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European Parliament
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What is said in the sittings, update by update, the latest first. Each update opens the video at the second it was said.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the sitting, sets the agenda on extrajudicial and arbitrary executions of human rights defenders, introduces the UN Special Rapporteur and EEAS, and the UN expert details global patterns, scale and drivers of killings, systemic impunity, states’ obligations and concrete recommendations for EU preventive, protective and accountability measures.
In this chapter
The Chair underlines the EU added value of existing tools despite worsening trends, promises to defend relevant budget lines in the next MFF, thanks the UN Special Rapporteur and survivor witnesses, and signals continued DROI work by moving to the next agenda item on murdered human rights defenders.
An Egyptian case study of systemic torture and abusive pretrial detention leads into Chair-led questions on international justice and funding gaps, prompting exchanges on politicisation and double standards (Latin America, Israel/Gaza, Gulf allies), the limits of international courts, the need to strengthen national jurisdictions, safeguard protest, and integrate anti-torture training and civic space protection into future EU programming.
In this chapter
Following a Polish MEP’s ideological framing of torture and critique of EU inconsistency, the Commission, IRCT and Penal Reform International reiterate the EU’s operational commitments, stress lifelong rehabilitation and survivor agency, and argue for decarceration, decriminalisation of poverty and scrutiny of abusive prison labour within a prevention strategy.
In this chapter
The UN Special Rapporteur and OMCT analyse global trends of conflict, authoritarianism and shrinking civic space, highlight EU leadership and the survivor-led Charter of Rights, present a global torture risk index, and urge the EU to defend non-refoulement, treat anti-torture funding as strategic infrastructure and anchor future UN resolutions in survivor rights.
In this chapter
Three survivors from Venezuela, Belarus and Bahrain describe torture as a tool of societal control, its long-term psychological and social consequences, the use of denationalisation and exile, and call on the EU to sustain targeted sanctions, rehabilitation, and concrete diplomatic pressure grounded in the new Survivors’ Charter.
In this chapter
The Chair and EEAS set out the conference mandate, recall the absolute prohibition of torture under international law, and present the EU’s existing anti-torture guidelines, monitoring support, survivor-centred approach, sanctions toolbox and Anti-Torture Regulation as the institutional baseline for the discussion.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair presents his draft report on strengthening the international judicial system and EU–ICC cooperation, shadow rapporteurs outline amendments on the blocking statute, corporate guidance and civil‑society funding, Parliament asserts its role over the executive, and the EEAS reaffirms strong political and financial backing for the ICC under current sanctions and threats.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs question the effectiveness and political use of the blocking statute and warn against inaction, while the study author proposes ways to operationalise existing tools without full legal reform and clarifies how the global human‑rights sanctions regime could better address patterns such as transnational repression to safeguard the ICC.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
An academic study is introduced and presented, defining EU sovereignty under external pressure, mapping existing instruments such as the blocking statute, anti‑coercion and human‑rights sanctions, identifying legal and infrastructural gaps, and recommending stronger shields, more operational clauses and a ‘Team Europe’ approach to protect international justice mechanisms like the ICC.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs Al‑Sahlani, Sánchez Amor and the Chair strongly criticise the Commission’s ‘recalibration’ narrative and continued funding, invoking Parliament’s double objection and the blocked DROI mission, while witnesses and Amnesty urge sanctions and a non‑business‑as‑usual approach, prompting EEAS and INTPA to defend indirect funding and leading to a closing political clash on EU complicity and leverage.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
EEAS and Commission services present the legal framework of EU–Tanzania relations, detail political dialogue and demarches, explain the suspension of budget support and the shift to channelling cooperation funds via non‑state actors, and justify maintaining people‑focused engagement as leverage without directly supporting the government.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Family members of Humphrey Polepole and Tundu Lissu describe enforced disappearance, assassination attempts, politicised prosecutions and abusive detention conditions, while Amnesty International outlines the post‑election crackdown and issues concrete recommendations to Tanzanian authorities and the EU, including investigations, report publication and legal reforms.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the DROI meeting, adopts the agenda and minutes, recalls recent urgency resolutions, and sets out the context of deteriorating EU–Tanzania relations, blocked EP missions, and specific questions to NGOs based on Parliament’s 2025 resolution.
In this chapter
MEPs and MPs express broad political support for a special tribunal on Russian aggression, link it to other accountability gaps, and call for stronger EU use of universal jurisdiction, sanctions instruments and strategic autonomy. The panel closes with emphasis on avoiding fragmentation, implementing Kampala amendments and mobilising parliaments, followed by the chair’s final conclusions on forthcoming subcommittee work, next steps and continued inter‑parliamentary cooperation.
In this chapter
The chair launches the second panel on universal jurisdiction and cooperation, with experts outlining best practices for domestic prosecution of international crimes and tools like the Ljubljana–The Hague Convention. Ukraine’s MFA details the legal design, timeline and institutional set‑up for a special tribunal for the crime of aggression and urges EU states to become founding members and complete domestic procedures rapidly.
