgodese menneskerettighederne.

En af EU´s vigtigste opgaver er måske at finde frem til de mekanismer, der er nødvendige for at

implementere EU´s menneskerettighedspolitik. I den forbindelse har Amnesty International især to

anbefalinger:

At EU etablerer et stærkt menneskerettighedsagentur, der overvåger menneskerettighedssituationen i

Europa.

At Rådet udpeger en særlig repræsentant, der er med til at formulere mål for menneskerettighederne i

EU´s udenrigspolitik.

Amnesty International håber, at du kan drage nytte af den vedlagte rapport og vil være med til at tilgodese

vore anbefalinger.

Med venlig hilsen

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, DANSK AFDELING

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Lisa Blinkenberg

International Koordinator

AI Index : EUR 01/003/2004

News Service:

Date: 29 June 2004

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGES THE DUTCH EU

PRESIDENCY TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN

RHETORIC AND PRACTICE IN EU HUMAN RIGHTS

POLICY

(The Hague/Brussels 29 June 2004) In its recommendations to the Dutch EU Presidency released

today, Amnesty International calls for the EU to speak out and act more decisively for human rights

in a world where those rights are increasingly under attack.

Amnesty International's 18-page document:

"Closing the gap between rhetoric and practice:

Amnesty International's recommendations to the Dutch EU Presidency"

will be available on

www.amnesty-eu.org from 10.00 on Tuesday 29 June, 2004.

Amnesty International's detailed recommendations include a call for the proposed EU Human Rights

Agency to concentrate on human rights compliance within the EU, and the appointment of an EU

Special Representative for Human Rights to improve delivery on human rights goals around the

world.

"Of the major actors, the EU is probably the best placed to take the lead in confronting the global

human rights crisis. But that requires more than simply reaffirming values and making passing

references to human rights," Dick Oosting, Director of Amnesty International's EU Office, told a

media conference today in The Hague.

Other speakers at the media conference included the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture

Theo van Boven and the Chair of Amnesty International's Dutch Section, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho

Kang You.

"Over the next six months, the Dutch EU Presidency must inject new vitality into the EU human

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rights agenda, by putting real pressure at the highest level on governments which allow human

rights violations to occur. This means actually putting into practice the full arsenal of EU human

rights policies adopted over recent years," Dick Oosting said.

"We are witnessing a growing gap between the drive to fight 'terrorism' and 'illegal immigration' and

the commitment to protect individual rights. Now is the time for the EU to redress this imbalance, at

home as well as abroad."

Among Amnesty International's many recommendations are:

At home:

· The new EU Human Rights Agency should monitor human rights within the EU;

· The proposed Council framework decision on suspects' and defendants' rights in criminal

proceedings should not weaken current standards - a key not only to protecting individual rights in

practice but also to preventing traffickers in human beings and perpetrators of terrorist acts from

escaping with impunity;

· EU legislation should be introduced to protect vulnerable victims of crime, in particular victims of

gender-based crime;

· Discrimination against Roma within the EU must be addressed as a matter of priority;

· The "Tampere" commitments, including the "full and inclusive application of the Geneva

Convention", need to be reinvigorated to guide the further development of a Common European

Asylum System;

· An independent European refugee documentation centre should be established to ensure

availability of common European country reports;

· The Presidency should promote an adequate return policy, ensuring full observance of the

non-refoulement principle and other relevant international standards.

Abroad:

· Consideration should be given to the appointment of an EU Special Representative for Human

Rights to strengthen the capacity to implement EU human rights policies;

· A decision by the European Council to start accession negotiations with Turkey should be based on

a thorough analysis of concrete improvements and shortcomings in human rights, in practice;

· The agenda for the EU-Russia summit in The Hague in November must include rigorous scrutiny

of Russia's conduct in Chechnya;

· The Presidency should rally EU support for the early deployment of international human rights

monitors to Iraq and demand that the United States and the United Kingdom conduct thorough,

independent and public investigations of torture and ill-treatment by coalition forces in Iraqi prisons;

· Pressure should be exerted on the government of Sudan to allow the deployment of human rights

monitors in Darfur;

· EU member states, including the Netherlands, must manifest their commitment to combat torture

by signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture;

· The EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports should be significantly strengthened and the Presidency

is urged to support work towards a global arms trade treaty;

· The Dutch Presidency should clearly stipulate which concrete improvements are required in the

human rights conduct of the Chinese government for the EU to consider lifting the arms embargo

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against China.

For Amnesty International's recommendations, see:

"Closing the gap between rhetoric and practice: Amnesty International's recommendations to the

Dutch EU Presidency"

available on www.amnesty-eu.org from 10.00 on Tuesday 29 June, 2004.

