The 8 March Institute, Slovenia’s largest feminist organization, has been the target of harassment and intimidation coordinated by Slovenia’s ruling party, SDS, during the pre-election campaign period. The Institute has been doing a ‘Let’s vote’ campaign, to increase voter turnout for the Slovenian parliamentary elections and to collect signatures for a bill they have prepared for consideration by the newly elected parliament. The bill lays out a series of measures to ensure the respect for the rule of law and protect citizens from increasing inequalities. The Institute is now being falsely accused by the government of conducting a ‘political campaign’, even though they are not promoting any specific candidate or party. They could face a large fine and the possible suspension of their activities – essentially censorship. The Institute alleges smear tactics by SDS. The leader of the organisation, Nika Kovač, has faced threats and misogynistic insults from the Prime Minister himself, Janše Janša. SDS MPs have falsely accused Institute volunteers of sending them death threats, a claim which activists say is a deliberate attempt to discredit their work. The Institute has filed two civil lawsuits against SDS as a result. The Institute has also applied for an investigation of the ruling party for alleged misuse of public funds in its electoral campaign. It accuses the ruling party of using state infrastructure for “its own propaganda” during the pre-election campaign period. The Institute submitted an application to the Court of Auditors, which oversees the delivery of free and fair elections, in March. Slovenia has seen a rapid decline in civic freedoms in the past few years. The ruling party, SDS, has been accused of undermining the work of the Slovenian Press Agency and the largest public broadcaster, RTVSLO (through political appointments at the head of the agency), of slashing funds for civil society organisations and media critical of the current government, and restricting the right to protest using the excuse of the Covid-19 pandemic. Slovenia is rated "Narrowed" on the CIVICUS Monitor which means that while the state generally allows individuals and civil society organisations to exercise their rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of association, violations of these rights also take place. There have been multiple reports of activists, independent journalists and protesters being harassed and intimidated by the state. The State Prosecutors’ office seems to be instrumentalised to bring cases against those protesting the current government and slapping them with fines higher than 40.000 Euros in some cases. This retaliation against civil society organisations, such as the 8 March Institute, are reminiscent of repressive measures taken in Poland and Hungary against human rights defenders. Far-right actors try to score political points through the public vilification of civil society groups, by spreading political homophobia and attacking women human rights defenders. Any type of intimidation and orchestrated oppression targeting activists, independent media and civil society organisations points to the degradation of the rule of law. The European Union must take action to ensure that civic freedoms and the rule of law are protected and that human rights defenders are politically and financially supported.   Photo by Luka E on Unsplash

Civil society organisations write to the European Commission and the Council asking them to refrain from approving recovery funds to the governments of Poland and Hungary and instead provide direct support to local authorities, civil society and human rights defenders providing for refugees of the war. Neither Poland, nor Hungary, have made meaningful progress to restore the checks and balances necessary to uphold the rule of law and reinstate an independent judiciary.  The war in Ukraine should not be used as a pretext to weaken the rule of law mechanism and let any Member State get away with serious rule of law violations. If anything, this war shows the very real dangers that come with a country dismantling the rule of law and democratic oversight. This is not the time to set aside concerns about the rule of law and respect of fundamental rights in EU Member States. Unblocking funds whereas the concerns in the countries remain as serious as ever, would be detrimental.  

In a Call to Action, IPPF EN joined more than 90 human rights organizations to urge the European Union, Member State governments, the United Nations, other donor governments, and the broader international community to urgently implement measures protecting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.  The Call to Action urges European decisionmakers to include SRHR services, such as maternal health care, emergency contraception, and medication abortion in their measures to meet the needs of people in Ukraine and refugees in five neighboring countries.  In Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia a range of pre-existing legal and policy restrictions on SRHR and cost barriers are severely impeding access to urgent and essential sexual and reproductive health care for those fleeing Ukraine. In particular, these barriers are undermining access to emergency contraception and other contraceptive methods, abortion care including medical abortion, antenatal care, post-exposure prophylaxis, STI treatment and antenatal care.  

Joint Civil Society Reaction The African Union - European Union Summit that took place on 17 and 18 February 2022 aimed to deepen cooperation between the EU and the AU “based on shared interests and values” and resulted in a joint-political declaration. It was an opportunity for European leaders to work towards ending not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also persisting epidemics like HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases, by supporting sustainable mechanisms for building health systems worldwide. While we welcome the fact that health was high on the political agenda of the Summit, and Team Europe made wide-ranging commitments in the area of health, it remains unclear how some of these initiatives will be funded, what type of support will be provided (grants, loans, or blended finance), how these initiatives will connect to each other to create a coherent continental approach, or how sustainable they will be in the long run. The call from the AU and civil society to support the waiving of Intellectual Property rights on COVID tools was also not addressed, despite its urgency. We deeply regret the absence of a commitment to the achievement of universal access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in the political declaration, despite the calls made by civil society and youth ahead of the Summit about the importance of prioritising SRHR. SRHR are critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), as well as gender equality and human development. While we welcome the development of a Team Europe Initiative on SRHR in Sub-Saharan Africa, we call on the EU and the AU to implement ambitious policies and allocate adequate funding to the achievement of SRHR for all. Download our full joint statement below.

Together we call on the European Union to adopt a forward-thinking and truly inclusive approach to gender-based violence - that leaves no one behind and strives to achieve real change in the lives of all people, without discrimination. To meaningfully address gender-based violence in the European Union, we must promote inclusion, safety, protection, well-being and effective remedies for those most at risk. In the lead up to International Women’s Day, 8 March, and the expected publication of a draft EU law to address violence against women and domestic violence, the under-signed organisations have adopted this manifesto for a truly inclusive EU law and policy. We welcome the leadership of the European Commission in taking action, and the engagement of the European Parliament, and urge everyone who will be involved in this effort to take an inclusive and intersectional feminist approach. All civil society organisations and Members of European Parliament are invited to join us – sign up to the manifesto here.

As the EU Council prepares to discuss the rule of law situation in Poland at its upcoming meeting on 22 February 2022, FIDH and other civil society organisations from Poland and across the EU draw EU ministers’ attention to recent, alarming developments, pointing to a severe and steady decline in the respect for EU values in the country. These include attempts to undermine judicial independence, refusal to comply with European court’s decisions, attacks on media freedom, and restrictions on civic space. Rule of law deficits are having negative impacts on human rights, particularly on the sexual and reproductive rights of women and on LGBTI people’s rights. In the letter, the signatory organisations urge EU governments to address these developments at next week’s meeting, to adopt recommendations that Polish authorities will have to implement within a clear time frame and/or to hold a vote to establish that the EU core values of respect for democracy, the rule of law and human rights have been seriously breached in Poland. Poland has been under scrutiny by the Council since December 2017, when the European Commission triggered the procedure laid down in Article 7.1 TEU on account of the "clear risk of a serious breach" of the values referred to in Article 2 TEU in the country. Despite the many actions undertaken by EU institutions since 2017, the Polish government has continued to systematically infringe upon EU standards and ignore warnings and decisions from the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Immediate, effective, and concerted action by the Council is vital to halt attacks against Article 2 principles and reaffirm that rule of law and human rights violations have no place in the EU.