Commissioner for Human Rights 31/05/2012 National human rights structures can help mitigate effects of austerity measures Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks Strasbourg, 31/05/2012 – Effective protection of human rights at national level requires good laws and efficient judiciaries – but also strong, independent national human rights structures (NHRSs). This need is especially evident in times of crisis and austerity, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his first Human Rights Comment published today.   NHRSs – independent commissions, general or specialised ombudsmen, equality bodies, police complaints mechanisms...

Council of Europe 30/05/2012 Syria: Council of Europe condemns executions in Houla Edmond Haxhinasto Strasbourg, 30 May 2012 - Mr Edmond Haxhinasto, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, expresses his indignation at the massacres committed in Syria, especially in the city of Houla, where over 90 people were killed, many of whom were children.  He aligns himself with the position of the UN Security Council in condemning these appalling events, which clearly show the disregard in which the Syrian regime holds the six point plan devised by the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States,...

Parliamentary Assembly 29/05/2012 Syria: PACE President calls for full ceasefire and implementation of Annan plan Jean-Claude Mignon Strasbourg, 29.05.2012 - Adding his voice to the international condemnation of the recent massacre in Houla, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Jean-Claude Mignon, today called on the Syrian authorities to co-operate fully with the Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, and with United Nations observers in the field.   “I am appalled by the news reaching us from Syria. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, most of those who died in the...

Secretary General 25/05/2012 Secretary General visits Amman, Ramallah and Jerusalem Турбьёрн Ягланд в зале Памяти Яд ва-Шема Strasbourg, 29 May 2012 - Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland visited Amman, Ramallah and Jerusalem on 27-29 May. In Amman, on 27 May, Mr Jagland met with King Abdullah II, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, the Speaker of the Senate Taher Al Masri and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Abed Kareem Doghmei.   On 28 May the Secretary General met in Ramallah with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad.   The Secretary General then visited Jerusalem from 29 May where he met with President Shimon...

Social Rights 25/05/2012 Council of Europe finds 258 violations of the European Social Charter in 2011 Social Charter logo The European Committee of Social Rights has made public its activity report 2011 which looked at the rights of children, both inside and outside the labour market, the right to maternity protection, rights related to the protection of the family, the rights of migrant workers and the right to housing in the 39 State Parties. The Committee adopted 950 conclusions, including 258 findings of violations of the Charter. It also noted many positive developments where States have changed their legislation or practice to bring the situation into conformity with the Charter....

Secretary General 24/05/2012 Closer co-operation between Council of Europe and Albania Edmond Haxhinasto, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, and Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland Strasbourg, 24 May 2012 - “Council of Europe plays a vital role for the democratic changes in Albania”, underlined the Foreign Minister. “We will do our utmost to further strengthen the role of the Council of Europe in Europe”, Haxhinasto said. “I very much welcome a well-prepared Albanian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, and our joint priorities”, emphasised Jagland. “I appreciate the Albanian Government’s support for the reforms of...

Deputy Secretary General 23/05/2012 “Falcone set a model for upholding the rule of law in the fight against organised crime” Maud de Boer-Buquicchio Strasbourg, 23.05.2012 - “Giovanni Falcone was one of the earliest advocates of international co-operation and law enforcement against organised crime, providing a vivid example that no ministry or country could fight mafia alone,” said Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the assassination near Palermo of this emblematic Italian judge.    “The Council of Europe has pioneered the establishment of international action against criminal networks. I would like to...

Parliamentary Assembly 22/05/2012 PACE Social Committee recommends profound re-orientation of austerity programmes PACE logo Strasbourg, 22.05.2012 – Adopting a report on “Austerity measures – a danger for democracy and social rights”, prepared by Andrej Hunko (Germany, UEL), the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development said it was concerned that the restrictive approaches currently pursued may not reach their objective of consolidating budgets, but risk further deepening the crisis and undermining the social rights as they mainly affect lower income classes and the most vulnerable categories of the population.   It therefore...

PACE 19/05/2012 Parliamentary Assembly welcomes access given to Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Tymoshenko The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) - Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD) - have welcomed the recent access given by Ukrainian authorities to former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kharkiv hospital where she is being treated.  Although "glad" that she is now receiving proper medical attention, the co-rapporteurs also  expressed concern at recent leaks of information regarding her health situation and the treatment she will receive: “Medical...

Parliamentary Assembly 17/05/2012 International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Håkon Haugli (Norway, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBTs), has made the following statement: "Human rights are for all: there is no exception for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. In recent years, remarkable progress has been made in Europe in the fight against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity: to mention a few examples, in the United Kingdom, protective...

Secretary General 15/05/2012 Europe must not move backwards on LGBT rights   Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland Strasbourg, 15.05.2012 - Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has warned that discrimination and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people continues to blight the lives of millions of Europeans and cannot be left unanswered. In a statement issued today he said:   “LGBT people still face intolerant attitudes and social barriers across most, if not all, Council of Europe member states. Recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights point at unjustified bans or...

Human Rights Trust Fund 11/05/2012 Human Rights Trust Fund news HRTF logo Strasbourg, 11 May 2012 - Ambassador Ellen Berends, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, anounced to the Secretary General Jagland and to the Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank, Rolf Wenzel, a renewed contribution of € 250.000 to the Human Rights Trust Fund (HRTF). This contribution follows previous contributions of the Netherlands since the inception of the Trust Fund, renewed contributions of Norway, initiator and founding contributor of the HRTF, Germany, Finland and Switzerland, and a contribution of the United Kingdom.   One of the projects funded by the...

Parliamentary Assembly 11/05/2012 Parliamentary Assembly delegation to visit Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Tymoshenko Strasbourg, 11.05.2012 – Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Ukraine, will visit former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Kharkiv on 16 May, as well as meeting her lawyers. They will also talk to the lawyers of the imprisoned former government ministers, Yuriy Lutsenko and Valeriy Ivashchenko.   These meetings will be held during a monitoring visit by the co-rapporteurs (15-17 May), the purpose of which is to assess the...

Committee of Ministers 11/05/2012 47 Council of Europe member states call for immediate respect of ceasefire in Syria Committee of Ministers Strasbourg, 11 May 2012 - The Committee of Ministers calls for an immediate respect of the ceasefire in Syria which should have come into effect on 12 April:   "“The Committee of Ministers condemns with the utmost firmness the continued violations of international human rights law committed since the beginning of hostilities in Syria, despite the current presence on the ground of an advance team of UN observers. The Committee calls for an immediate respect of the ceasefire which should have come into effect on 12 April". (...

Secretary General 10/05/2012 Secretary General Jagland meets Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkul Karman Tawakkul Karman and Thorbjørn Jagland Strasbourg, 10/05/2012 – Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland met today with Tawakkul Karman, 33 year-old Yemeni journalist, politician and human rights activist. Ms Karman is one of three joint recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.   She is the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize . Mr Jagland is the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel...

Human Rights Commissioner 09/05/2012 Portugal: Austerity measures pose a serious threat to human rights Nils Muižnieks Lisbon, 09/05/2012 - “Fiscal austerity measures implemented so far in Portugal have disproportionately affected the human rights of the most vulnerable social groups, especially children, the elderly and Roma. I welcome the government’s efforts at cushioning the impact of the financial crisis, notably through the ‘social emergency’ programme brought in late last year. Much more and systematic work is necessary though in order to fully protect and respect the social and economic rights standards by which Portugal is bound”, said the Council...

GRECO 09/05/2012 Anti-corruption body calls on states to increase transparency of political funding GRECO Strasbourg, 09.05.2012 – The Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today called on its member states to set up transparent systems for party and election campaign financing. In its annual report, GRECO, while acknowledging an increase in regulatory efforts by states, pointed to a number of shortcomings:     · The transparency of some sources of income of parties, such as donations in kind, party membership fees, loans or sponsorship are often neglected by the legislation · Anonymous donations are still possible in some...

Parliamentary Assembly President 07/05/2012 A solution to the crisis of values: more Europe Jean-Claude Mignon  “Beyond the economic crisis, Europe is facing a more serious crisis of values, as shown by the rise in populism and extremism in several European countries,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), speaking on the eve of Europe Day (8 May). “Europe is in a period of great uncertainty. Citizens distrust politics and feel disoriented, while unscrupulous leaders profit from this weakness to seek political advantage by inciting hatred and promising miracles which undermine the social, economic and...

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance 03/05/2012 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance publishes its annual report Strasbourg, 03.05.2012 - European countries must learn to manage diversity or risk losing a rich pool of economic talent, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has warned in its annual report.   Welfare cuts, diminished job opportunities and a consequent rise in intolerance towards both immigrant groups and older historical minorities are worrying trends emerging from ECRI's country by country visits during 2011, the report reveals. Xenophobic rhetoric is now part of mainstream debate and...

Committee of Ministers 02/05/2012 Towards a death penalty-free area in Europe and beyond Committee of Ministers Strasbourg, 2 May 2012 - In a declaration adopted today, the Committee of Ministers calls on all countries which still apply the death penalty, including those holding observer status with the Council of Europe, to immediately apply a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition:   "The Committee of Ministers re-affirms its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances. We are convinced that its abolition contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights, of which the...