For further comment/background and interviews:

Amnesty International EU Office (Brussels):

Tel: 32-2-5021499

Fax: 32-2-5025686

Email: [email protected]

Web-site: www.amnesty-eu.org

********

Amnesty International

Closing the gap between rhetoric and practice

Amnesty International recommendations to the Dutch EU Presidency

29 June 2004

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Amnesty International

Dutch Section

PO Box 1968

NL –1000 BZ AMSTERDAM

Amnesty International

European Union Office

Rue d'Arlon 39-41

B-1000 BRUSSELS

tel.

+31 20 626 44 36

502 14 99

fax.

+31 20 624 08 89

e-mail:

[email protected]

website:

www.amnesty.nl

www.amnesty-eu.org

tel.

+32 2

fax.

+ 32 2 502 56 86

e-mail:

website:

Contents

Introduction

Part I

Proposals for the internal agenda: human rights in the EU

Accountability for human rights in the EU

Judicial cooperation

Violence against women

Discrimination against Roma

Common European Asylum System

The external dimension of asylum and immigration

Part II

Proposals for the external agenda: human rights in the world

Enlargement

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Europe’s neighbours

The EU and the UN Commission on Human Rights

Asia-Europe Meeting

Arms control

Human rights guidelines

Action against torture

Towards an EU framework for corporate social responsibility

Accounting to EU citizens: relations with the European Parliament

Closing the gap between rhetoric and practice

Amnesty International’s recommendations to the Dutch EU Presidency

Introduction

At a time when those fighting to uphold human rights standards are on the defensive almost everywhere and the world is

still reeling from the revelations of the torture of prisoners in Iraq, it is time for a strong voice to promote human rights

on the global stage. The Netherlands takes on the European Union Presidency at a particularly difficult moment, but it is

precisely for that reason that Amnesty International believes the EU Presidency program must do more than reaffirm

values and make passing reference to human rights.

If the Dutch Presidency program is to enable the European Union to meet the challenge, two questions must be

addressed:

What is the real situation of human rights in the world?

What is the real importance of human rights for the EU?

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Amnesty International’s answers to these questions came with its latest annual report

. It

documented how violence by armed groups and increasing violations by governments have resulted

in a sustained attack on human rights and international humanitarian law the world over. And with

the vast majority of its member states included in the report, the EU was admonished for the lack of

political will to confront human rights violations within its own borders.

Does this mean that the international human rights situation is hopeless, or that the EU’s claim to be a community of

values is entirely disingenuous? Of the major actors, the EU is probably best placed to confront the global human rights

crisis, while at home, it is obliged to respond to serious appeals to shed its complacency. Yet what has been evident over

the past years is that human rights have become more of an add-on than a central determining force - dispensable in the

face of strong opposition, negotiable when confronted with other interests, and taken for granted at home. And it has

been particularly at the level of the Council and the member states that the collective strength of purpose required to

pursue human rights goals effectively and coherently has been found wanting.

Ground has been lost compared to five years ago when the Council and Commission actively sought

to confront the question of how to put human rights into practice. The rights protection

commitments of the 1999 Tampere agenda to build an “area of freedom, security and justice” across

the Union have evaporated, the counter-terrorist drive has lacked essential safeguards, and the

Charter of Fundamental Rights has prompted complacency rather than accountability. Externally,

what began as a determination to build a stronger human rights dimension in the EU’s relations with

third countries has withered rapidly since 11 September 2001.

This critical appraisal points to some basic assertions that Amnesty International wishes to put to the Dutch EU

Presidency:

It is necessary for the international community to consider how to restore a proper profile and

real priority to human rights, and the EU is well placed to provide the necessary leadership.

When it comes to addressing human rights worldwide, there is a need to close the gap between

rhetoric and practice, through a more coherent approach that gives substance to the notion that

human rights constitute an essential element of the EU’s external relations.

On human rights within the EU, it is time to acknowledge that there are problems of compliance

and accountability that must be addressed if the EU is to meet its obligations towards all people

on its territory and if it is to be credible towards third countries.

The EU stands to gain in authority and effectiveness if it can show through its policies and

actions that human rights are not dispensable, not negotiable, and not to be taken for granted.

Therefore, the EU must deliver on its promises, by putting human rights more consistently into

practice, and being prepared to lead by example. Ideally, this would require some fundamental

rethinking of the EU’s human rights policies as they have evolved over the past years. With the

complex dynamics of a Union of 25, and at a time of turmoil and uncertainty on many fronts, this is

indeed a challenge. But can the EU afford to ignore the dramatically changed landscape of human

rights globally and in Europe? Amnesty International believes it cannot.

