Ljubljana, 5 May - Human Rights Press Point, operated by the Peace Institute for the time of the Slovenian EU presidency in 2008, invites you to attend a roundtable on the role of the European Union on the respect for human rights. The event will take place in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana (room M1) on Thursday, 8 May 2008 at 5 p.m., on the eve of the Europe day.
The roundtable will host human rights experts from civil society and independent state bodies as well as academics:
Vita Habjan, Legal Information Centre for Non-Governmental Organizations
Gorazd Kovačič, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ljubljana
Andreja Mrak, Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia
Brankica Petkovič, Peace Institute – Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies
Jernej Rovšek, Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia
Jerneja Turin, Amnesty International Slovenia
The roundtable will be facilitated by Neža Kogovšek from the Peace Institute.
English translation will be provided.
The purpose of the roundtable is to contribute towards better understanding of the role of the European Union at ensuring the respect for human rights. At the roundtable we will ask questions such as why human rights situation matters only until a state becomes an EU member state? Why does EU have no bodies which could be addressed in case of human rights violations in member states? Why EU policies in this field are oriented only towards human rights situations in third countries? Why and how did standards concerning rights of asylum seekers and refugees in some member states after the transposition of directives decrease? How is the right to privacy of EU citizens and nationals of third countries affected by introduction of information systems and their connection to criminal records?
What is the influence of EU anti-discrimination policies on the situation of discrimination in the member states? How should we understand the absence of EU policies and strategies for Roma in spite of the fact that they are the most discriminated group on the whole territory of the EU? What role do human rights ombudspersons in member states play at all this? Taking into account the valuable experience and knowledge of the guest speakers and their diverse insight into the human rights situation within the EU we expect an interesting and fruitful discussion.
Please find the invitation in word format here.