Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
3 September 2026
Contents updated on 3 Sept 2026
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DROI European Parliament
Follow its sittings04:51 - 07:21
Speaker 1
Bien, chers collègues, je vous demande de vous installer, on va démarrer. Thank you, colleagues. Bienvenue à toutes et à tous pour cette audition publique sur les droits et la persécution des minorités religieuses dans le monde. Chers collègues, la liberté de pensée, de conscience et de religion est un droit humain fondamental qui protège la liberté de toute personne de croire, de ne pas croire, de changer et de manifester ses convictions sans discrimination, contrainte ni crainte. Néanmoins, la liberté religieuse est fragilisée dans plusieurs régions dans le monde où des minorités religieuses sont confrontées à la discrimination, à la persécution et à la violence.
Leur protection exige non seulement des principes solides, mais une action rapide et efficace de la part de l'Union européenne. Cette audition nous donne l'occasion non seulement de faire le point sur les défis en cours dans le monde, mais aussi d'examiner si l'Union européenne dispose de tous les outils nécessaires pour y répondre et si ces outils sont pleinement utilisés. Je souhaite chaleureusement la bienvenue à nos panélistes et à commencer par Madame McGuinness. Chère Madame McGuinness, votre récente nomination en tant qu'envoyée spéciale de l'Union européenne pour la promotion de la liberté de religion ou de conviction en dehors de l'Union européenne est particulièrement bienvenue. Vous connaissez parfaitement cette maison, vous connaissez parfaitement d'autres institutions européennes.
Le Parlement européen, vous le savez, avait demandé de manière insistante que ce poste soit enfin pourvu après une longue période de vacance. Je souhaite également la bienvenue à Monsieur Le Vrat, rapporteur spécial des Nations Unies sur les questions relatives aux minorités et Monsieur Forêt, président de l'Institut d'études européennes de l'Université libre de Bruxelles. Nous aurons un premier échange après l'intervention de Madame McGuinness, puis un deuxième panel avec un second échange avec les députés et Messieurs Le Vrat et Forêt.
Je vous donne la parole, Madame McGuinness, pour une intervention de huit minutes.
07:21 - 10:38
Speaker 2
Good morning, dear chair, thank you so much for the invitation and for your introductory remarks. The good news is that I could find the room, so yes, I'm familiar with the Parliament, and it's an honor to be invited here in my relatively new role. And I want to open by saying that less than two weeks ago was the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. And at that moment, the European Union called on all states to act against discrimination and violence based on religion or belief, and to respect, protect, and fulfill this basic human right. Now, I want to quote the EU High Representative Kallas, and I think it's a stark sentence at this early hour.
Despite this being a fundamental right, today almost two-thirds of the world's population live in countries where there are serious abuses and violations of this right. Millions of people suffer daily from intolerance, discrimination, hatred, hostility, and violence because of their actual or perceived religion or belief, or lack thereof.
And many pay with their lives. So I think this morning's hearing is a very important moment for this Parliament to contribute to the debate and discussion around how we improve that situation. I'm here to learn, to listen and learn. And I will really be interested obviously in our experts' contribution, but clearly the views of Members of Parliament. I think we all know and believe that these times we live in are times of rising extremism and polarization globally.
Religious extremism and nationalism are part of this trend. And what we see is that institutions that form the basis of stable societies in the past are losing trust across the globe. And it's coupled with the erosion of the legitimacy of political and social institutions, including religious institutions. And this is also rooted in the deep technological and societal change. And I think we all know here in this room that there's no easy solution to this trend, and it has many different dimensions.
And I suppose it reflects also on deep questioning about identity.
The trend, which is worrying, is made even more concerning with the erosion or lack of state authority in many parts of the world. And as a result, extremism is coupled with a situation where militia, armed groups, and indeed criminal gangs take power into their own hands and can sometimes use it in a really barely veiled way, you know, using religion as a tool to oppress and justify violence. So this is making the already difficult work on human rights issues even more complex. Even where states show willingness to act, state authorities often have limited hold on the situation. So we need to be able to engage meaningfully with civil society actors, in particular in our case, religious and faith-based actors who are present on the ground.
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