Subcommittee on Human Rights’ MEPs discussed the promotion and defence of human rights worldwide and how to support the human rights pillar of the United Nations.

The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights visited the United Nations (UN) bodies in Geneva, including the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 19-20 May. The visit took place in the run-up to the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter next month. MEPs held discussions with high-level stakeholders involved in protecting and promoting human rights worldwide. These talks focused on the significant challenges facing the UN’s human rights pillar and the UN’s work in a range of geographical and thematic areas.

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Following the visit, the Human Rights Subcommittee Chair Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, FR) said: "We call on the European Union to strongly reaffirm its commitment to the universality of human rights and respect for international humanitarian law. In the face of increasing attacks on fundamental principles, we urge the EU and its Member States to refrain from double standards, which undermine their credibility and fuel mistrust. We must do everything possible to preserve the multilateral rules-based order, defend human dignity everywhere, without exception, and put human rights at the heart of our foreign, security and cooperation policy."

Background

The visit took place against the backdrop of critical underfunding of the UN system, which is severely threatening its ability to promote and protect human rights effectively. The MEPs urged the international community, including the EU and its member states, to continue to support the UN’s vital work. They specifically emphasised the need to support the Human Rights Council and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, seriously affected by the spending cuts. 

In the current context, it is of the utmost importance for the EU to build broader coalitions and alliances to promote and protect human rights. Such coalitions are crucial to countering growing attempts to undermine the universality of human rights, in reacting to human rights violations and further developing the capacity to prevent them. They are also key to implementing the HRC’s resolutions and the recommendations made in the Universal Periodical Reviews more effectively, and to supporting the essential work of UN mechanisms on the ground. Against the background of shrinking space for civil society, their contributions to the work of the Human Rights Council must be preserved, MEPs said.

MEPs are also alarmed by the lack of respect for international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention, including the growing number of attacks against humanitarian workers and undermining of civilian protection in conflict zones. The discussions during this visit centred on the critical situations in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gaza, Ukraine, and other countries experiencing severe conflict.

During their visit, the MEPs met with representatives of several UN bodies and mechanisms as well as international organisations, including Vice-President of the Human Rights Council Razvan Rusu; Director for Global Operations of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Maarit Kohonen Sheriff; Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Martin Chungong; and Chief of staff of the International Organisation for Migration Mohammed Abdiker. They also met experts responsible for UN special procedures, and high-level representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Labour Organisation. The DROI delegation had meetings with several ambassadors of EU and non-EU countries and with representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on human rights issues within the UN system.

The delegation was chaired by the Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, France), and also included MEPs Reinhold Lopatka (EPP, Austria), Isabel Wiseler-Lima (EPP, Luxembourg), and Rima Hassan (The Left, France).