About: charter of human rights

Defending human rights is a shared responsibility

The United States and the EU share common values and are at the front-line in defending human rights, US Ambassador Gordon Sondland writes on the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Theresa May dealt another Brexit defeat in parliament

Prime Minister Theresa May received another Brexit blow on Monday (23 April) when Britain's upper House of Lords voted for a measure to retain a key European Union human rights charter.

EU civil society at a crossroads

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Factors ranging from lack of funding to mounting political pressure have sparked a discussion regarding the future of civil society organisations in the EU.

NGOs tell Germany to stop blocking anti-discrimination directive

Almost all EU member states are in favour of a planned Union-wide directive against discrimination. Only Berlin objects, and has been targeted by human rights associations, demanding that it stop blocking the legislation. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU lifts Myanmar sanctions, except arms embargo

The European Union has agreed to lift all sanctions on Myanmar, except for an arms embargo, despite a Human Rights Watch report which accused authorities of complicity in the mass killing of Muslims in the west of the country last year.

Hungary constitution ‘Trojan horse for authoritarianism’

The new Hungarian constitution, expected to be adopted in Budapest today (18 April), has been severely criticised by civil liberties groups and Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the European Parliament's liberal fraction, who called it "a Trojan horse for a more authoritarian political system in Hungary based on the perpetuation of one party rule".

Rice visit overshadowed by CIA prison allegations

With alleged CIA prisons in Europe in the focus of European interest, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is failing, on her tour of European capitals in December 2005, to raise attention for transatlantic co-operation.

Views polarise on civil liberties versus terrorist threat

As the EU, member state governments and the United States press ahead with anti-terror legislation, a European Civil Liberties Network has been launched raising questions as to the need, the efficacy and the underlying fundamental dangers of such moves.

A thin line between freedom and security

A Centre for European Policy Studies conference has thrown up questions as to the potential dangers to civil liberties from the EU’s current approach to security.

House of Lords: UK law breaches Human Rights convention

The House of Lords has ruled that the UK Government is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by holding nine "suspected international terrorists" in indefinite detention without trial. 

Why the EU should accede to the European Convention on Human Rights