One may well anticipate the abuse of Interpol’s Red Notice system by Kremlin to persecute its political adversaries. However, such abuse of the Schengen Information System by the government of an EU Member State in order to silence its critic is quite shocking – says Euan MacDonald.
On 17 August, having heard about the detention (on the request of the Polish government), and, subsequently, expulsion from the EU territory of the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation Lyudmyla Kozlovska, MEP from the Green faction, Rebecca Harms expressed her shock.
The Polish right-wing government is still finding new instruments to attack democracy and the rule of law. However, the government has now set a truly surprising precedent. Warsaw has used its EU power to deport critics of the government.
The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) received a letter from the office of Mr. Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, providing responses and explanations regarding the two Polish MEPs’ questioning of the legitimacy of ODF’s registration on the Transparency Register
Poland placed Lyudmyla Kozlovska on the Schengen Information System (SIS) alert list which resulted in her immediate deportation from the EU territory. This opened yet another stage of the battle led by the Polish Government against the Open Dialogue Foundation, considering that Bartosz… (read more)
Mady Delvaux, Member of the European Parliament, who met Kazakhstani human rights defender Elena Semenova in the European Parliament in early July, demands an end to her political prosecution.
On 20 July, 2018, in Pavlodar, three police officers detained the well-known human rights activist Elena Semenova at her home. She managed to write an SMS to her colleagues saying: “I’m being taken to the Department of Internal Affairs. They came for me” .
On 12 July 2018, eight MEPs signed an open letter addressed to President Nazarbayev decrying the human rights situation in Kazakhstan. MEPs J. Stetina, P. Austrevicius, T. Kelam, W. Klinz, A. Gomes, H. Hautala, V. Mazuronis and J. Nart denounced the reduction of the space for civil liberties.
On the occasion of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a delegation of civil society activists from Poland and the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) held a series of bilateral meetings with PACE Members and Permanent Representations to the Organisation.
On the occasion of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a delegation of civil society activists from Poland and the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) held a series of bilateral meetings with PACE Members and Permanent Representations to the Organisation.
During the summer session of PACE, twenty-two members signed a written declaration, deploring the use of torture in detention facilities and the lack of investigation related to this systemic practice in Kazakhstan, as well as the severe violations of the right to peaceful assembly.
“Just as in 1980 there could not be freedom without solidarity, today there can not be freedom without the rule of law!” – former President Lech Wałęsa appeals to the European Commission regarding the reform of the Supreme Court in Poland, which will come into force on 3 July 2018.
On 24 May 2018, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of PACE adopted two draft resolutions expressing its concern over new legislations and restrictions on NGOs’ activities in member States of the CoE and calling for the need to strengthen the important role of human rights defenders.
On March 21, MEP Tomáš Zdechovský submitted a written question to the EU VP/HR on the arbitrary detention and use of torture taking place in Kazakhstan. This comes after an appeal submitted to president Nazarbayev by seven MEPs who expressed their concern about the current situation of human rights.
On April 9, 2018, MEPs – Jaromír Štětina, Julie Ward, Tomáš Zdechovský – addressed the Ministry of Justice and General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Moldova with regard to the attacks currently being organised against independent lawyers, pro-reform activists, and judges in the country.
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