The surprise Council decision of December 2003 to establish an EU human rights agency in Vienna may have shown a

disturbing lack of coherent thinking on how to fulfil the Union’s human rights mandate, but at least it can now serve to

focus discussion on what is really needed on the domestic front. In relations with third countries, however, the EU is

barely able to implement the human rights clause and the various sets of human rights guidelines it has adopted over the

past years, while ‘mainstreaming’ human rights into other policies remains an elusive goal. Here, no focus or mechanism

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exists as yet to strengthen the capacity to deliver on human rights objectives in the EU’s external relations.

It is therefore all the more relevant for the Netherlands to inject new vitality into the EU human rights agenda. In the

same way as the agency proposal can and should advance human rights observance internally, so an initiative is called

for that can create the necessary focal point externally. Appointing an EU special representative for human rights would

be an interesting and important step in this respect.

Amnesty International calls on the Netherlands to mark its Presidency with actions like these that can bring about

specific improvements and so begin to restore the profile of an EU that puts human rights into practice and leads by

example. To that end, Amnesty International presents the Dutch Presidency with a series of concrete recommendations

for both the internal and external agendas, every one of which would make a difference.

Part I

Proposals for the internal agenda: human rights in the EU

The obvious focus for the internal human rights agenda is the outcome of the “Tampere agenda” by

which the European Union’s goal of constructing an area of freedom, security and justice was to be

advanced. The progress made since the 1999 Tampere European Council is the basis on which the

Dutch Presidency is to construct plans for a new five-year program of development in crucial areas

such as asylum and immigration, and judicial and police cooperation including counter-terrorism.

Amnesty International’s critical assessment of Tampere focuses on these areas. However, evaluating the achievements

of the Tampere agenda also requires an assessment of the overall picture of human rights observance and protection

within the EU, as exemplified by both legislative measures and actual compliance. Unfortunately, from a human rights

perspective, the picture is not positive. The vision of the area of freedom, security and justice has turned out to be a

parallel universe to the reality experienced by asylum seekers, immigrants, suspects in police stations and defendants in

courts.

The proposed human rights agency provides an opportunity to put the protection of human rights in Europe at the core

of EU policy. The development of the proposal will be crucial to the advancement of fundamental rights in the EU and,

as such, Amnesty International will be working to ensure that it will be an effective addition to the framework for human

rights protection in Europe.

Accountability for human rights in the EU

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Amnesty International has long been pointingaccountability at EU level address human rights performance of its member

rights within its own borders and to establish to the need for the EU to for the problems with observance of human

states. The Council has shown itself remarkably unconcerned about the occurrence of human rights abuse within EU

borders. It is time for the Council to take its responsibilities seriously in this regard and to consider making constructive

use of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union as a key mechanism in establishing EU level accountability for

ensuring the reality of the shared values of respect for human rights enshrined in Article 6 TEU.

Following the surprise decision by the December 2003 European Council to set up an EU human rights agency, the

process of consultations by the Commission has started and will continue throughout the period of the Dutch Presidency

to result in a proposal in early 2005. Amnesty International believes that the human rights agency should be tasked to

monitor the respect for human rights within the EU rather than globally, to promote best practice and to feed into policy

development at EU level. In this way, it should be possible to give substance to the evident need to establish

accountability at EU level for the respect of fundamental rights in the EU. Above all, and bearing in mind the curious

manner in which the decision came about, care must be taken that it is part of a coherent approach to human rights and

accountability at EU level.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to respond positively and robustly to the 2003 Commission

Communication on the use of Article 7 TEU and so contribute to the establishment of a strong human rights

agency to carry out effective monitoring of the human rights situation within the EU.

Judicial cooperation

Rights of suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings

The European Commission has finally presented its proposal for a Council framework decision on certain procedural

rights of suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings throughout the EU. This proposal is urgently needed to meet

some of the problems that have been encountered by member states in implementing the European Arrest Warrant. The

framework decision is a key to protecting individual rights within the EU and preventing serious criminals such as

traffickers in human beings and the perpetrators of terrorist acts from escaping with impunity.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to ensure that negotiations on the proposed Council

framework decision on the rights of suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings do not lead to a

weakening of the standards that are currently set by international law.

European Arrest Warrant

The European Arrest Warrant, replacing extradition procedures between member states with a simple system of

surrender, was to be implemented on 1 January 2004 but by June it had still not been transposed into national law in

eight of the 25 member states. In the first months of the new system a number of cases have shown that while standards

of human rights protection differ across the EU, a fast-track system will do nothing to improve the efficiency of

cooperation to combat crime across borders. A failure to address the basic issue of the protection of fundamental rights

in criminal proceedings across the EU could lead to a breakdown in cooperation against serious crime.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to ensure that implementation of the European Arrest

Warrant is completed across the EU in such a way as to protect the rights of individuals. This should be

accompanied by improvements in the protection of rights in criminal proceedings across the EU as the

protection of human rights is a pre-requisite to effective cooperation against crime.

