23.6.2009 - REVISED

WELCOME SPEECH OF MR DE PUIG,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

FOR Ms HELEN SHAW, CHAIR, AND Ms ELIZABETH FOLARIN, DIRECTOR, OF BRITISH IRISH RIGHTS WATCH

HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE OF PACE 2009

(Strasbourg, Wednesday 24 June 2009, 12h45, Chamber)

Distinguished guests, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

For the first time today the Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is being awarded. Every year, the Prize will reward an individual, a non governmental organisation or an institution for their outstanding civil society contribution to the cause of human rights.

The Panel of the prize includes three members of the Assembly: the Chairpersons of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and of the Monitoring Committee, as well as myself as President, and four independent experts who are renowned for their expertise and work in the human rights field. For this first edition of the Prize, fourteen deserving individuals and NGO’s were nominated and were considered by this panel which unanimously chose the Prizewinner , a choice which was then endorsed by the Bureau and the Assembly itself.

I have the pleasure to welcome to our Assembly Ms Helen Shaw and Ms Elizabeth Folarin, respectively the Chair and the Administrator of British Irish Rights Watch. This organisation, has worked for almost twenty years monitoring the situation of human rights in Northern Ireland during the conflict first, and the peace progress later. We believe that its action can serve as a model in many other contexts.

This relatively small organisation has carried out invaluable work and can be proud of its achievements. The stubborn determination of its leaders, together with the competence of its members, many of whom are volunteers, has had a tremendous impact on the situation of human rights in Northern Ireland. And I believe it is not inappropriate to highlight in this context that the Board of this Organisation is exclusively made up of women, which also demonstrates the important role women can play-as the Assembly has underscored- in conflict resolution and peace building.

British Irish Rights Watch played a significant role in the process leading to the opening of new inquiries on the infamous “Bloody Sunday” of Derry, among others. Thanks to British Irish Rights Watch efforts, the intimidation of defence lawyers acting for the persons accused of terrorist crimes is a memory from the past. The same goes for the ill-treatment of detainees in custody in Northern Ireland.

I might add one aspect which may be less known to many. British Irish Rights Watch has been, and continues to be, active in seeking to ensure that the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in several cases concerning the actions of the security forces in Northern Ireland are properly executed.

The ultimate outcome of British Irish Rights Watch’s action, the very meaning of the entire activity of this organisation is a good example of a success story in “eradicating impunity”, the theme of this morning’s debate on the State of Human Rights in Europe.

Finally, I would like to mention what can be considered the added value of the work of this organisation: British Irish Rights Watch has upheld human rights in times and in a country when terrorism was being fought. That shows that there is no contradiction between the need to eradicate terrorism and the respect for human rights, as the Assembly has repeatedly affirmed. On the contrary, it is precisely in such troubled times that there is a need to uphold human rights with renewed vigour. That is what British Irish Rights Watch has done and we can learn much from its experience. For my part, I am confident that there will be further opportunities for this organisation and our Assembly to collaborate in this area.

We would like these achievements to be recognised officially.

I therefore have the honour to present the Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to British Irish Rights Watch, for the courageous and outstanding work in monitoring and bringing to light human rights abuses, and for its fight against impunity in Northern Ireland.