“The total proscription of torture must not be open to question, even in the fight against terrorism”, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik declared on the occasion of the ninth International Day in support of Victims of Torture. “The campaign against torture was a priority of the Austrian Presidency in the area of human rights, and we also took some concrete measures in that area.”
All over the world, many people still fall victim to cruel torture. A number of specific measures were taken during Austria’s Presidency to combat torture. “Whenever cases of torture came to light, EU diplomatic missions in the countries concerned immediately intervened. Moreover, more than 40 countries were called on to issue an invitation to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture and to work together with the UN Committee against Torture”, Plassnik said.
The EU also intervened directly in other areas on behalf of individuals in acute danger: for example, there was intervention in over 30 cases in more than 15 countries against the implementation of the death penalty, and in more than 25 individual cases against arbitrary arrests and specific threats to human rights defenders. The Austrian Presidency clocked up more than 100 interventions in over 400 individual cases.
The Foreign Minister also cited further successes by the Austrian Presidency in other areas of human rights: “The EU’s role in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council was an important step towards strengthening the protection of human rights all over the world, and the new Council represents a real improvement on the Commission on Human Rights.“ As EU Presidency, Austria is currently endeavouring at the first session of the Human Rights Council to give the new body a form that can deliver the maximum benefit to human rights work everywhere.
The systematic broaching of human rights issues in all political dialogues and meetings with third countries was also intensified under the Austrian Presidency, Plassnik added. With China and the Russian Federation, a separate human rights dialogue was conducted, in the course of which sensitive topics were addressed openly.
A regular human rights dialogue was also instituted for the first time with the African Union. In addition, Plassnik had a meeting with women human rights defenders from Latin America in the run-up to the EU-Latin America/Caribbean Summit, in order to have their first-hand assessment of the human rights situation in their countries.
Another priority was an international campaign by the EU to protect women who defend the rights of others and are thereby often exposed to particular risks. “A personal meeting with women human rights defenders in the margins of the EU-Latin America Summit was therefore important to me, in order to get a personal and authentic assessment of the human rights situation from these committed women. We also succeeded in taking the first concrete steps towards taking account of the active role of women in the context of EU peace operations”, she added. A comprehensive set of recommendations was approved at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in June, which is designed to ensure more effective action by the EU to help activists at acute risk.
The minister concluded by saying that Austria takes compliance with human rights very seriously and that it will continue to work for an active human rights policy after the Presidency.
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