Violence against women

Amnesty International is conducting a worldwide campaign to stop violence against women, and is looking at the EU to

translate evident awareness of its occurrence within its societies into more far reaching action. Two avenues in particular

need to be explored actively: collection of comparable data, and protection of victims.

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Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to take the lead in supporting the

Commission’s proposals to establish systems of data collection in member states which

would allow for the compilation of a comprehensive comparative report on the situation of

violence against women in the EU through the Daphne II programme.

Amnesty International also urges the Dutch Presidency to consider legislation on the

protection of vulnerable victims of crime, in particular victims of gender-based crime,

expanding on the Council framework decision on the standing of victims in criminal

proceedings.

Discrimination against Roma

Enlargement has put the systematic discrimination and social exclusion of Roma high on the EU’s agenda. This issue

was raised by the EU network of independent experts on human rights in their report on 2003 as one of the major human

rights problems facing the EU that requires action on a structural level. It will be important to ensure that this issue is

given the prominence that it deserves and that a strategy for combating anti-Roma discrimination is adopted. This

should include an analysis of the efficiency of current anti-discrimination legislation such as the EU Race Directive in

tackling problems specific to the situation of the Roma.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to address the issue of the

discrimination against Roma in the EU as a matter of priority.

Amnesty International also asks the Dutch Presidency to put the draft framework decision on

combating racism and xenophobia back onto the JHA Council agenda as a matter of

urgency to ensure protection against racism and xenophobia across the EU.

Common European Asylum System

Heading towards Tampere II

The development of a Common European Asylum system is at a critical juncture. All instruments setting minimum

standards have been agreed by the Council within the deadline drawn up by the Amsterdam Treaty, but the process has

been characterized by a lack of ambition and political will. Domestic political agendas have dominated the negotiations,

and despite recommendations by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Amnesty International and others, member

states have been allowed to maintain their national legislation on key asylum issues.

The Dutch Presidency will be crucial in determining the steps towards the second phase of

harmonization in the enlarged EU. With the discussion regarding the adoption of a single common

European procedure at the heart of this second phase, the real question at stake is to define essential

procedural safeguards that should be enshrined in any procedure to ensure the full respect of

standards and obligations of international law.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to reaffirm and reinvigorate the commitments and principles

of Tampere as the basis for a more ambitious level of harmonization.

Maintaining the right of asylum in an enlarged EU

The debate on the need for a second stage of harmonisation should also take into account the impact

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of enlargement. Adequate attention should be paid to the situation of minorities such as Roma who

are potentially in need of international protection. Only weeks before actual enlargement, citizens

from acceding countries were still recognized as refugees by EU member states.

Amnesty International urges EU member states to use the derogatory procedure codified under Protocol n° 6

of the Amsterdam treaty (the so-called Aznar protocol), which allows examination of any asylum application

lodged by an EU national, in a non-discriminatory fashion.

Transposing EU asylum legislation

While the past years have been focused on the adoption of the six “building blocks” set up by the Tampere agenda, the

coming period will be focused on the transposition of the main legislative instruments into national legislation with the

aim of achieving an “equivalent level of protection” throughout the 25 EU member states.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to assist the Commission in setting up a public database

available to lawyers and legal advisers of asylum seekers in order to inform them of the existing legal

framework in all EU countries. The database should contain at least any relevant information on the

designation of safe countries of origin, safe third countries, the definition of a refugee and persons otherwise in

need of international protection and procedural safeguards.

European solidarity

The Dublin II mechanism determining which member state is responsible for dealing with an asylum application

potentially has far-reaching implications for the asylum systems of the ten new EU member states. Given the

predominant responsibility of countries located at the external borders of the EU territory, this regulation is likely to

create a very heavy burden on the new member states.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to explore responsibility-sharing and

solidarity mechanisms in cases where the Dublin II system disproportionally burdens

member states located at the external borders of the EU.

Common European country reports

Amnesty International believes that a Common European Asylum System should be based on common European

country reports, or at least be facilitated by the establishment of a European documentation centre dealing with

information on refugee producing countries and countries of transit. Such a centre would work on the basis of a wide

variety of sources including reports from inter-governmental organizations such as the UNHCR, and non-governmental

organizations. A common independent information base is a key element in achieving an equivalent level of protection

throughout the EU.

Amnesty International calls for the development of an independent and impartial European refugee

documentation centre, with a view to ensuring availability of common European country reports.

The external dimension of asylum and immigration

Enhancing regional protection

The Dutch Presidency intends to promote protection in the region and at the same time resettlement programmes.

