Sous-commission Droits de l'homme (DROI) - Parlement européen

On the occasion of the upcoming World Food Day DROI welcomes on 13th October an exchange of views on the Right to Food. The Right to food is a basic human right. It aims to guarantee everyone's access to sufficient, accessible and appropriate food and ensure that no one, nowhere, should ever suffer from hunger, food insecurity or malnutrition. It is a matter of justice and respect for human rights.
This exchange of views aims to put forward possible strategies elaborated at EU level to preserve et protect the right to food and the right of peasants worldwide.

The UN Special Representative on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri - who will participate remotely - will present us the latest developments and most topical issues linking right to food and human rights in a challenging global context. Geneviève Savigny, member of the UN working Group on the Right of Peasant and Vincent Delobel, farmer and representative of Via Campesina will also participate in the exchange to raise the violations of rights faced by peasants, such as limited access to land, adequate food and markets.
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

At its meeting on 13 October the Subcommittee on Human Rights will be hosting an exchange of views on the International Day to End Impunity against Journalists

Established by the UN General Assembly and commemorated on 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity against Journalist serves as an opportunity to reflect on the increasingly precarious environment that journalists have to operate in so that they can shine a light on facts and speak truth to power. At DROI meeting MEPs will have the opportunity to hear personal testimonies from journalists operating in dire conditions, representatives of civil society as well as international institutions who will provide the Subcommittee on the urgent need to comprehensively address crimes committed against journalisms and to reinforce our tools and processes for holding the perpetrators of such heinous crimes accountable.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On 23 September, the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Development, together with the Subcommittee on Human Rights, presented the candidates for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of the most important events of the European Parliament. On 16 October, the AFET and DEVE committees will meet again to narrow down the list of nominees to a three-candidate shortlist, via a secret vote.
Each year the Sakharov Prize reaffirms the European Parliament's unwavering commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights, a founding principle of the European Union. The winning 2025 laureate(s) will be announced on 22 October by the Conference of Presidents (EP President and political group leaders) and an exchange of views with the laureate(s) will take place in a joint Committee meeting on 15 December. The Prize will be presented to the laureate(s) at an award ceremony during the December plenary, on 16 December.
Sakharov Prize website
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Durée de la vidéo : 150'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 90'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Five members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) were in Bangladesh from 16 to 18 September 2025. The mission took place at a pivotal moment in Bangladesh’s democratic transition following the July protests of 2024, which led to the fall of Seikh’s Hassina’s administration. Elections are scheduled to take place in February 2026.

The mission also came at a crucial moment for EU-Bangladesh relations amidst the ongoing negotiations for a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the dispatching of an exploratory mission to assess the deployment of an EU Election Observation Mission in the upcoming general elections.

The Members met with government officials, representatives of civil society, Bangladeshi youth and international organisations. Additionally, the DROI delegation visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar at a critical juncture for the international organisations that are operating on the ground, as the recent decision of the US administration to proceed with major cuts in USAID has significantly diminished the ability of these organisations to continue delivering essential resources, including food, and services to the refugees residing in the camps.

Press release
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Durée de la vidéo : 120'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 105'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Durée de la vidéo : 105'

Clause de non-responsabilité : L'interprétation des débats facilite la communication mais ne constitue en aucun cas un enregistrement authentifié des débats. Seuls le discours original ou la traduction écrite révisée du discours original peuvent être considérés authentiques.
Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

The nominees for this year’s Prize were presented by the political groups in a joint meeting of the Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Development (DEVE) and the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) in Brussels on 23 September. Each year, the Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In 2024, the Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela, and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia.

