Council of Europe

July

MONEYVAL's first evaluation report on the Holy See
[18/07/2012]The first mutual evaluation report on the Holy See (including the Vatican City State) is now available for consultation. A French version will be made available shortly. The report was adopted at MONEYVAL’s 39th Plenary Meeting (Strasbourg, 2 - 6 July 2012) as a third round mutual evaluation report. According to MONEYVAL’s procedures for third round reports the Holy See should provide a progress report to MONEYVAL one year after the adoption of the mutual evaluation report i.e. at MONEYVAL’s 42nd Plenary Meeting.
Executive Summary
Report
Annexes

4th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CETS No. 198
[17/07/2012] On 12 to 14 June 2012, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Laundering, Search Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS No. 198) held their fourth meeting in Strasbourg. The evaluation report on Romania was adopted. The report assesses compliance with a selected number of provisions of the convention, which add value to the international standards. This report is published today (link to the report). (more)

Taking the Istanbul Convention to the Caucasus and Central Asia
[09/07/2012] Ratifying an international treaty requires political will and an in-depth understanding of the obligations it contains. Turkey is the first member state to have ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). Another 20 member states have signed it, showing their political commitment to this important treaty. To build support and increase the level of knowledge on the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe is organising a seminar, together with UN Women and the Interagency Council for the Prevention of Domestic Violence of Georgia (Batumi, Georgia, 9-10 July 2012). The seminar will bring together government representatives, parliamentarians and NGOs from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The aim of the seminar is to offer participants detailed information on the provisions of the Convention and its background, to take stock of the current situation and exchange experiences, to enter into a dialogue about the benefits and challenges of implementing the Istanbul Convention at national level, and to provide a networking platform for all stakeholders

Estonia accepts 8 additional provisions of the Charter
[09/07/2012] By a declaration from the President of Estonia contained in an instrument registered on 5 July 2012, Estonia gave notification of its acceptance of 8 additional provisions of the Revised Charter. These provisions include Article 30 (the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) which is of particular significance in the current economic context. A meeting on non-accepted provisions organised in Estonia in September 2010, was instrumental in bringing about a wider acceptance of the rights enshrined in the Charter in Estonia. (more information)
Factsheet
Table on Accepted Provisions
2nd Report on Non-Accepted Provisions in Estonia

ONE in FIVE campaign: UNICEF and the Council of Europe join forces to stop sexual violence against chilfren 
[06/07/2012] According to available estimates, about 20% of children are victims of some form of sexual violence. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse contains a detailed catalogue of measures that governments should take to prevent sexual violence, to protect the children and to end with the impunity of the criminals. UNICEF has therefore decided to join the Council of Europe in the promotion of these measures in Europe and Central Asia. In addition to the promotion of the necessary changes in legislation and data collection, it is foreseen to invest in the dissemination of awareness raising material so that children, their parents and professionals working with them can better prevent, identify and report sexual violence. (more ...)

GRETA welcomes new EU Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy
[03/07/2012] At its 14th meeting (25-29 June 2012), the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) considered the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016. The publication of the Strategy on 19 June 2012 was preceded by consultations with a series of stakeholders, including the Council of Europe. GRETA welcomes the Strategy’s comprehensive scope and focus on concrete measures aimed to step up action against trafficking in human beings. The Strategy refers to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and urges those EU Member States which have not yet done so, to ratify it. The Strategy also stresses that the judgment of the European Court on Human Rights in the case Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia (2010) provides a decisive human rights benchmark with clear obligations for EU Member States to take the necessary steps to address different areas of trafficking in human beings. (more)

14th meeting of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), Strasbourg, 25-29 June 2012
[03/07/2012] GRETA adopted its final evaluation reports on Armenia, Montenegro and the United Kingdom which take into account the comments received from the respective authorities. These three reports will now be sent to the national authorities who will be asked to submit any final comments within one month. At the expiry of this time-limit GRETA’s reports, together with eventual comments received from the authorities, will be made public. (more)
List of decisions
More on GRETA and its members.....

Children's rights at stake. Who cares?
[02/07/2012] The Council of Europe has invited leading experts to discuss how to make full use of existing Council of Europe and United Nations monitoring mechanisms for the benefit of children's rights in Europe. Representatives from a number of Council of Europe monitoring bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture will discuss with experts from UN agencies, the EU and civil society how to improve children's access to the rights guaranteed by key human rights treaties. (more ...)

Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Turkey
[02/07/2012] A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out an ad hoc visit to Turkey from 21 to 28 June 2012. The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of juveniles held in prisons, taking into account the recent allegations of ill-treatment of juvenile prisoners at Pozantı Prison. The delegation visited Ankara-Sincan Juvenile Prison, to which all the juveniles previously held at Pozantı Prison had been transferred, as well as Istanbul-Maltepe Juvenile Prison and the juvenile units of Diyarbakır and Gaziantep E-type Prisons. The delegation also discussed with the Turkish authorities the fires which had broken out in June in several prisons in central and south-eastern Turkey, resulting in a number of severe casualties. (more)