Amnesty International has always held that better protection of refugees in the region of origin is necessary and has to

be enhanced as the vast majority of refugees are hosted there. Protected entry procedures and resettlement schemes may

be used to complement protection in the region as long as they are additional tools to the existing asylum procedures and

not a substitute for spontaneous claims for asylum on EU territory – or worse, used as a justification for restrictive

measures which inhibit access to fair and satisfactory asylum procedures. Any proposal towards ensuring better

protection in the region does not exempt EU member states from their responsibility under international human rights

and refugee law.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure that resettlement and protected entry

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procedures are never used as a substitute – legally or politically – for the right to seek and to enjoy in other

countries asylum from persecution.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to ensure that the UNHCR has a central role in the

implementation of any resettlement scheme, and that selection criteria fully comply with those defined by the

UNHCR.

Needed: protected entry for human rights defenders

Protected entry procedures could feature as an emergency strand of wider resettlement action. The EU should further

explore the feasibility of emergency procedures so that persons facing immediate danger of persecution can be granted

immediate effective protection. Specifically, the EU and its member states must commit to granting humanitarian visas

to human rights defenders who have to leave their country because they are under threat. This is a measure that should

have been a key provision of the guidelines on human rights defenders.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to elaborate a policy to allow human

rights defenders and other vulnerable groups fleeing their countries due to a well-founded

fear of persecution, to quickly apply for and be granted asylum or humanitarian visas in

order to gain access to a fair asylum procedure in the EU.

Return of irregular migrants and the fight against “illegal immigration”

The Dutch Presidency is also expected to develop tools for an integrated management of external

borders and the fight against “illegal immigration”, in particular through financial instruments and

the establishment of a European agency for the management of the operational cooperation at the

external borders. A returns policy is a necessary component of a proper asylum and immigration

policy. However, Amnesty International is concerned that protection issues are not given adequate

attention while persons in need of international protection are amongst irregular arrivals.

Preliminary discussions regarding common minimum standards also revealed a great reluctance to

develop ambitious standards at EU level, despite existing obligations under international human

rights instruments. The development of fast-track procedures to process asylum claims lodged at the

borders is also of particular concern given the potentially far-reaching implications of these

procedures on refugee protection.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to promote an adequate return policy, ensuring full

observance of the non-refoulement principle and other relevant international standards, in particular those

developed by the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. Returns should only be allowed

when persons can be sent back home in safety and dignity.

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Part II

Proposals for the external agenda: human rights in the world

For the external human rights agenda there is no overall policy framework to assess and direct the European Union’s

human rights efforts across the full spectrum of its international endeavours. The Council’s annual report on human

rights issued every October provides an extensive and useful overview of activities but has so far failed to offer a

comprehensive and realistic assessment of achievements and shortcomings.

Amnesty International for its part, in its advocacy towards the EU on human rights in the world, informs and comments

on a wide spectrum of individual countries as well as on broader thematic and multilateral approaches. Without being

exhaustive these include, for the Dutch Presidency period, the evolving enlargement and neighbourhood policies, the

UN human rights system, the ASEM summit, and action against torture, on arms control and on corporate social

responsibility.

Connecting human rights concerns to relevant policy frameworks and institutional processes inevitably entails an

appraisal of their effectiveness. Here, Amnesty International identifies certain structural shortcomings which have

become increasingly apparent towards the end of the current legislative cycle. Constructive plans by the Commission

and the Council at the start of the cycle could not be sustained and there are serious questions about implementation of

the new instruments generated during the past years in the form of guidelines on torture, human rights dialogues,

children and armed conflict, and human rights defenders.

This picture was exacerbated by the massive impact on human rights in the world and in the EU as a result of the events

of 11 September 2001. While the rhetoric on the need to balance security and human rights cannot be faulted, and the

EU’s important new security strategy makes appropriate references to prevention, they are not made operational and it is

evident that human rights are not on the real political agenda.

All of which points to the need for a more substantial review and revitalization of the policies and the institutional

capabilities and resources of the EU and its member states to conduct an effective external human rights program.

Enlargement

The enlargement table now lists Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey as candidates, shortly expected to be joined by Croatia.

Amnesty International will continue to submit its findings and assessments of the human rights situation in these

countries and seek to inform the process with objective analysis. With regard to Bulgaria and Romania this has focused

in particular on the rights of people with mental disabilities and the situation in psychiatric institutions.

Turkey

The major political decision to be taken under the Dutch Presidency is whether to start accession negotiations with

Turkey. Amnesty International will continue to report regularly on patterns of human rights abuse that persist despite the

significant legislative reform that has been generated by the accession prospect. They include ill-treatment and torture,

restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association, and unfair trial concerns. The key remaining question is

how legislative progress can be translated into the structural and institutional adjustments needed to effect change in

actual practice, and how the EU member states and the EU as a whole can play the most constructive role in this

process.

