Redress Trust
REDRESS
REDRESS is an international non-governmental organisation based in London and the Hague with a charitable purpose to promote the rehabilitation and protection of victims of torture and to assist them in gaining redress for their suffering.
ID: 417895352534-61
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU Civil Society Strategy
5 Sept 2025
Submission by the Global Initiative Against Impunity (please find full submission attached). We welcome that the EU Civil Society Strategy (Strategy) aims to protect and support civil society organisations (CSOs) working on rule of law and human rights. To be effective, the Strategy should define an enabling environment for civil society in line with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, including: upholding legislation that upholds the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression; availability and accessibility of funding; the right to effective and meaningful participation in public affairs; the creation of safe spaces for civil society actors; and strengthened capacity and resilience of CSOs. The Strategy should set out a clear roadmap of actions that Member States must take, establish procedures to monitor compliance, and outline follow-up measures in cases of non-compliance. Yet in recent years, civic space in Europe has come under increasing pressure from legal and administrative restrictions in some Member States, to growing mistrust and delegitimisation of the role of CSOs at EU level. For example, civil society actors have faced harassment, criminalisation, and arrests for expressing solidarity with Palestine, advocating for international justice, or for the rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals, refugees and asylum seekers, and other marginalised communities. The EU should use the Strategy to safeguard and expand civic space, including freedom of assembly, association and expression, across all Member States. The Strategy should encompass not only CSOs but individuals, including human rights defenders (HRDs), survivors of human rights violations who seek to claim their rights, and victims engaging with justice processes. HRDs and survivors face increasing threats, including harassment, surveillance, and legal reprisals, re-traumatisation, reprisals against family members, and exclusion. Emerging technologies, including AI, pose new threats to civil society. The Strategy should include safeguards against repression, including digital repression, and promote regulation of technology to respect human rights and civil society autonomy. The Strategy should aim to tackle structural drivers of impunity such as corruption, discrimination, gendered impacts on historically marginalised communities, weak rule of law, and militarised approaches. It should promote national and regional protective measures, such as emergency support, legal aid, and safe reporting mechanisms, and encourage cooperation across European and international borders. Funding mechanisms at the EU and Member States levels, and their decreasing availability, create a more competitive funding environment that could disadvantage small and grassroots CSOs, while Member States influence over programming may exclude those most affected by structural inequalities, such as victims of core international crimes. The EU should ensure ensure increased and better access to EU and private funding in a consistent manner, including through simplified procedures, ring-fenced support for grassroots actors, and transparency in allocation. Economic or diplomatic considerations should not be given priority over human rights. We welcome that the Strategy aims to create better opportunities for civil society to engage with EU institutions and participate in decision-making. To strengthen co-creation with civil society in shaping the political agenda, it should establish structured, ongoing dialogue between EU institutions and civil society, including survivor-led organisations.
Read full responseResponse to New comprehensive strategic approach towards India
8 May 2025
Torture and ill-treatment in custody and in the context of protests is systemic and persistent in India. Even though India signed the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) in 1997 and has repeatedly promised ratification, it remains one of only 21 countries worldwide that has yet to ratify the treaty. The UNCAT, to which all EU member States are party, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibit torture, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment. Under these instruments, the EU has an unwavering legal obligation to uphold the absolute prohibition of torture. The EU has consistently affirmed its commitment to promote and protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law both within the EU and worldwide. The EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2027 expresses the EUs commitment to eradicate torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment globally through prevention, prohibition, accountability, and redress for victims, including by promoting the Global Alliance for Torture-Free Trade. With $137 billion worth of trade in goods in 2023-2024, the EU has become India's largest trading partner. Trade in services between the EU and India reached 59.7 billion in 2023, compared to 30.4 billion in 2020. As the EU works to develop a new strategic EU-India agenda, it is seeking to strengthen ties in light of the uncertainty over transatlantic relations and Indias growing importance as a key partner for advancing the EUs security and economic interests. The EU should take advantage of this opportunity while strengthening its close political and economic relationship with India to pressure the Indian authorities to take concrete and measurable steps to address the serious human rights situation, including torture and ill-treatment. When grounded in human rights, economic and political partnerships are likely to be more sustainable and long lasting. An EU commitment to prioritise human rights in its bilateral relationship with India will bolster other actions the EU is taking to improve human rights around the globe without being viewed as holding double standards. In response to this situation, the EU should prioritise human rights in its new strategic EU-India agenda, including measures that pursue eradication of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in India. It should also ensure that clauses on human rights benchmarks are included in security and trade agreements with India. These clauses could include requirements that India comply with the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee. Read REDRESS's full submission here: https://redress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Evidence-Submission-to-European-Commission-FINAL.pdf
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