There is no rational justification for a demand for the “reunification” of Taiwan with the PRC writes Aaron Rhodes. Xi Jinping and other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders are ramping up rhetoric about the necessity of “unifying” China by bringing Taiwan under their control as a “sacrosanct mission of the entire Chinese people.” Since 1949,…
One of the most significant rulings in 2021, for those who keep a close eye on human rights, was the decision by the High Court of Justice inLondon that Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu must not be extradited to Romania, highlighting concerns about Romania’s legal system. Popoviciu’s case drew attention to the fact that the Romania…
Parliament said it “condemns the repeated persecution and the recent politically motivated” attempts by Russian authorities to shut down the two legal entities of the human rights organisation Memorial – International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Centre. MEPs also called for all charges against Memorial to be dropped immediately and for guarantees that the…
On the occasion of the Sakharov Prize 2021 ceremony in Strasbourg on Wednesday, MEPs said they want to pay tribute to all defenders of human rights in Russia. Like Andrei Sakharov, the eminent nuclear physicist and Soviet dissident, MEPs said they “courageously fight for democracy, truth and political freedom, despite efforts by the Kremlin to…
Commenting on today’s Foreign Affairs Council as well as tomorrow’s General Affairs Council, German MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, Foreign Policy Coordinator of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, has backed a diplomatic boycott of the winter Olympics in China. He said: “The Foreign Affairs Council and the General Affairs Council of the EU must prove…
A pioneering United Nations initiative that advocates a commitment to human rights has won the support of its latest backer. The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was launched in 2000 and is a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices. The UNGC is non-binding UN pact to encourage businesses and…
The S&D Group says it is laying the groundwork for a solidarity-based response system in the EU’s common and asylum policy when faced with crisis situations. In the draft report of the crisis regulation, LIBE chair and rapporteur Juan Fernando López Aguilar is proposing a new mandatory relocation framework to share responsibility and wants to…
The Socialists and Democrats have called on the European Commission to keep its word and finally present a strong directive to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and girls. The S&Ds demand that the European Union recognise violence against women and girls as a serious crime in the treaty’s catalogue of crimes with…
The European Investment Bank (EIB) – the financial arm of the EU – has approved a new Transparency Policy that will allow the bank to keep hiding information on projects it finances despite their potential impacts on people and the environment. The new policy, it is claimed, “further deteriorates” transparency conditions at the EIB…
Klubrádió, one of Hungary’s few remaining independent radio stations, says that it has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after being forced off the airwaves in Hungary. Klubrádió is arguing that the Hungarian state violated the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression and the right to information….
