As the European Council meets in Brussels on 7 and 8 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) reminds the Heads of State and Government of the European Union of their pledge to promote human rights in the southern Mediterranean countries.
The Summit of the 27’s Heads of State and Government will focus on developments in the Arab world and the region. EMHRN welcomes the EU’s renewed pledge to help the “Arab Spring” countries steer their transition to democracy, but regards with dismay the failure to follow up the words with practical, joined-up measures to put the embracing of democracy and human rights, including gender equality and freedom of association and assembly, high on the EU agenda. EMHRN also reminds the EU leaders that establishing of real partnerships with independent civil society is more urgent than never in these countries.
Two years on from the emergence of the “Arab Spring” which changed the entire political landscape of the region, EMHRN points out – as shown by the latest set-backs in Tunisia and Egypt – that many countries face real threats to the establishment of human rights-based democracy.
EMHRN is therefore using this European Council as an opportunity to call the EU’s attention to people’s demands for it to implement as a matter of urgency its pledge of strong and coherent actions across the different countries of the region for democracy, human rights gender equality and social justice.
Read EMHRN’s press release of 10 December :
EU’s Human Rights Track Record for 2012: Has the Nobel Peace Prize failed to deliver in the Euromed?
Read the full text of the EMHRN Declaration: