Parliamentary Assembly 06/07/2011 Belarus: new wave of repressions condemned Andres Herkel, Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur on the situation in Belarus The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), has condemned the new wave of violence against peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights defenders in Belarus. “I am concerned about the rough dispersal of peaceful demonstrations in Minsk and other cities in 3 of July Independence Day, with hundreds of protesters being brutally beaten and detained merely for clapping hands,” he said. ( more... )

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities 05/07/2011 Detention of local elected representatives in Turkey remains a cause of grave concern Lars O Molin, President of the Congress Monitoring Committee and Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress ''The continued detention of dozens of local elected representatives in Turkey, including Mrs Leyla Güven, a Congress member, remains a cause of grave concern for the Congress,'' stated Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress, in the framework of the Congress Monitoring Committee in Izmir, Turkey, on 4 July 2011. The ongoing detention of dozens of politicians in South-East Anatolia, has been repeatedly discussed by the Congress, most...

Commissioner for Human Rights 05/07/2011 Georgia: “Human rights must be better protected in the justice system” Thomas Hammarberg “More efforts are needed to address serious shortcomings in the judiciary and increase its transparency and fairness” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, releasing a report on the visit to Georgia 18-20 April 2011. The report focuses on the level of protection of human rights in the justice system in Georgia. Although significant efforts have been made to reinforce the independence of the judiciary, the Commissioner finds that further efforts are needed to safeguard it from undue interference. He...

European Court of Human Rights 05/07/2011 Sir Nicolas Bratza elected President of the European Court of Human Rights Sir Nicolas Bratza The European Court of Human Rights elected Sir Nicolas Bratza (British) as its new President. He will take office on 4 November 2011. The President was elected by secret ballot by the Court’s 47 judges. Sir Nicolas Bratza succeeds Jean-Paul Costa (French), whose mandate will come to an end on 3 November 2011, because he has reached the age limit fixed by the European Convention on Human Rights. Sir Nicolas was born on 3 March 1945. He studied law at the University of Oxford. After qualifying as a lawyer, he was appointed Junior Counsel of the...

Parliamentary Assembly 04/07/2011 Assembly rapporteurs to make a fact-finding visit to Hungary Hungarian flag Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) and Jana Fischerová (Czech Republic, EDG), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) who have been appointed to assess the request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 6 to 8 July. A January 2011 motion, signed by 24 members of the Assembly, raised “serious concern” about recent developments in Hungary in four areas related to human rights, the rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions. ...

Social Rights 01/07/2011 Austria ratifies Revised European Charter on Social Rights President of the European Committee of Social Rights, Luis Jimena Quesada The President of the European Committee of Social Rights, Prof. Luis Jimena Quesada, has expressed his satisfaction at Austria’s ratification of the Revised European Social Charter, making it the 31st State Party to this Council of Europe treaty which safeguards social rights. Forty-three countries have now ratified either the 1961 Charter or the Revised Charter (more information). "I congratulate Austria on its commitment to fundamental social rights. The success of the ratification process is due in no small part to...

Secretary General 30/06/2011 Secretary General welcomes decision to postpone draft constitutional law examination Thorbjørn Jagland Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland said today in an interview with Ria Novosti that he welcomed the decision in the State Duma to postpone the examination of the draft constitutional law which would allow the Russian Constitutional court to decide whether the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights should be executed. “This draft constitutional law would affect the protection of the human rights of Russian citizens, and is a question which must be discussed thoroughly. The Council of Europe is ready to offer advice in this debate,...

6th Summer University for Democracy 30/06/2011 6th Summer University for Democracy presented its Final declaration Hemicycle Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Nebojša Radmanović, Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Diana Wallis, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Vladimir Lukin, Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation and a member of the Council of Europe’s Group of Eminent Persons, have closed the 6th Summer University for Democracy. It was a young Tunisian student who read out the declaration adopted by the participants after three days of debates and discussions on "Ethics and...

GRECO 29/06/2011 Group of States against Corruption publishes its annual report Drago Kos, Chair of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Drago Kos, Chair of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), today called for more resources – time and effort, and ultimately funding – for fighting corruption in Europe, and at global level. When presenting GRECO’s annual report the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, he said GRECO had observed “occasional slumps in political determination or even backtracking on previous achievements” in the fight against corruption. ( more... )

Secretary General 28/06/2011 Secretary General concerned about Russian draft constitutional law Thorbjørn Jagland In an interview to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the Secretary General today reacted to the news about a draft constitutional law proposed by the Senator Torshin to the Russian Parliament. The law, if adopted, would allow the Russian Constitutional court to decide whether the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights should be executed. The Secretary General said that he was very concerned about this development, and was in contact with the Russian authorities. “I take this very seriously”, he continued, “but I trust that there will be a...

Summer University for Democracy 28/06/2011 High ethical standards of those in power are essential Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland “High ethical standards of those in power are essential to protecting human rights and developing prosperous democracies,” Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland told the opening session of the Council of Europe Summer University. His message was echoed by Rafaa Ben Achour, Delegate Minister to the Prime Minister of the new interim government of Tunisia. Achour said that ethics, and their place in the new democracy, are central to a number of key questions now facing his country. Tunisia is now faced with a crisis of...

European Court of Human Rights 28/06/2011 European Court of Human Rights announces 21 judgments European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights announced today 21 chamber judgments. In the case of Sufi and Elmi v. the United Kingdom the Court found the applicants should not be removed to their country of origin, Somalia, as they risk to be ill-treated or killed if sent back. This case is considered a lead case as there are 214 similar cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights. The case Pinto Coelho v. Portugal concerned the criminal conviction of a journalist for showing, during a TV report, copies of documents from judicial proceedings which were...

Commissioner for Human Rights 28/06/2011 Politicians using anti-Roma rhetoric are spreading hate Thomas Hammarberg Posters displayed in Milan during the recent municipal election campaign warned against the risk of the city turning into a “Gypsy town”. Though this was an extreme display of xenophobia, anti-Roma statements by politicians are in fact commonplace in several countries in Europe, says Commissioner Hammarberg in his latest Human Rights Comment published today. Until this stops, no efforts to promote the inclusion of Roma in society can be expected to bear fruit – instead, discrimination and violence will continue to be a part of the daily lives of many Roma....

Voluntary contributions 2010: Facts and Figures 27/06/2011 Voluntary contributions 2010: Facts and Figures Voluntary contributions 2010: Facts and Figures Voluntary contributions from governments and institutions continued to rise in 2010 and now finance a significant share of Council of Europe activities. The report lists the European Union, Denmark, the Human Rights Trust Fund*, Norway, Germany, Finland, Turkey and Switzerland as the most generous voluntary contribution donors. In 2010 voluntary contribution receipts were valued at €29 583 592. Between 2009 and 2010, voluntary contributions from member states increased by 9.78%, contributions from the European Union...

Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly 24/06/2011 Living together – Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe While welcoming the report of the Group of Eminent Persons on “Living together – Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe”, the Assembly today encouraged politicians and elected representatives at all levels to speak out on the challenges raised at present “by the threats to the European project and solidarity”. Europe is multicultural and European peoples have proved their capacity to live together in diversity, the adopted text underlines. Although...

Special Representative for Roma issues 24/06/2011 EU Roma Strategy welcomed Roma mediators programme The Council of Europe today welcomed the endorsement by the European Council of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, which develops a targeted approach for a more effective and EU-wide response to the structural exclusion and discrimination of Europe's biggest minority. Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Special Representative for Roma issues said: “This is an important step towards achieving much-needed effective policies for the social inclusion of Roma and better respect for their human rights in Europe. These are key priorities for the Council of Europe, agreed by...

Parliamentary Assembly 23/06/2011 Lives lost in the Mediterranean: who is responsible? Photo: Gamma The Parliamentary Assembly has launched an inquiry into who is responsible for the more than 1,000 “boat people” thought to have perished in the Mediterranean since January 2011 while trying to reach European soil from North Africa. Following a request for an inquiry signed by 34 members of the Assembly, PACE’s Migration Committee today appointed Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) to prepare a report on “Lives lost in the Mediterranean sea: who is responsible?”. “There have been allegations that migrants and refugees are dying after their appeals for...

Session of the Parliamentary Assembly 23/06/2011 Long live the Court – this "jewel" – says the German justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Federal Minister of Justice of Germany The European Union's forthcoming accession to the European Convention on Human Rights fills an important gap in Europe's human rights protection system, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Germany's Minister of Justice, has told the Parliamentary Assembly. She was speaking in a debate on the human rights situation in Europe and urged European citizens to recognise the importance of the Court – this "jewel" as she called it – and of its continued existence. Ms...

Commissioner for Human Rights 23/06/2011 Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons still face discrimination in Europe Thomas Hammarberg “Millions of people in Europe are discriminated, stigmatised and even victims of violence because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. They cannot fully enjoy their universal human rights. There is an urgent need for all European governments to remedy this situation and take policy and legislative measures to combat homophobia and transphobia”, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, publishing today a report on discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and...

Parliamentary Assembly 22/06/2011 Europe should share its democratic transition experience, Bulgarian Foreign Minister says Nickolay Mladenov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov referred to the “winds of change” in the southern neighborhood of Europe, stressing that Europe must share its democratic transition experience. This is why Bulgaria organised last May in its capital the Sofia Platform, a conference in which took part governmental and non-governmental representatives from Arab countries, Europe and the US. Minister Mladenov also supported the proposal by PACE President...