ISSN 1680-9742 QC-AA-05-001-EN-C EN EN COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION GENERAL SECRETARIAT European Union - Union European EU Annual Report This, the seventh EU Annual Report on Human Rights, records the actions and policies undertaken by the EU between 1 July 2004 and 30 on Human Rights June 2005 in pursuit of its goals to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. While not an exhaustive account, it Rights-2005 onHuman Annual Report highlights human rights issues that have given cause for concern and what the EU has done to address these, both within the Union and outside it. 2005 EU Annual Report on Human Rights 2005 EU Annual Report on Human Rights, adopted by the Council on 3 October 2005. For further information, please contact the Press, Communication and Protocol Division at the following address: General Secretariat of the Council Rue de la Loi 175 B-1048 Brussels Fax: +32 (0)2 235 49 77 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://ue.eu.int Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this edition. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2005 ISBN 92-824-3179-7 ISSN 1680-9742 © European Communities, 2005 Reproduction is authorised, except for commercial purposes , provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface................................................................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................................7 2. Developments within the EU ...................................................................................................................8 2.1. The Constitutional Treaty ..............................................................................................................8 2.2. The Fundamental Rights Agency.................................................................................................10 2.3. Appointment and role of Secretary-General/High Representative's (SG/HR) Personal Representative on Human Rights.................................................................................................12 2.4. The European Parliament's actions on human rights ...................................................................12 3. EU Instruments and Initiatives in third countries...................................................................................17 3.1. Common Strategies, Joint Actions, Common Positions ..............................................................18 3.2. Démarches and Declarations........................................................................................................22 3.3. Human Rights Dialogues and Ad Hoc Consultations..................................................................24 3.3.1. Human Rights Dialogue with China.............................................................................24 3.3.2. Human Rights Dialogue with Iran................................................................................27 3.3.3. Human Rights Consultations with Russia ....................................................................28 3.4. Troika Consultations on Human Rights with US, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Candidate countries......................................................................................................................29 3.5. Human Rights clauses in co-operation agreements with third countries .....................................31 3.6. Activities funded under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).......................................................................................................................................32 3.7. Analysis of effectiveness of EU instruments and initiatives........................................................35 4. Thematic issues ......................................................................................................................................37 4.1. The death penalty.........................................................................................................................37 4.2. Torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment................................40 4.3. Rights of the Child (including Children and Armed Conflict) ....................................................43 4.4. Human Rights Defenders.............................................................................................................48 4.5. Human Rights of Women ............................................................................................................50 4.6. Human Rights and Terrorism.......................................................................................................53 4.7. Human Rights and Business ........................................................................................................56 4.8. The ICC and the fight against impunity.......................................................................................59 4.9. Democracy and Elections ............................................................................................................61 4.10. The right to development .............................................................................................................68 4.11. Asylum, Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons.................................................................69 3 4.12. Racism, xenophobia, non-discrimination and respect for diversity.............................................72 4.13. Persons with disabilities...............................................................................................................76 4.14. Persons belonging to minorities...................................................................................................76 4.15. Indigenous issues .........................................................................................................................80 4.16. Trafficking in Human Beings ......................................................................................................82 4.17. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights .........................................................................................85 4.18. Analysis of effectiveness of EU action on thematic issues..........................................................85 5. EU Actions in International Fora ...........................................................................................................87 5.1. 59th Session of the UN General Assembly: Third Committee (general overview)......................87 5.2. 61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights ..............................................................88 5.3. Co-operation with the UN, including the UN High Level Panel Report / Secretary General’s Report In Larger Freedom...........................................................................................91 5.4. Council of Europe........................................................................................................................92 5.5. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)............................................93 5.6. Analysis of effectiveness of EU action in international fora in 2004/2005 .................................95 6. Country-Focused Issues .........................................................................................................................95 6.1. Europe and its Neighbourhood ....................................................................................................95 6.1.1. EU Candidates and Potential Candidates .....................................................................95 6.1.2. The European Neighbourhood Policy ..........................................................................97 6.1.3. Russia and Central Asia..............................................................................................103 6.2. Africa .........................................................................................................................................106 6.3. The Americas.............................................................................................................................110 6.4. Asia ............................................................................................................................................113 6.5. The Middle East.........................................................................................................................124 6.6. Analysis .....................................................................................................................................126 7. Conclusion............................................................................................................................................127 Annexes 4 Preface It is my pleasure to present the seventh EU Annual Report on Human Rights. The first Report was launched in 1999. Now, as then, we believe it is important that the Union should publicly set out its collec- tive policy in the field of human rights, and the action it has taken to implement that policy. The Report shows that the last year has witnessed