In this chapter
National MPs, MEPs, Ukrainian representatives and civil society urge activation of the EU blocking statute, clearer national guidance and practical safeguards to ensure ICC officials and partners can operate despite sanctions. The wrap‑up recentres on victims, clarifies institutional competences for triggering the blocking statute, criticizes Commission inaction and calls for coordinated inter‑parliamentary pressure and national‑level countermeasures.
In this chapter
ICC Judge Guillaume, the EEAS legal service and civil society detail the scope and impact of US sanctions on ICC officials and partners, highlighting over‑compliance by European financial and digital operators. They outline the legal basis of ICC jurisdiction, criticize the US executive order, and present the EU blocking statute and other resilience tools as potential countermeasures.
In this chapter
The chair opens the inter‑parliamentary meeting, explains speaking and procedural rules, and frames the first panel around the ICC under pressure and the EU’s role in defending multilateral justice. The JURI Chair then recalls prior work on immunities and sets today’s mandate: identifying how EU law can protect ICC and UN accountability officials from coercive measures.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The final intervention underlines equal protection for journalists and press cartoonists, the need to safeguard EU funding for independent media in the next MFF and to use media freedom as a core benchmark in EU external relations, before the chair formally closes the item and announces the afternoon closed session.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The chair opens the agenda item on global press freedom with presentations by RSF, Cartoonists’ Rights and the EEAS on deteriorating media conditions, conflict‑related risks, legal harassment, online threats and EU/multilateral protection tools, followed by MEP questions on EU internal obligations, emblematic journalist cases, Belarus, Gaza and funding gaps and expert calls for stricter enforcement of EU media and digital laws, improved protection for exiled and cartoonist journalists, stronger EU country positions and targeted support for independent media in exile.
In this chapter
In a later item, the EEAS outlines engagement with China on minority rights and an MEP compares China’s ethnic unity and language policies in Tibet to Soviet practices and current Russian occupation tactics, warning that “unity” rhetoric enables assimilation and repression of minorities.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Parliament opens the China agenda point, hears civil society and expert assessments of the ethnic unity law and its extraterritorial effects, and receives the EEAS position before MEPs debate EU leverage, legal instruments and human‑rights conditionality and the chair outlines follow‑up actions.
In this chapter
A Rohingya representative details genocide, displacement and concrete asks to the EU, followed by an extensive MEP Q&A on Roma and European statelessness, terrorism-related deprivation and protection tools, and panel responses on remedies for Nicaraguans, protection for Rohingya, Roma documentation, deprivation practices, ID systems, and an EEAS overview of EU external action, before the Chair closes with follow-up commitments and the internal EU dimension.
In this chapter
The Chair opens the sitting, adopts the agenda and minutes, announces urgent resolutions and sets the hearing’s scope on forced exile, deprivation of nationality and statelessness, followed by detailed testimony on Nicaragua and expert framing of statelessness, its causes, legal framework and links to citizenship stripping and EU responsibilities.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The AFET rapporteur and EEAS representative acknowledge Tunisia’s authoritarian turn and the paradoxes of continued EU engagement, outlining the use of the Association Agreement, human‑rights subcommittees and diplomatic démarches while stressing the role of UN agencies, before the Chair closes by calling for explicit EU red lines on prosecutions of EU‑funded partners, criminalisation of contacts with EU officials and use of EU money for desert expulsions, linking compliance to continuation of EU funding and credibility.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
A critical exchange unfolds around Tunisia as a ‘reliable’ migration partner and the legacy of the Arab Spring, with one MEP emphasising Tunisia’s role in curbing irregular migration and proposing more diplomatic inclusion, the Chair pressing the Commission on operational consequences and red lines after the Ombudsman’s recommendations, and Tunisian civil‑society speakers rejecting the ‘safe partner’ framing by highlighting systemic repression, poverty, mass emigration and EU responsibility when supporting an authoritarian regime.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Commission presents the legal and financial framework of the EU–Tunisia partnership, arguing that engagement and conditionality on macro‑financial support integrate human‑rights safeguards and funding for civil society and UN agencies, after which the first MEPs react by denouncing Tunisia’s drift toward dictatorship, warning against EU complicity in racist practices and questioning whether EU border‑management funding is enabling migrant abuses.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair frames the session on Tunisia’s democratic backsliding and migration context, then Tunisian civil‑society representatives detail authoritarian consolidation since 2021, collapse of judicial independence, the ‘conspiracy’ case against opponents, criminalization of anti‑racism work, abuses against migrants and Black Tunisians, and Tunisia’s non‑compliance with African Commission recommendations, collectively urging the EU to use conditionality, monitoring and political pressure tied to human‑rights benchmarks.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The final item examines human trafficking for forced criminality in online scam operations, with expert briefings from the Mekong Club, UNODC and the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator on business models, victim profiles, organised crime structures and relevant EU legislation and enforcement tools, followed by MEP questions on Africa, AI-fuelled fraud and concrete EU next steps to protect victims and disrupt networks.
In this chapter
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