Statement of Federica Mogherini to mark Human Rights Day 2014

In a declaration to mark Human Rights Day, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini re-affirms the European Union’s commitment to upholding human rights and identifies the key challenges ahead.

The High Representative outlines recent EU involvement in human rights, including the adoption of the Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy and its action plan, the appointment of an EU Special Representative for Human Rights and engagement with the issue in bilateral and multilateral arrangements worldwide.

In her statement, HR/VP Mogherini mentions the EU’s support towards civil society and human rights advocacy dialogue: “EUSR Stavros Lambrinidis has closely and proactively interacted with key partners and supported the role of civil society organisations throughout the world. EU delegations have been monitoring, reporting, and acting on human rights issues, sometimes under very difficult circumstances.”

According to the statement, one of the key challenges for the EU in terms of human rights is Torture, which is still widely practiced despite the UN’s adoption of the Convention against Torture in 1984.

Full statement