"On 2 January 2018, a rebel-controlled criminal court in Sanaa sentenced the Baha'i prisoner Hamid bin Haydara to death for allegedly collaborating with Israel and forging official documents. His execution, the date of which is unknown, is to be carried out in public. The sentence is the result of a fundamentally flawed process. I therefore call on the responsible Houthi leaders to make sure that Mr. Haydara's death sentence is repealed and that he and the other Baha'i prisoners are released."
MEPs call for elections in Democratic Republic of Congo, condemn violence in Nigeria and urge China to release human rights activists.
"I am delighted about the release of Professor Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), because his arrest had been particularly shocking for the European Parliament. In fact, Professor Merera Gudina had been arrested almost immediately after attending a meeting in the European Parliament on 9 November 2016 where the human rights situation in Ethiopia was discussed. Apparently the only charge brought against him was that he had communicated with another Ethiopian opposition politician during his visit to Brussels."
... and we call on the Russian authorities to immediately ensure his release and to provide him with all the necessary safeguards in the current proceedings." Full text below
The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights will take place on Wednesday 24 January 2018, from 09.00 - 12.30 and from 14.30 - 18.30, and on Thursday 25 January from 09.00 - 12.30, meeting room József Antall (6Q2)
Representatives of NGOs as well as other organisations are requested to accede to the EU Transparency Register and follow the procedures therein for access to the European Parliament."In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, initiated by Armenia, establishing 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. 9 December is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The purpose of this International Day is to draw attention to the role of the Genocide Convention in combating and preventing genocide and to commemorate and honour its victims."
The increasing harassments of human rights defenders, academics, civil servants, journalists, and artists culminated with the recent detention of Mr Osman Kavala, one of the most prominent and respected figures in Turkey's arts and culture scene...a bridge-builder, a man of dialogue and reconciliation," said Pier Antonio PANZERI, the Chair of the Subcommittee.