Civil Rights Defenders Contributes to New EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights

Civil Rights Defenders, together with the other organisations in the Global Initiative Against Impunity (GIAI) consortium, has submitted recommendations to the European Commission as part of the development of the upcoming EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights 2026-2030.

In the submission, GIAI highlights the specific challenges faced by victims of the most serious international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The recommendations focus on three key areas: improving information and communication with victims, strengthening support and protection for particularly vulnerable victims, and increasing access to compensation.

The recommendations build on recently adopted EU legislation which, for the first time, explicitly recognises that victims of core international crimes require specialised support and protection.

Through these recommendations, we call on the EU and its Member States to ensure that victims have access to information, legal assistance, protection from retaliation, and effective avenues for redress, regardless of where the crimes were committed.

Read GIAI’s full submission to the European Commission on the Strategy here.