By Dick Oosting, Director, Amnesty International EU Office in Brussels

03/05/2004 – The official accession to the European Union of ten new member states on 1 May ought to be good news for human rights. Protection of fundamental rights was a critical aspect of the accession process. Candidate countries were scrutinized for years to ensure that their laws and practices were brought in line with EU norms.

Amnesty International observations on an EU human rights agency

07/04/2004 – Amnesty International observations on an EU human rights agency

EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON REFUGEES AND EXILES AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Refugee and human rights organisations across Europe are jointly calling on the European Union to scrap one of the key elements leading to the proposed Common European Asylum System.

OSCE Workshop on the Protection of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism Copenhagen 15-16 March 2004

On the eve of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, Amnesty International calls on the Presidency to act, as a matter of urgency, to fill the legislative gap left in European Union judicial cooperation in criminal matters by the Commission’s failure, to date, to produce a proposal for a Framework Decision on minimum standards for suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings.

18/02/2004 – On the eve of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, Amnesty International calls on the Presidency to act, as a matter of urgency, to fill the legislative gap left in European Union judicial cooperation in criminal matters by the Commission’s failure, to date, to produce a proposal for a Framework Decision on minimum standards for suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings

Amnesty International today called on the EU Council of Ministers to develop ways in which accountability at EU level for human rights abuses within EU borders can be addressed, following the release today of a new report alleging abuses by police officers in Germany.