CPJ joins call for Sweden to uphold human rights in EU regulation on surveillance equipment exports

Tom Gibson/CPJ EU Representative and Advocacy Manager
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, pictured in Brussels in December 2017. CPJ is joining calls for Sweden to ensure human rights are upheld in EU negotiations on surveillance equipment exports. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, pictured in Brussels in December 2017. CPJ is joining calls for Sweden to ensure human rights are upheld in EU negotiations on surveillance equipment exports. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote to Annika Ben David, Sweden’s ambassador-at-large for human rights, as part of a coalition of eight other civil society organizations.

The letter asked Ben David to reconsider the Swedish government’s position on EU export controls of dual use technology to third countries, and to ensure that human rights are considered in the pending negotiations.

The export of surveillance equipment to governmental institutions involved in human rights abuses poses a serious risk to the EU’s obligation to uphold its human rights commitments, including the protection of journalists, the letter said.

Read the letter here:

Tom Gibson is CPJ’s lead advocate in Brussels, covering the EU. Before joining CPJ, Gibson managed Protection International’s Burundi and Congo desks, advocating for stronger state accountability for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists. Gibson was also part of Amnesty International’s Africa program in London and Nairobi.

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