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Recommendation 1866 (2009)
Situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states
1. Referring
to its Resolution 1660
(2009) on the situation of human rights defenders in Council
of Europe member states, the Parliamentary Assembly commends the
Committee of Ministers for the swift preparation and adoption of
its Declaration on Council of Europe action to improve the protection
of human rights defenders and promote their activities, on 6 February
2008. It welcomes the fact that the Committee of Ministers has decided
to keep under review the question of further Council of Europe action
in this field.
2. The Assembly also welcomes the adoption by the Committee of
Ministers, on 10 October 2007, of the Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14
on the legal status of non-governmental organisations in Europe,
and the subsequent establishment of an Expert Council on NGO Law
by the Council of Europe Conference of International Non-Governmental
Organisations.
3. The Assembly considers that the Council of Europe, through
the full range of its human rights instruments and bodies, should
further increase its contribution to the protection of human rights
defenders and their work in a long-term perspective, as well as
in specific cases requiring urgent action.
4. The Assembly welcomes the reinforced mandate given to the
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to protect and support
human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states and fully supports
his efforts to carry out this mandate. The Assembly is also ready
to play an active role and to co-operate with and help the Commissioner
with this task when the need arises.
5. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
5.1. call on all member states to
give appropriate follow-up to the issues raised in Resolution 1660 (2009), particularly those concerning the issue of emergency
visas, or any other appropriate measures, to support and protect
human rights defenders at risk or in situations requiring urgent
action;
5.2. continue to give the necessary political support to the
institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights and provide it
with necessary resources;
5.3. give appropriate follow-up to the work of the Commissioner
for Human Rights as well as other relevant protection mechanisms
successfully invoked by human rights defenders;
5.4. strengthen its own efforts to eradicate violations of
the rights of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member
states, in particular the most serious ones, such as assassinations,
abductions, arbitrary arrests and detention, unfair trials and ill-treatment,
and eradicate impunity for any such violation;
5.5. increase the focus on human rights defenders within the
Council of Europe’s human rights awareness-raising and training
activities, notably those concerning law-enforcement bodies and
the media;
5.6. continue to support the Council of Europe Conference of
International Non-Governmental Organisations and the Expert Council
on NGO Law and give concrete follow-up to their work and findings;
5.7. pay increased attention to the issue of human rights defenders
and to the role of the Council of Europe in promoting and protecting
such defenders in its relations with other intergovernmental organisations.