Welcome to Liberties' monthly round-up, where we catch you up on the most pressing human rights topics we've been working on. This month, we co-authored a litigation brief which serves as a guide to unlock the potential of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the coming EU Commission term. Our conversation with our Swedish member, Civil Rights Defenders, makes a strong case for why robust rule of law safeguards are imperative, even in traditionally strong democracies. In our educational article on autocracy, we explain what happens if the rule of law breaks down and how to spot the signs before it's too late.
As the school term kicks off and dutiful staff return to their desks in Brussels, the new arrangement of the European Union institutions is beginning to take shape. Von der Leyen is tightening the screw on five smaller member states in the hopes they’ll swap our male nominees for female candidates. With only 9 out of 26 nominees being women, she is falling well short of the quota required to strike a gender-balanced College of Commissioners.
In Germany, it looks like sunny days are about to coming an end, and we’re not just talking about the weather. Supporters of democracy are wringing their hands following the AfD’s easy path to victory in regional elections in Thuringia, a small state that belonged to Former East Germany. Being the first time a far-right party has won a state election since WWII, the results mark a turning point in German politics and are viewed as a harbinger of what’s to come in federal elections next year.
The governing parties, the FR, SPD and the Greens, suffered significant losses, however, Scholz wants to prevent the AfD from forming a government by urging mainstream parties to form a "firewall". AfD co-leader Alice Weidel labelled the move “undemocratic”, however even if they can’t persuade other parties to create a coalition, their “blocking majority” with over 30% of the vote means they can handicap any decisions that require a two-thirds parliamentary majority, such as constitutional changes or appointing new judges. For everyone, but especially our German readers, Liberties’ article on how to spot and prevent autocracy will come in handy!
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In a nutshell
- AI: The European Artificial Intelligence Act came into force at the beginning of August.
- Dating over data: We joined Mozilla & 12 other gender, justice, privacy and public interest organisations to demand Bumble be clear about their data practices.
- Happy Birthday Daphne: We commemorate the 60th birthday of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist, known for her investigation of the Panama Papers, and subsequent assassination.
- #StopSpyware: Liberties and 30 civil society & journalists' organisations took a stance against the pervasive threat of spyware. Read our joint statement.
In focus
Unlocking the Full Potential of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Liberties and other civil rights groups want to ensure effective litigation strategies are available to protect the freedoms protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights for the coming EU cycle. Read our litigation briefing to learn more.
Election Monitoring Talks: In Conversation with Political Accountability Foundation
Liberties chatted with Political Accountability Foundation, our Polish partner in our election monitoring project. In this interview, PAF explains the tactics candidates and parties in Poland use to bypass campaign laws and escape accountability. Learn more.
What is Autocracy?
Autocracy is the dark mirror of democracy. While democracy is based on our freedom to speak and assemble freely, and requires a range of choices in who and what to vote for, autocracies are the opposite. Learn more here.
Opportunities: Check out our vacancies
Are you a student interested in a career in the NGO sector? We are looking for interns for the following positions:
- Communications & Campaign Assistant (Intern)
- Operations Team Assistant (Intern)
- Advocacy & Research Assistant (Intern)
Member’s Corner
Using Creativity To Make A Positive Impact On Society
Meet John Stauffer, Legal Director and Acting Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders Sweden, who pursued a career in the civil society so he could explore more innovative ways to positively impact society. Read the full interview here.
Network news
- Ethnic registers: A case taken by Dutch organisation PILP's finds ING discriminates against customers based on their ethnicity in transaction checks
- Legal win: The Czech League of Human Rights alongside the law firm Dentons provided illegally sterilised women with pro bono legal support, resulting in them being awarded CZ 300,000 in compensation.
- More transparency: Italy's Antigone calls for journalists to be allowed into prison to shed light on the increase in prison suicides.
Events
Democracy Drinks Berlin is back: Save the date 19/09. Register here.
GIJN Webinar: Q&A Session with Reporters Shield, a Service to Fight Against SLAPPs and Other Legal Threats
European Conference: Democratic Digitalisation and Digital Rights. October 9, 2024 - Barcelona by Xnet, Institute for Democratic Digitalisation and Fundació.cat. Registration here.
What we’re reading
- Free Speech: The crazy life and times of Pavel Durov, Russia’s Elon Musk - Politico
- Human Rights: The EU has spent millions of euros on Palestinian infrastructure. Israel keeps knocking it down - Follow The Money
- Disinformation: Fake You - An Activist’s Guide to Defeating Disinformation - Xnet
- AI:
- This is everything you need to know about artificial general intelligence - Euronews
- How sci-fi has changed over the last 70 years, analyzed with data - The Pudding
- Killer Robots: New UN Report Urges Treaty by 2026 - Human Rights Watch
Enjoyed Liberties' monthly recap?
- Burning thoughts? We want to know what you think about this newsletter. Please share your feedback and responses to newsletter@liberties.eu or fill in our which takes two minutes to fill out.Take care,Eleanor & the Liberties Team
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