Geneva – The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor commends the EU Parliament for passing a resolution that calls to
impose sanctions on human rights abusers, and calls on the EU Commission to urgently expedite duly deliberations to
create solid mechanisms to enforce this resolution as a punitive measure and strong deterrent against state and
non-state actors involved in gross violations of human rights. The Euro-Med also calls on the EU Commission and EU
member states to take necessary measures to halt collaborations with state and individual human rights abusers, such as
partnership and trade agreements.
In March 2019, the EU Parliament adopted, by 447 to 70, the resolution called "Magnitsky Act," the demands the EU to
impose sanctions on human rights abusers. Yesterday, the EU Parliament adopted a text, by 496 to 113, that calls on the
European Commission and EU member states "to adopt a new, ambitious and binding Action Plan on Human Rights and
Democracy for the next five years."
The text passed yesterday emphasizes that "trade and human rights should reinforce one another" and calls on the
European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission to follow proper procedure to "enforce human rights
conditionality clauses in international agreements between EU and non-EU countries, and monitor serious human rights
violations."
Finally, the text calls for speeding up deliberations regarding the global EU human rights sanctions mechanism, also
known as Magnitsky Act, to enable targeted sanctions against states and individuals complicit in grave human rights
violations.
The Euro-Med Monitor commends yesterday's resolutions on the Magnitsky Act as a crucial milestone in advancing human
rights globally, ensuring that the EU principles would be put into practice and guaranteeing that the EU would neither
inadvertently nor deliberately condone or be complicit in human rights violations around the world.
At a time of increased human rights violations worldwide, deteriorating conditions and growing conflicts in the Middle
East, the Euro-Med Monitor emphasizes the urgency to activate such sanctions as a strong tool of deterrence against
human rights abusers.
Hence, we call on the EU commissioner, Ursula von der Leyen, to expedite the development of appropriate mechanisms to
enforce the Magnitsky Act as soon as possible. In the meantime, we equally assert the crucial importance of the EU
refraining from collaborating with state, none-state and individual human rights abusers, especially in regard to
partnership and trade agreements.