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The continuing prospects of enlargement and in particular Turkey’s candidacy should serve to underline the importance

of respect for human rights within the EU itself. All people in Europe are entitled to expect observance by their

governments backed up by an EU that complements and if necessary enforces that commitment.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to guarantee that the European Council bases its decision

on the start of accession negotiations with Turkey on a thorough analysis of concrete improvements and

shortcomings in practice.

Amnesty International also calls on the Dutch Presidency to inject the question of EU accountability for human

rights observance within its own borders into the debate on Turkey’s candidacy and so complement the

continuing enlargement process with a commitment to strengthen the EU’s own human rights framework.

Europe’s neighbours

Following the endorsement of the new European Neighbourhood Policy by the European Council in June, the Dutch

Presidency will have to ensure that the forthcoming Action Plans for Ukraine, Moldova, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan,

Israel and the Palestinian Authority will develop the closer association of these countries with the EU on the basis of

tangible improvements for the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in these countries. These include in

particular the fight against torture, the full realization of women’s rights, efforts to build an effective and independent

judiciary and the resolution of conflicts on the basis of full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law

standards.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure that the final Action Plans in

the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy will make tackling pressing human rights

concerns in the countries concerned a priority, and to ensure that all political dialogue

meetings during the Dutch semester will capitalize on achieving concrete commitments from

these neighbours.

Russia

Despite recent pledges by the Council and the Commission to address human rights concerns

vigourously and coherently and to re-orient the EU-Russia relationship towards substantial results,

the EU continues to show a lack of engagement on the deteriorating state of the rule of law and

respect for human rights in the Russian Federation. Having failed in the UN Commission on Human

Rights to call Russia to account for the ongoing serious human rights situation in Chechnya, this

human rights crisis at the EU’s doorstep also appears to be absent from the EU’s dialogue agenda

with Russia. Obtaining results in building respect for human rights for

all

people in Russia must be

at the core of the EU’s dealings with Russia, if the EU is to deliver on its commitment towards its

citizens to create an “enlarged area of political stability and functioning rule of law” at its Eastern

borders.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency in preparing for the November EU-Russia

summit to rebuild rigorous scrutiny of Russia's conduct in the Chechen Republic and to use

all avenues of political dialogue to remind the Russian government of their duty to respect

international human rights and humanitarian law, to press for unrestricted access to

independent international monitors, and to reiterate the need for decisive action against

perpetrators of human rights abuses.

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Amnesty International also calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure the EU member states

will not return people who have fled the conflict to Chechnya or to other parts of the Russian

Federation unless and until their safe and durable return with dignity is assured.

The EU and the UN Commission on Human Rights

The world’s primary body for human rights protection and promotion, the UN Commission on

Human Rights, has again demonstrated an incapacity and unwillingness in the 2004 60

session to

fulfil its mandate of ensuring public scrutiny of situations of gross and persistent abuse, in particular

regarding China, Russia, Iran, Zimbabwe and the situation of detainees in Guantánamo Bay. Despite

some positive results, the EU’s efforts were again marred by obstructionism by regional blocks and

political manipulation by the big powers.

Any meaningful effort to reverse the tide must in the view of Amnesty International be based on a

clear understanding that protection of human rights through monitoring, reporting and public

scrutiny is and should remain the UN CHR’s core function. The perspective for effective reform of

the Commission on that basis may not be good in the present poisonous political climate, but the EU

should nevertheless consider how it may go beyond damage control and reinsert a spirit based on

human rights rather than political interests.

An evident step towards achieving this is to establish objective criteria for invoking the

Commission’s scrutiny of the human rights situation in individual countries. Another important

approach in this context would be for the EU to connect and integrate its UN CHR effort into the

regular foreign relations cycle throughout the year, and to include it consistently in its political

dialogues with third countries including at the highest levels.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to instigate a more fundamental review of the EU’s efforts

in relation to the UN Commission on Human Rights, with a view to supporting improvements in the UN CHR’s

working methods that will enable it to adopt effective measures to bring human rights violations to an end

wherever they may be committed.

Amnesty International also calls on the Dutch Presidency to integrate the UN CHR effort of the EU more

effectively into the regular foreign relations cycle throughout the year and to include its objectives consistently

in political dialogue with third countries.

