Human rights dialogues The EU holds regular human rights dialogues, consultations or subcommittees with over 40 countries4 as well as with the African Union. The dialogues serve as a space for discussion of the human rights situation within the EU and the third country and for both sides to share suggestions on how best to improve problematic issues. The human rights situation in countries applying for EU membership5 is discussed during annual civil society consultations and at a political level during accession negotiations. 4. Some form of human rights dialogue or subcommittee is held with the following countries: 5. These are: Algeria Croatia Argentina Iceland Armenia Kosovo Azerbaijan Macedonia Bangladesh Serbia Belarus (suspended) Turkey Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Cambodia Canada Chile Colombia Cuba Egypt The issues to be discussed during EU-third country human rights dialogues are determined on a case-by-case basis, but certain priority issues are always expected to be included. This is the case of torture and ill treatment, which, as specified by the EU Guidelines on Torture, must be a standing point in all human rights dialogues and be considered during security and counterterrorism discussions with third countries. Georgia Ahead of the dialogues, the EU holds consultations with civil society both in Brussels and at the local level, in order to establish the priority topics for the agenda as well gather examples of potential instances of human rights violations and emblematic cases of individuals whose rights are being breached. On the ground, the EU delegation is also required to contact local civil society, including human rights defenders, in order to gather information ahead of dialogues. Lebanon India Indonesia Iran (suspended) Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Laos Mexico Moldova Morocco New Zealand Pakistan Palestinian Authority Russia South Africa Sri Lanka Tajikistan Tunisia Turkmenistan Ukraine United States Uzbekistan Vietnam Engaging with European Union foreign policy on the ground – an IRCT guide 13