“Front Line strongly welcomes the new resolution passed by the European Parliament plenary session today (Thursday), which pays tribute to the invaluable work of human rights defenders and sets out a range of new and renewed recommendations, including on issuing emergency visas and providing shelter in Europe, as additional forms of protection provided by the EU,” said Mary Lawlor, Executive Director of Front Line, in Dublin today.

Further Information

“The provision of emergency visas in particular is something that Front Line has been lobbying on for years as a way of giving practical force to the EU Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders which were adopted during the Irish Presidency in 2004,” she added.

The resolution calls on the EU High Representative to carry out a review of all current mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders and to implement new strategies which will mainstream the protection of human rights defenders through all the areas of the EU's external relations.

“If fully implemented this resolution would represent a major break through in firmly fixing the protection of human rights defenders at risk at the heart of the EU's external relations agenda,” said Ms Lawlor. /ENDs

Extracts of EP press release issued today:

More visibility for human rights defenders: To raise the profile of human rights defenders, the EU High Representative and all Commissioners with external relations responsibilities should systematically meet with human rights defenders when they travel officially in third countries.

Special attention to vulnerable groups: EU Human Rights policy should include targeted measures in favour of women human rights defenders and other particularly vulnerable groups, such as journalists and defenders working to promote economic, social and cultural rights, children's rights and minority rights, including those of religious and language minorities, indigenous peoples and LGBTI rights.

Civil society should be more extensively involved in preparing the EU's human rights dialogues with third countries, public attention should be drawn to individual cases, and human rights defenders' names should be made public provided it does not put them at risk.

Sakharov Prize network to be developed as a platform for supporting human rights defenders: MEPs plan to develop ways to use the Sakharov Prize network (launched in December 2008 on the 20th Anniversary of the Sakharov Prize), to help provide sustained support for human rights defenders.

For further Information please contact:

Dublin: Jim Loughran, Head of Communications, +353 1 212 37 50

Brussels: Vincent Forest, Head of EU Office +32 2 230 93 83