Slovenia's EU presidency agenda on human rights will revolve around embedding human rights in EU policies to third countries, the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights was told on Thursday.
Slovenia will work for greater synergy in human rights policy, said Smiljana Knez of the Foreign Ministry, the current chair of the Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM), who presented the priorities in the European Parliament.
According to her, human rights should be on the agenda of all summits with third countries taking place during Slovenia's presidency (Latin America, Russia, Japan and the US).
In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics this year, the EU will promote human rights dialogue, in particular on the death penalty. "Public expectations are particularly high in the context of the Olympics," she said.
As for Russia, Slovenia will "closely monitor" the right to freedom of expression and association in the light of presidential vote there. The next round of human rights consultations with Russia will be held in April.
Knez pointed out that Iran was the biggest blemish on the human rights map. The EU is open for dialogue with Iran and it will "keep a close eye on the human rights situation and respond to severe violations on an ongoing basis."
Among the topics that Slovenia will highlight, Knez mentioned children in armed conflict. The EU has made headway in including this issue in its foreign and security policy, and Slovenia intends to continue this work, she said.
As Slovenia wants to enhance the development aspect of this issue, it has commissioned a special study on children in armed conflict that will be presented in Brussels on Friday.
Moreover, Slovenia will place special emphasis on children's rights, human rights advocates and torture.
According to Knez, during its six-month stint Slovenia will endeavour to launch true dialogue with the African Union, the first that the EU would ever carry out with an organisation of countries rather than an individual country.
The presentation of presidency priorities kicks off a series of speeches by senior Slovenian officials in the various committees and subcommittees of the European Parliament.
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