Amnesty International's Memorandum |
Proposal for a strengthened protection of human rights by the European Union
in the context of the
INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFERENCE 1996
Appalling human rights catastrophes have shocked the world since the Treaty on European Union entered into force in November 1993. In particular, in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda thousands of men, women and children have been tortured, killed or "disappeared". The role of the European Union, particularly in respect of the former Yugoslavia, has been the subject of intense scrutiny. These recent developments have called into question the effectiveness of the Treaty on European Union in securing and promoting human rights protection by the European Union in the international community.Respect for human rights within the European Union is also inadequate. The restrictive measures taken by the Member States of the Union in the context of harmonising their asylum policies have severely limited the possibilities for asylum seekers to reach the EU's borders. When they do, all too often recommendations adopted in the EU context allow that they be sent back to a state through which they passed en route or indeed to their country without adequate or satisfactory procedural guarantees. These Union policies have been adopted notwithstanding criticism from non-governmental organisations and in some cases the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) itself.
Amnesty International calls upon the Member States of the European Union to take the opportunity of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to place the respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the heart of the legal basis of the Union. The European Union's foundation as primarily a trade agreement has deprived it of a clear and coherent human rights basis. As the spheres of activity of the Union have now embraced ever increasing and diverse aspects of human endeavour, including foreign policy, it is time for this defect to be remedied. Amnesty International is concerned about the protection of human rights in practice over and above paper guarantees. In the context of the structural changes to the Union under consideration in the Intergovernmental Conference, Amnesty International considers that the priority is not to add new declarations in favour of human rights, but rather to ensure that the existing ones are put into practice, through providing new instruments within the European Union framework with sufficient power and resources to improve human rights protection in all spheres of Union activity. Of course, the Treaty is not the place for an extensive description of these new tools , but a specific reference in the Treaty would, according to Amnesty, be an important step towards ensuring that these tools will be implemented in the near future in the EU context.
Amnesty International has identified four main topics which should be under consideration during the IGC and which have direct relevance to its concerns. For each of these topics, Amnesty International puts forward concrete recommendations. These are as follows:
1. A consistent and coherent external policy concerning human rights: The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as currently structured has proven inadequate to respond effectively to grave human rights violations. Making protection of human rights a cornerstone of the Common Foreign and Security Policy is only possible if this policy is characterised by coherence, co-ordination and clear divisions of competence among the various actors in external policies, all aspects which are currently lacking. Amnesty International invites the IGC to introduce the concept of a human rights impact assessment to be conducted for important decisions under consideration at EU level.
2. Guarantees for a justiciable right for asylum-seekers and refugees who seek protection in the European Union to benefit from an effective and durable protection against refoulement: Amnesty International has frequently expressed its concern at the ever downward spiral of protection for asylum seekers and refugees in Europe. Any revision of the Treaty on European Union should prevent further erosion of the system of international protection for asylum-seekers and refugees and ensure that harmonisation of asylum policies corresponds to the highest protection standards. Reference in the Treaty on European Union to the respect of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and to the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has proven insufficient to ensure full compliance by the Member States with international protection standards for refugees and asylum- seekers. EU Member States should also commit themselves to fully respect other international instruments, such as the Conclusions of the UNHCR Executive Committee and the Handbook of the UNHCR on Procedures and Criteria for determining Refugee Status.
European Union Member States should exploit the opportunity of the IGC to guarantee a justiciable right for asylum seekers and refugees who seek protection in the European Union to benefit from an effective and durable protection against refoulement. They should commit themselves fully to respect their international obligations.
3. An effective guarantee for human rights protection by the EU institutions for everyone staying on the territory of the European Union:Amnesty International calls on the European Union Member States to ensure an effective protection of human rights on the territory of the Union. According to Amnesty International, this could best be achieved by amending the Treaty of Rome to allow accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). In the light of the future enlargement of the Union, notably to Central and Eastern European countries, and the importance of the ECHR as the foremost regional human rights instrument in Europe, the Union should now commit itself formally to respect for the ECHR and subject itself to the enforcement mechanisms of that convention. If accession to the ECHR is not considered appropriate, Amnesty International would in any case favour changes in the Treaty which could provide similar guarantees.
4. Transparency and accountability at EU level about transfers of military, security and police equipment and expertise to allow a proper control on those transfers which are likely to contribute to grave human rights violations: Amnesty International calls on the Member States to seize the opportunity of the IGC to establish a framework of transparency and accountability at EU level in the field of military, security and police transfers. In the present context of internationalisation of trade, it is crucial that information about those transfers is available at the level of the European Union to permit proper control to take place. Amnesty International is in favour of such control, to prevent those transfers which are reasonably expected to contribute to serious human rights violations. An EU Code of Conduct on Arms Trade would be a good first step in that direction.
Concerning each of these four topics, Amnesty International calls for the principles of transparency and accountability to be incorporated in the EU treaties as a fundamental basis for all activity. Therefore, Amnesty International recommends that a right to information of the public on matters concerning EU human rights issues is provided in the Treaty itself . This is ever more important as national Parliaments transfer control over decisions taken at the European Union level while the European Parliament lacks full legislative competence. Nowhere is the need for transparency more obvious than in the field of human rights, since decisions taken may directly affect the lives of people within the territory of the Union, as well as of people whose rights may be affected by EU foreign policy outside the Union. In order to achieve greater transparency and accountability, institutional issues must be addressed in the context of the IGC. Unless a proper and adequate framework is developed at EU level, an informed assessment and the monitoring of human rights compliance cannot take place, and the citizens, as well as their representative organisations cannot give their opinion.