Greens/EFA MEP concerned with renewal of the mandate of the EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief

Brussels, 4 September 2020 - MEP Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA) expressed to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, his concern with the renewal of the mandate of the EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

“The EU Special representative for Human Rights oversees the effectiveness and visibility of EU human rights policy and in so doing treat all rights as indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. Creating a separate mandate solely for the protection of FoRB runs the risk of an unnecessary siloing of this right from others and discouraging it to be treated in an inclusive and intersectional manner;” says the letter signed by several MEPs.

In the letter, the signatories urge for the appointment as Special Envoy on FoRB a candidate who can show “a strong record in promoting all fundamental rights and European values” and make also a call to improve transparency in the mandate.

“As MEPs committed in the defence of all human rights, we cannot accept that a Special Envoy speaking on behalf the EU shows public support to organisations that actively campaign against gender equality and the right to nondiscrimination on the ground of sex orientation,” state the MEPs.

Read the full letter below.

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