Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers

Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers: Armenia succeeds Andorra

Strasbourg, 16 May 2013 - The 123rd session of the Committee of Ministers was held today in Strasbourg with Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Andorra, in the Chair. At the end of the meeting, the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers was passed by Andorra to Armenia.

The Ministers' discussions chiefly revolved around a report by the Secretary General on strengthening the impact of the actions undertaken by the Council of Europe concerning democracy, human rights and rule of law. They encouraged the Secretary General to continue his efforts to optimise the functioning and co-ordination of the Organisation's monitoring mechanisms while taking care that better use was made of the conclusions drawn from the monitoring actions. For that purpose, the Ministers invited the Secretary General to present them regularly with a situation report on democracy, human rights and rule of law in Europe founded on the conclusions of the monitoring mechanisms, accompanied by definite proposals for action.

Co-operation with the European Union and Council of Europe policy towards neighbouring regions were also on the meeting agenda.

During the session, the Committee of Ministers also adopted Protocol No. 15 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Protocol will be opened for signature by member states on 24 June 2013.

Armenia will chair the Committee of Ministers for the next six months.

Back 10.12.2012 - International Human Rights Day: Joint statement by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly

Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Foreign Minister of the Principality of Andorra and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, and Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, issued the following statement on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, on 10 December:

"The Council of Europe works on a daily basis to protect human rights throughout Europe. Over the years, the Council has recorded many successes, first and foremost of which is the European Convention on Human Rights and its control mechanism. The European Court of Human Rights offers victims of human rights violations the assurance that they will be heard and that the Council of Europe will do its utmost to remedy and put an end to such violations.

These successes should not, however, let us forget that much still remains to be done and that this is a task which will need to be continued for generation to come.

This Day is therefore an opportunity for us to remember that the protection of human rights is something that is never fully achieved and that we must continue to do all we can to fight against violations of fundamental rights in Europe and elsewhere.

The Council of Europe's human rights protection standards are still too often ignored or violated. Journalists continue to be subject to censorship or threats; political opponents continue to be unjustly dragged before the courts and there are still many people who are victims of discrimination, ill-treatment or even torture. Moreover, there is a danger that the difficult economic situation in many countries will aggravate injustice and inequality if governments do not make every effort to remedy the harmful effects of the crisis which undermines the cohesion of our societies.


Human Rights Day should also prompt us to think of ways of preventing human rights violations. In this connection, we emphasise the importance of informing, training and raising the awareness of all leaders and citizens, and in particular young people, concerning the values of democracy and human rights. The Council of Europe remains committed to pursuing its action in this field."