Opening remarks by High Representative/Vice President Kaja Kallas at the 26th EU-NGO Human Rights Forum
Dear Human Rights Defenders,
This is the 26th time we hold the Human Rights Forum But 26 years on, we still have plenty of challenges before us.
As this is my first time here, I will seize the opportunity to tell you how I see human rights as part of our foreign policy.
One thing is what we do and another thing is how we do it. So I also want to talk today about the European Union’s approach in defending human rights. The ‘how’ also has a lot to do with you, which is why it is good to be together today.
Starting with the “what”. I have three points.
First, Human Rights are a strategic asset.
That is especially true today, when the world is more geopolitical, contested and transactional than ever before.
If we are to help shape this strange new world, we need to adjust. But it is a mistake to think that we must choose between our interests and values. Our values are also our interests.
At the same time, our ability to lead on norms, quality and standard setting, including on human rights and democracy, depends on our being an economic powerhouse.
For the EU to stay competitive and innovative means making complex choices and partnerships. Making policy is like making sausages—you may like the result, but you don’t necessarily want to know how and what goes into the sausage.
The clearest example of the sausage machine today is a paradoxical one. While the EU was established as a peace project, we now find ourselves with an existential war raging on our doorstep for four years already.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine requires historic efforts from the European Union. But it has not stopped us from working to protect human rights and democracy.
In fact, we have doubled down on our efforts to support both.
The work we are doing to address accountability for war crimes and help the Ukrainian people to address horrendous breeches of human rights, is part of this. Ukraine is also pursuing remarkable reforms in an effort to join the European Union.
But the accusations of double standards when it comes to the conflict in Gaza have not fallen on deaf ears.
Let me underline that our approach is no different. The only difference is the division amongst Member States as to the policy we pursue which puts limits on what we can achieve.
But our consistent support for the ceasefire, my personal intervention to get humanitarian aid in, our pushing for a sustainable peace based on international law, human rights and the two-state solution, is just as persistent.
The EU’s action to protect human rights is worldwide.
And I am absolutely determined, together with our Member States and the European Parliament, to maintain a world-leading level of funding for human rights and democracy around the globe.
Second, Human Rights and international law is the basis of the EU’s foreign policy. The EU is committed to the international rules-based order. Because the ultimate power of the law is simple: it is always a chance for progress.
That is why the European Union continues to support international law and multilateral institutions, norms and procedures. We were also instrumental in setting these up so we have to ensure our own compliance across the board.
A commitment to human rights informs every aspect of our external policy, including ensuring commitments to human rights before granting Free Trade Agreements or trade preferences. We can then use these tools to promote and enforce international standards.
The EU, with our Member States, is the largest provider of development and humanitarian cooperation in the world.
The fact that we pursue a human rights-based approach for all EU external assistance, including in our premier investment strategy, Global Gateway, is no small feat.
Third, Human Rights are the foundation for durable peace. This year we marked the ten-year anniversary of the EU’s policy on transitional justice. At its core, this policy rests on the conviction that there can be no sustainable peace without justice, no reconciliation without truth and no lasting stability without the rule of law.
These sound like lofty principles but our practice proves they’re not:
- we support justice sector reform in the Central African Republic, including the country’s Special Criminal Court.
- We are moving fast to get the Special Tribunal for Ukraine up and running.
- For 9 years already we have hosted a “Day of Dialogue” with Syrian civil society representatives, held for the first time this year in Damascus.
- Some weeks ago, the EU supported the decision by the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent investigation to gather evidence on allegations of human rights violations in Afghanistan.
Now, on the ‘how’. Two more points.
Number one: Protecting Human Rights start from home. If the EU wants to be credible in promoting and protecting human rights abroad, we need to fight inequality and promote non-discrimination right here in the European Union.
We know that we have our own challenges. But we are not afraid to recognise our own imperfections. Awareness of a problem does not mean resigning to it. Rather, acknowledging and accepting a struggle is the first step toward working on it. And it is also an excellent starting point for dialogue with others on their own challenges.
Moreover, standing up for human rights is a treaty obligation of the European Union. This is why we have a Charter of Fundamental Rights.
This is also why the European Union funds a specialised independent body, the Fundamental Rights Agency, to provide research, surveys and give expert advice to policymakers. We actually invite constructive criticism because it pushes us to do better. Because if we cannot look in the mirror, we can hardly ask others to do so.
And number two: defending Human Rights is a team sport. Individuals, groups, NGOs and civil society are part of our team fighting for, monitoring and alerting about human rights violations worldwide.
There are many sceptics out there who question why the EU pays so much attention to human rights defenders and civil society representatives. The primary responsibility for protecting human rights lies with states. But you have the experience and skills we do not have ourselves:
- NGOs often have better access to sources, especially in the field. You know that victims are often more willing to speak to NGO representatives than to government officials.
- NGOs are persistent - if not to say stubborn!. They are staffed by people like you, driven by the strength of their convictions. They are often aided by volunteers passionate and fully dedicated to their causes.
- NGOs “stay on message” and provide continuity. This can be lacking where governments, especially foreign services, rotate people from one posting to the next.
- NGOs also stay with an issue for the long run, setting up monitoring mechanisms that give feedback quickly and with accuracy.
- And working closely with NGOs acts as a force multiplier. It is like having an extra department or two in your Foreign Ministry. This is why we are happy to support NGOs through our cooperation programmes.
But because we place such importance on working with individuals like you, ten years ago we set up the Protect Defenders programme, together with 12 NGOs, to offer robust support when you come under pressure. We provide emergency support, temporary relocation, training and much more.
For instance, we provided emergency relocation support for a journalist from Peru who disappeared following work on freedom of expression. When a defender in Myanmar faced imminent detention and legal action, we arranged their urgent relocation to safety. Or an organisation in Georgia was under cyberattack so we helped it boost its security setup.
I could go on, because through this mechanism, we have supported some 94 thousand human rights defenders worldwide since the program started in 2015.
Dear friends,
Let me end with a personal reflection.
Until I was a teenager, I had little understanding of what human rights meant in real life because I was living under occupation. Or that in 1948, the world community had agreed on a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted by a multinational committee that Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States chaired. And that this Universal Declaration codified five categories of rights: civil, political, economic, social and cultural. Which were defined as being indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.
My lived experience was totally different. It was that we could not vote in free and fair elections, write or speak as we wanted or count on an independent judiciary. We could not study what we wanted, work where we chose or celebrate our language and traditions.
You get the picture.
It was only when the opportunity arose to reinstate independence and the rule of law that I began to experience what human rights really meant in everyday life. And that is when civil society, as we know it, was able to function again in my country.
It is because of this, that I remember a time without human rights that I value them so highly. And why I value your work so highly. Human rights defenders and independent civil society are the lifeblood of more equal and resilient societies. You raise awareness, you make noise, you give a voice to those who cannot speak.
Thank you for doing this. And keep on doing what you do!