Iraq

The UN Human Rights Commission’s complete lack of engagement with the human rights situation

in Iraq was a telling example of the international community’s inability to address one of the

starkest human rights situations of the day. The population of Iraq has suffered decades of appalling

human rights abuses and the devastating consequences of war and economic sanctions. As if to

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underline the flagrant omission, the Commission had barely closed its session when friend and foe

were shocked by the revelations of the torture and ill-treatment by coalition forces in Iraqi prisons,

echoing the frequent reports of abuses received by Amnesty International during the past year.

The transfer of authority to an interim government in Iraq will mark the first day of the Dutch EU

Presidency. The EU should make all possible efforts to ensure that the Iraqi authorities and any

future multinational force live up to their responsibility to uphold the rights of the Iraqi population

and to guarantee full accountability for those who abuse those rights. Long-term stability and human

rights protection in Iraq require respect for the rule of law and transparent, accountable systems of

government that are based on respect for human rights and recognition of the particular needs of

women as well as ethnic and religious groups without discrimination. EU and member states’

support for Iraq should prioritize support for legal reform, assistance in the rehabilitation of torture

victims and capacity building for human rights NGOs.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure EU pressure on the Iraqi

interim government to put human rights protection and promotion at the forefront, in

particular the protection of the rights of women, and to rally EU support for the early

deployment of international human rights monitors to Iraq, as circumstances permit.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to demand that the US and UK

authorities conduct a thorough, independent and public investigation of torture and

ill-treatment by coalition forces in Iraqi prisons, and to hold accountable all who have

committed acts of torture as well as those who have contributed to a command culture

condoning such abuses.

Amnesty International also urges the Dutch Presidency to ensure that EU member states will

not return Iraqi asylum seekers in view of the current security situation.

Sudan

Although the UN Human Rights Commission did finally call on all parties to the conflict to respect

the cease-fire, grant access to humanitarian organizations and set up an Independent Expert to report

back on the human rights situation to the General Assembly and at next year's session of the

Commission, its action fell patently short in the light of the unfolding human rights crisis in Darfur,

western Sudan.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure that the government of Sudan

permits the deployment of human rights monitors in Darfur, commits to respect international

humanitarian law at all times, and acts to disarm and demobilise the armed militias.

Asia-Europe Meeting

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation bringing together the EU member

states and the European Commission with ten Asian countries. The next ASEM Summit taking place in October 2004 in

Hanoï, Vietnam, should be an opportunity to introduce a clearer human rights profile for the political pillar of the ASEM

process. An appropriate way of doing so would be to seek commitment to implement the UN Convention against

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and its Optional Protocol adopted on 18

December 2002. Only five of the ten Asian countries members of ASEM have ratified the Convention itself, and none of

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them and very few of the European members signed or ratified the Optional Protocol.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to ensure that human rights issues will

be on the agenda of the upcoming ASEM summit, and in that context to promote the early

ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and/or its Optional Protocol amongst

ASEM governments.

Arms control

Since 1998 the EU has been committed to its Code of Conduct on Arms Exports which stipulates

that arms should not be exported to countries where there is a clear risk that they may be used for

internal repression or where serious violations of human rights have occurred. As the code is not

legally binding, and the final decision on exports remains a prerogative of national governments,

this promise is far from being honoured. Although it is a significant advance in regional arms export

control, the code has major weaknesses, ambiguities and loopholes and as a result, EU member

states continue to export arms or equipment that are misused for human rights violations.

There is a patent need to improve the EU arms exports regime and expand arms export controls to a

much greater number of states across all world regions.A binding international arms trade treaty

grounded in principles of international law, rather than a voluntary code would provide potential

victims around the world with much greater protection. These elements should be taken into account

by the EU Council Working Group on Conventional Arms which is currently revising the Code of

Conduct on Arms Exports.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to significantly

strengthen the EU code of

conduct on arms exports, and to promote and work towards a global arms trade treaty based on

international standards of human rights and humanitarian law with a view to curbing the

proliferation and misuse of arms and preventing the unregulated spread of arms production.

China arms embargo

The EU arms embargo on China was imposed in1989 as a direct response to the brutal actions of the Chinese authorities

against protestors calling for democratic and political reform that resulted in the Tiananmen Square massacre. Tens of

thousands were arrested in the aftermath of the 1989 crackdown throughout China. Many of those detained were

tortured or ill-treated, often with devastating long-term effects on their physical and mental health. Some were sentenced

to long imprisonment after unfair trials and others were sentenced to death and executed.

15 years later, dozens of people are still in prison in connection with the protests, or living in exile. The Chinese

authorities continue to ignore calls from both domestic and international activists to conduct a full, independent and

impartial inquiry into the events

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to formulate which concrete

improvements will be required in the human rights conduct of the Chinese government for

the EU to consider lifting the arms embargo

imposed on China in 1989.

