At their 1367^th meeting, on 12 and 13 February, the Ministers’ Deputies held an exchange of views on relations with the United Nations on human rights questions, with the participation of experts from capitals. The exchange included a discussion on “human rights and biotechnologies: new challenges in bioethics”.

The Deputies agreed to the preparation of a recommendation concerning the trade in goods used for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the death penalty, based on a feasibility study prepared by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) which highlights the current situation of this type of trade and the existing national and international legal responses [more information …].

They also welcomed a Strategic Action Plan on Human Rights and Technologies in Biomedicine (2020-2025), adopted by the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO) in November 2019, which aims at addressing human rights challenges raised by technological developments [more information …].

Finally, the Deputies held an exchange of views with Mr José Manuel Santos Pais, Chair of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), and took note of CCPE Opinion No. 14 (2019) on “The role of prosecutors in fighting corruption and related economic and financial crime”.

The other items examined by the Deputies appear in the Agenda and the decisions adopted are available in the meeting file.