The AFET and DEVE Committees will vote on a shortlist of three finalists on 16 October and the Conference of Presidents will take a decision on the final laureate on 22 October.
Sakharov Prize - Presentation of the nominees - Webstreaming link
Sakharov Prize website
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

The next ordinary meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights is scheduled to take place on 24 September (9:00-12:30 and 15:00-18:30) and 25 September 2025 (9:00-11:30).
Meeting room: SPAAK 5B001 (Brussels)
DROI meetings - 2025
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Mardi, les groupes politiques du Parlement et les députés présenteront leurs candidats pour le Prix Sakharov pour la liberté de l’esprit 2025.
Commission des affaires étrangères
Commission du développement
Sous-commission "Droits de l'homme"

Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

Source : © Union européenne, 2025 - PE

On 19-20 May, DROI Subcommittee travelled to Geneva for meetings with the United Nations Human Rights Council, other UN bodies active in the field of human rights, relevant Geneva-based international organisations, and civil society organisations.
Location : Geneva
Press release
Mission report
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On 24 September (15.00-17.00) the DROI Subcommittee and the FEMM Committee are organising a public hearing on ‘The EU strategy to promote and to protect human rights of women worldwide (notably in Afghanistan & Iran, with a focus on fighting gender apartheid)’. Representatives of the EU, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and Amnesty International will participate in the exchange while human rights defenders and journalists will share their personal testimonies.

This public hearing will assess the current global trends, examine the global human rights situation for women, especially in Iran and Afghanistan, and discuss the overall EU strategy to protect women's rights worldwide. It aims to put forward concrete proposals to complement currently implemented strategies in support of persecuted women. Additionally, the hearing aims to assess how international legal mechanisms could recognise gender apartheid in order to bring perpetrators to justice.

This discussion is particularly pertinent in the current geopolitical environment, where a regress of gender equality is becoming globally apparent.

Members of the Iran and Afghanistan Parliamentary Delegations and of DEVE Committee have been also invited. The hearing is public and will be webstreamed.
Location : Brussels, Room: SPAAK 5B1
Draft programme
Live streaming
Accelerating progress on Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5): Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls
Women's rights in Afghanistan: An ongoing battle
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

At its meeting on 25 of September the Subcommittee on Human Rights presents a study on Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) to highlight their courageous work in an increasing difficult environment.

The study "Environmental human rights defenders: New developments and their implications for the European Union and the European Parliament" reports on recent vital breakthroughs, driven partly by EHRDs, including recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the United Nations, as well as progress from voluntary guidelines to binding provisions on human rights and sustainability due diligence. Nevertheless, at the meeting MEPs will discuss how current initiatives as the revision of the Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive could threaten these advancements. Recommendations are provided for the EU to strengthen the realisation of EHRDs' rights and their role as custodians of the right to a healthy environment, not only for themselves but also for others who cannot raise their voices.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On 24 September (15.00-17.00) the DROI Subcommittee and the FEMM Committee are organising a public hearing on ‘The EU strategy to promote and to protect human rights of women worldwide (notably in Afghanistan & Iran, with a focus on fighting gender apartheid)’. Representatives of the EU, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and Amnesty International will participate in the exchange while human rights defenders and journalists will share their personal testimonies.

This public hearing will assess the current global trends, examine the global human rights situation for women, especially in Iran and Afghanistan, and discuss the overall EU strategy to protect women's rights worldwide. It aims to put forward concrete proposals to complement currently implemented strategies in support of persecuted women. Additionally, the hearing aims to assess how international legal mechanisms could recognise gender apartheid in order to bring perpetrators to justice.

This discussion is particularly pertinent in the current geopolitical environment, where a regress of gender equality is becoming globally apparent.

Members of the Iran and Afghanistan Parliamentary Delegations and of DEVE Committee have been also invited. The hearing is public and will be webstreamed.
Location : Brussels
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On 24 September, at 15.00-17.00 (Brussels) the DROI Subcommittee and the FEMM Committee are organising a public hearing on ‘The EU strategy to promote and to protect human rights of women worldwide (notably in Afghanistan & Iran, with a focus on fighting gender apartheid)’.
Representatives of the European Union, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and Amnesty International will participate in the exchange, while human rights defenders and journalists will share their personal testimonies. Members of the Iran and Afghanistan Parliamentary Delegations and of DEVE Committee have been also invited.

This public hearing will assess the current global trends, examine the global human rights situation for women, especially in Iran and Afghanistan, and discuss the overall EU strategy to protect women's rights worldwide. It aims to put forward concrete proposals to complement currently implemented strategies in support of persecuted women. Additionally, the hearing aims to assess how international legal mechanisms could recognise gender apartheid in order to bring perpetrators to justice.

This discussion is particularly pertinent in the current geopolitical environment, where a regress of gender equality is becoming globally apparent.
Public hearing page
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP