• Human Rights in the European Union

    In the face of a political and economic crisis affecting the European Union and many of its member states, protection of human rights is rarely a priority – especially when those negatively affected were marginalized or unpopular groups, such as Roma, migrants, and asylum seekers. Despite deteriorating rights in Hungary and elsewhere, EU institutions largely failed to live up to the promise of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, with the European Council particularly reluctant to hold member states to account for abuse.

     

  • European Union flags fly in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels
    © Reuters 2012
    EU: Provide Protection for Syrian Refugees
    The European Union and its member states should do more to help the thousands of Syrian asylum seekers trying to reach Europe as the Syrian crisis worsens and winter sets in.
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Human Rights in the European Union

  • UK: Provide Clear Answers on Data Surveillance
    Jun 28, 2013
    Reports that the United Kingdom’s intelligence agency has intercepted and collected vast amounts of Internet and phone data raise serious concerns that the government has breached the privacy rights of millions of people in the UK and elsewhere.
  • Croatia: No Let Up on Rights Abuses
    Jun 28, 2013
    Croatia’s European Union (EU) accession on July 1 is an opportunity for the government to show its commitment to safeguard human rights and to properly address outstanding abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the Croatian prime minister, Zoran Milanović.
  • Letter to Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović
    Jun 28, 2013
    Croatia’s accession to the EU includes assuming the obligation to respect the principles of human dignity, democracy, and human rights as enshrined in the EU Treaty and further outlined in the legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights. The government should use the formal accession as an opportunity to further strengthen the protection of human rights in several areas of concern and implement necessary measures to improve legislation and practices.
  • Hungary Testing Europe’s Resolve on Rights
    Jun 28, 2013
    Hungary’s troubling record on rights is putting Europe to the test. How to respond to Budapest’s continued refusal to heed repeated calls for reform following critical assessments by a growing number of expert bodies has turned into a major preoccupation for Europe’s policymakers and parliamentarians.
  • Lithuania: Reopen Investigation Into Secret CIA Prisons
    Jun 25, 2013
    As Lithuania takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency it should lead by example, meet its legal obligations, and reopen its investigation into its own complicity in CIA secret prisons, US enforced disappearances, and alleged torture.
  • Letter on Hungary to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
    Jun 24, 2013
    Ahead of next week’s Assembly debate on the request to open a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urge PACE to support the Monitoring Committee’s recommendation to place Hungary under the Assembly’s monitoring procedure.
  • Council of Europe: Joint NGO Statement on Protocol 15 to the ECHR
    Jun 24, 2013
    On the occasion of the opening of Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights for signature by the Council of Europe member states, a coalition of 10 international NGOs stresses that the amendments to the Convention foreseen by this Protocol must not be allowed to result in a weakening of the Convention system and human rights protection in Europe.
  • The Turkish Protests – Still Standing
    Jun 21, 2013
    After the Turkish government’s forcible evacuation of Taksim Gezi Park on June 15, bringing to an end the 19-day occupation, police cordoned off the park. Regular police officers now guard its entrance from the square, seated on white plastic garden chairs in a long line at the top of the main steps. The park is sealed off with tape as though it were a crime scene.
  • US/Germany: End Mass Surveillance
    Jun 18, 2013
    On Tuesday (18 June), the German chancellor and the US president will embrace each other. Eyes will be shining as both sides praise the German-American friendship. After all, this visit from Washington is an election campaign present for Angela Merkel, and the president can hope for symbolic pictures to build his own legend.
  • Greece: Abusive Crackdown on Migrants
    Jun 12, 2013
    Athens police are conducting abusive stops and searches and have detained tens of thousands of people in a crackdown on irregular migration, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
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