Hoge Vertegenwoordiger Ashton wil 'digitale diplomatie' inzetten ter bevordering van mensenrechten buiten EU (en)
BRUSSELS - EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton wants member states to permanently post human rights experts to their embassies in Brussels.
Capitals currently send human rights staff to Brussels once a month for meetings of the so-called Cohom group in the EU Council. The visitors drop in, read out their national position on given cases, and fly home with little debate and little sympathy for a joint EU line.
Ashton set out her idea in a draft paper - seen by EUobserver - entitled "Human Rights and Democracy at the Heart of EU External Action" due to be adopted on Monday (12 December) and discussed with MEPs on Tuesday.
It says: "Cohom can no longer fully respond to the increased workload and demands. Effective implementation of EU external human rights policy requires more frequent meetings of Cohom and also a standing capability and expertise on human rights and democracy among the permanent representations in Brussels of EU member states."
The Brussels-based club is to deal with "ongoing issues", while political directors are to fly in monthly to talk about "strategic aspects."
Ashton has on several occasions said rights will be a "silver thread" running through her work. But the 18-page communique is her first attempt to formulate a policy on the subject in her two years in the job.
It states that: "The EU should commit itself to promoting and protecting freedom, dignity, equality and justice for all as a key foreign policy priority." It notes: "That the EU [itself] is exemplary in respecting human rights is vital ... a strong track record will strengthen the EU's attempts to promote human rights around the world."
The paper names three top priorities - rule of law, women's rights and children's rights.
One novel concept is what Ashton calls "digital diplomacy."
With Arab Spring revolutions marked by their use of YouTube, blogs and Facebook, Ashton says: "The EU could mobilise key delegations to use social media for digital diplomacy." One suggestion is to hold "live webcasts" so that human rights activists can talk directly to policy-makers.
Another is to ban EU countries from selling technology that helps dictators to snoop on people: "[The EU] will develop appropriate measures to ensure that people are not subject to indiscriminate censorship or mass surveillance when using the Internet."
The paper is soft on criticism of the EU's past behaviour.
On member states' long friendships with pre-Arab-Spring dictators, it says: "There has been a debate whether previously the EU has done enough to support civil society and to promote change rather than stability [in the region]."
But it promises to work more with grass roots organisations in future instead of the current "top-down" model of "political dialogues and meetings with third countries."
It also addresses two other frequent complaints by human rights NGOs.
Noting that that the bloc has so-called "human rights dialogues" with 40 countries, it says its campaigns should have "specific, measurable objectives". For its part, NGO Human Rights Watch has long said the EU dialogues with China and Russia let EU diplomats avoid sensitive subjects at summits by claiming vague successes in the low-level talks.
With Ashton close to opening her first embassy in Uzbekistan - rated among the most repressive countries in the world - one throwaway line could come back to haunt her envoy in Tashkent.
"Human rights defenders are regarded as key interlocutors for EU delegations," the paper says.
Recalling his work in Uzbekistan prior to being kicked out in March for meeting human rights activists, HRW analyst Steve Swerdlow told this website that member states' diplomats in Tashkent "spend most of their time going to cocktail parties" because they have instructions not to confront the strategically important regime.
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