Civil Society comments on the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2015‐2019): Actions on Human Rights Defenders

The European Exernal Action Serviceshared with civil society the 28 April 2015 Joint Communication by the EuropeanCommission and the High Representative of the European Union for ForeignAffairs and Security Policy for the elaboration of a new Action Plan on HumanRights and Democracy for the period 2015-2019 (hereafter the Action Plan).

The undersigned civil society organisationswould like to express their satisfaction that a number of our proposals[1]have been incorporated to the draft EU Action Plan on Human Rights andDemocracy. Still, many of the concrete, strategic recommendations advanced bycivil society and by Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) themselves, must urgently betaken forward. Once the Action Plan is finalised with input from variousinstitutions at European Union (EU) and member state level and from civilsociety, the true challenge will be to deliver on these commitments and to makeEU engagement for security, protection and support for Human Rights Defenders areality.

- TheStrategic Framework on HR&D adopted in 2012 is recognised in theintroduction of the Action Plan as the embodiment of how the EU planned tofulfill “its Treaty obligation to advance democracy, the rule of law, as wellas the universality and indivisibility of human rights”. Our organisationsbelieve that the Action Plan as a whole should reflect this position byreferring more clearly to the planned activities as obligations.

Our organisations find it a positive step that thenew Action Plan pays particular attention to several categories of HRDs in needof special protection such as those working on economic, social and cultural rights,those working in rural areas or women HRDs.

- Ourorganisations would like to suggest that HRDs working on Business and HumanRights be likewise specifically mentioned in point 9.b since they constituteone of the most targeted categories of HRD.

- Theplan should include specific actions in order to facilitate emergency measuresof protection such as relocation and emergency visas for HRDs.

The draft Action Plan also rightly acknowledgesthe role of HRDs as agents of change and explicitly addresses their need for protectionin several parts of the Action Plan.

- Atthe same time, we believe the protection of HRDs and the promotion of their keyrole must be fully mainstreamed throughout the whole document. The specificmention of HRDs must be included with respect to the following areas: thepromotion of domestic actors’ participation in reform processes (point 5.a);the improvement of the quality of consultations organised by the EU at locallevel (point 7.c); the promotion of an enabling environment for civil society(point 10.b); the engagement with civil society for the implementation of the UnitedNations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on business and human rights (point 17.a); themainstreaming of human rights in operational guidance for staff of missionswhich should explicitly include the particular role and needs of HRDs (point22.a); the section on trade/investment policy should includean action on integratingthe protection of HRDs into bilateral and multilateral agreements, makingexplicit that space for independent civil society is a prerequisite foranti-corruption efforts, good governance, effective development orpeace-building (point 24) ; the issue of consultation with relevant stakeholder groups exposed tomajor human rights risks within the human rights impact assessment procedures,where HRDs play a crucial role (point 27.a).

Moreover, our organisations would like tohighlight several critical points that should be included in order to achieve asystematic and comprehensive approach to HRDs as stated in point 9.a:

- Acoherent and concrete HRD strategy should be developed with the participationof civil society organisations, including a vision for short-term action by theEU as well as more nuanced tools for the mid and long-term cases.

- Inorder to ensure a more systematic follow-up to individual cases as provided inaction 30.b, actions taken on human rights defenders' cases by the EU andmember states at headquarters and in delegations should be tracked anddocumented through a centralised system of follow-up.

- Thisstrategy must feature specific, targeted measures to respond to the detentionof HRDs, including a commitment to develop a clear communication policy and to defineexplicit benchmarks and decision-making processes on how the EU will advocatestrongly, effectively and consistently for the release of arbitrarily arrestedor imprisoned HRDs. Similarly, in Action number 10 on “Addressing threats toNGO space”, the EU and its member states must make a specific commitment tooppose unjustified criminalisation of HRDs though public and private messaging.

- TheEU and member states should assist and support governments and promoteparticipation of local civil society in developingand implementing public policies and mechanisms for the protection of HRDs;and/or in advocating for the amendment or abrogation of restrictive laws; andin the fight against impunity for human rights violations committed againstHRDs

- Inthe new Action Plan and in its concrete strategy on HRDs, the EU and its memberstates should pledge to play a leading role on the international arenaregarding HRDs and adopt a pro-active stance that goes beyond solely“continuing to support and cooperate with international mechanisms” and“enhancing support for multilateral initiatives on HRDs”.

- Avery strong message in this regard would be a commitment to dedicate an annual ForeignAffairs Council meeting to the discussion of EU and member state efforts to achievethe release of jailed HRDs, issuing conclusions on present and plannedengagement on HRDs as well as mentioning the most prominent and emblematic casesfaced throughout the year.

Finally, our organisations regret that no publicassessment of the previous Action Plan has been carried out which we consider asa missed opportunity. Consequently,we would also like to point out that the Action Plan must include a detailed methodologyand a strategy detailing objectives, responsibilities and timeframes. Such anapproach will enable the EU and member states to better deliver on theircommitments on HRDs in the EU Guidelines, the Council Conclusions of June 2014and this new Action Plan. In addition, this will also allow for meaningful andeffective monitoring and evaluation throughout the four years of implementation:

- Astrategy with more precise objectives, action points, attribution ofresponsibilities, timeframes, benchmarks and indicators must be developed todefine EU and member state work to protect and support HRDs. All efforts shouldbe made to attribute specific responsibilities to specific actors within theEU, to reinforce delivery on commitments, and to promote accountability, monitoring,evaluation and follow up of the EU Action Plan.

- TheEU and member state strategy, along with annual or bi-annual working plans withspecific and measurable actions, must be developed and shared with civilsociety organisations in order to ensure the complete fulfillment of thecommitments included in the Action plan. A regular exchange with civil societyand with HRDs on the progress of work under the Action plan (and relatedstrategies / working plans) will be vital to ensuring transparency,accountability and relevance of EU and member state work with HRDs.

- Anymonitoring and evaluation strategy for this Action plan should recognise the keyrole civil society organisations should play in such a process in order to ensuretransparency and to promote the sharing of best practices among different EU andmember state bodies involved in the implementation of the action plan.

We welcome your engagement to support human rightsdefenders worldwide and look forward to continuing our positive dialogue toensure EU and member state action to promote and protect their vital work.

o Frontline Defenders

o International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

o Justice and Peace

o Peace Brigades International (PBI)

o Protection International

o World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)