European Parliament
Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg  (S&D ),
in writing.
– The work of the UN Human Rights Council is of great importance to monitoring and protecting human rights globally, and holding violators to international accountability. The 19th session of the Human Rights Council will be of great importance against the background of the urgent human rights situation in Syria, Iran and Tibet. While I remain hopeful that these urgent issues, among others, will meet with concrete solutions at the upcoming session, I must also express my concern at some key issues concerning the work and structure of the Council. The first is the ongoing practice of ‘bloc politics’, which affects the selection of countries and situations receiving attention in the Council. The second relates to the Council’s membership criteria that allow countries which violate human rights to criticise human rights violations. The EU’s engagement with the Council is essential for promoting respect for human rights, and thus I welcome our participation in the regular work of the Council and at special sessions. Our involvement allows us to express our concerns, strengthen the Council’s credibility and influence the decisions taken, to the benefit of human rights. This current resolution illustrates our key messages and concerns, with reference to the upcoming session, and therefore I voted in favour of it.