Human rights guidelines

With the Irish Presidency having put forward guidelines on human rights defenders for adoption by the Council in June,

the arsenal of EU human rights instruments is further augmented without any indication that there will be the resolve

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and the resources to implement them. The 2001 guidelines on torture have been bogged down by conceptual and

institutional complexities, and NGOs are seriously concerned that those adopted in late 2003 on children and armed

conflict will suffer the same fate. While welcoming the intention to broaden the scope of the EU’s human rights

engagement, there is a clear need now to consider seriously how the capacity of the EU and its member states can be

assured for adequate implementation.

Both official human rights dialogues conducted by the EU, with China and Iran, are up for review during the Dutch

semester. The 2001 EU guidelines for human rights dialogues have as their basic premise that dialogues should produce

tangible results in the actual human rights performance of the countries concerned, related to concrete benchmarks.

Given the absence of such measurable improvement in both countries, there is cause for principled reflection on how to

conduct these dialogues in a more effective and transparent manner. That should include incorporation of human rights

in political dialogue at the highest levels, and initiatives to seek public scrutiny in appropriate international fora such as

the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency as a matter of urgency to conduct a critical analysis of the

capacity for implementation of the EU’s human rights policies and to present the Council with

recommendations to strengthen the EU’s resources to deliver on human rights objectives in the EU’s Common

Foreign and Security Policy. In this respect, the Dutch Presidency is encouraged to consider the appointment

of an EU Special Representative for Human Rights.

Action against torture

Torture trade regulation must now be adopted

As part of its commitment to eradicate torture, the European Commission has taken the positive step

of proposing a regulation concerning trade in certain equipment and products which could be used

for capital punishment, or torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The

regulation is to ban the export of equipment that has no other use than torture, including

electro-shock stun belts, thumbcuffs and leg cuffs, from member states to outside the EU. It would

also strictly control the export of equipment that may have a legitimate policing function but can

lend itself to torture, such as tear gas. Since end 2002, a proposal for a Regulation is being discussed

by the Council Working on Trade, and an amended proposal has been presented by the European

Commission. It is now high time this process is concluded.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to ensure adoption of a Council regulation concerning trade

in certain equipment and products which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman

or degrading treatment or punishment, before the end of the year.

Optional Protocol to UN Convention against Torture

Of the 25 EU member states, only seven have signed and one has ratified the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention

against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment adopted on 18 December 2002. The

lack of willingness to sign and ratify this important instrument contrasts starkly with the very considerable effort by the

EU and its member states to achieve its adoption.

Amnesty International urges the Dutch Presidency to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol

to the UN Convention against Torture and to encourage member states alike to accede to the

Protocol in order to profile the EU as a positive agent for external change.

Towards an EU framework for corporate social responsibility

On the eve of the Dutch Presidency the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on corporate social

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responsibilityto(CSR), bringing together theof establishing common guiding principles for CSRthe

Commission explore “the appropriateness business sector, trade unions and NGOs with

practices and instruments”, concluded its two-year work.

The Forum’s report should mark an important step towards a European framework for CSR. The

main challenge will be to reconcile fundamental differences of approach between the corporate

sector which maintains that CSR must be business-driven, and NGOs which believe that it cannot be

left to voluntary commitment only.

The Dutch Presidency conference on CSR in November is an opportunity to advance the debate on

how to develop concrete and effective ways of implementing corporate social responsibility. A

crucial factor will be for public authorities - including the EU - to assume their own responsibility

and regulatory power to ensure responsible corporate behaviour, with proper transparency and

accountability to match.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency, in conjunction with the Commission

and the European Parliament, to provide for concrete next steps towards the development of

an effective European framework on corporate social responsibility.

Accounting to EU citizens: relations with the European Parliament

The European Parliament has undertaken to strengthen its capacity to bring more coherence,

transparency and accountability to the EU's human rights endeavour by re-establishing a

Sub-committee on human rights in the framework of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. In

coinciding with the start of the new legislative term of the European Parliament, the Dutch

Presidency is given a prime opportunity to enhance the democratic legitimacy of the EU's actions to

advance human rights.

An excellent starting point for such a new engagement would be for the Dutch Presidency to invite

the European Parliament to a debate on the basis of the annual report on human rights that it will be

presenting in October on behalf of the Council. Its relations with the new human rights

Sub-committee should be built on reporting and consulting on the preparation, conduct and

follow-up to the human rights dimension of political dialogue meetings, in particular the

forthcoming sessions of the human rights dialogues with China and Iran.

Amnesty International calls on the Dutch Presidency to present the Council annual report on

human rights directly to the European Parliament, and to establish a regular engagement

with the European Parliament’s new Sub-committee on Human Rights.

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1 Amnesty International Report 2004, London 26 May 2004.

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