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Resolution 2303 (2019)
Protecting and supporting the victims of terrorism
1. The Parliamentary Assembly pays
tribute to all victims killed, wounded and/or traumatised during terrorist
attacks in several Council of Europe member States and worldwide.
2. In their counter-terrorism strategies, governments and parliaments
must ensure that the victims of terrorist attacks are afforded adequate
protection and support taking their specific physical, material,
emotional and psychological needs into account, and that their dignity
and human rights are fully upheld. Moreover, the right of all victims
to truth, justice and reparation must be guaranteed.
3. The Assembly notes that a number of existing legal instruments
have not been fully implemented and put in practice and stresses
the need for a more consistent and systematic approach to protecting
and supporting victims of terrorism throughout Council of Europe
member States. It therefore calls on the member and observer States
and States whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy
status with the Assembly:
3.1. with
regard to the recognition of “victims of terrorism”, to:
3.1.1. grant them official recognition as a special category
of victims in a universally agreed legal framework, thus acknowledging
their suffering on behalf of the State against which the terrorist
act was directed, identify their needs as distinct from those of
victims of “ordinary” crimes, and facilitate access to support services,
in particular for cross-border victims;
3.1.2. consider carrying out a census of all persons affected
by an attack, regardless of their nationality and residence status,
and inform them of their right of access to justice, the conditions of
compensation and the existence of support services and organisations;
3.1.3. recognise the humanitarian, legal and strategic importance
of providing prompt and effective support to victims at every stage
of the recovery process to empower victims and minimise the harm
at both the individual and societal level;
3.2. with regard to supporting victims of terrorism at the
national level, to:
3.2.1. provide victims of terrorism
with adequate urgent and long-term medical, psychological, material,
legal and social assistance;
3.2.2. guarantee the right of victims of terrorism to fair restitution,
reparation or compensation, without any income requirement and irrespective
of their residence status or nationality, in the State where the
attack took place, and apply it to members of their immediate family
or beneficiaries of the direct victim;
3.2.3. ensure that a dedicated public body is responsible for
catering to the needs of victims of terrorism through a comprehensive,
compassionate and victim-centred approach;
3.2.4. create multilingual information services and material
outlining national victim support services;
3.2.5. ensure that public bodies, agencies and social services,
non-specific to victims of terrorism but with which victims of terrorism
may interact, are properly funded and that their staff receive adequate
and continuous training;
3.2.6. ensure co-ordination among relevant public bodies to minimise
administrative burdens for victims, ensure consistency in the provision
of services and maximise transparency;
3.2.7. pay attention to the specific needs of vulnerable groups
of victims, such as cross-border victims, members of minorities,
women, young people and children;
3.2.8. provide, where possible, opportunities for victims of
terrorism to participate in criminal justice proceedings affecting
them;
3.2.9. ensure that every effort is made to adequately protect
victims from further harm, by the original perpetrators or those
aligned with their cause, and from secondary victimisation, as a result
of their interactions with the authorities;
3.2.10. uphold the dignity and privacy of the victims by making
them aware of their rights with regard to the media and their right
to control their privacy and their image, and by encouraging the
press to uphold certain ethical standards and avoid degrading or
sensationalist reporting, while respecting freedom of the press;
3.2.11. raise public awareness of the risks that social media
can represent when they convey information about or images of a
private and potentially shocking nature of the victims or the terrorist
attacks;
3.2.12. consider the creation of humanitarian funds arising from
dedicated appeals for donations or, at the very least, supervise
their conditions and ensure their control, to ensure that funds
raised by the public are used effectively and efficiently;
3.2.13. counteract terror narratives and various forms of incitement,
in line with Assembly Resolution
2221 (2018) on counter-narratives to terrorism, through
school programmes and awareness-raising campaigns, underlying the
supreme values of human dignity, peace, non-violence, tolerance
and human rights, and involve the victims of terrorist acts;
3.2.14. take appropriate measures to attain social recognition
and remembrance of the victims, through museums, memorials and medals,
for example;
3.3. with regard to supporting victims of terrorism in co-operation
with civil society, to:
3.3.1. co-operate closely with civil
society organisations, such as victims’ associations, preferably
through a clear formal agreement, on policy-making initiatives,
awareness and fundraising campaigns, and research, education and
training programmes;
3.3.2. assist civil society and, in particular, non-governmental
organisations involved in providing support to the victims of terrorism
to improve the delivery of justice-related services to support victims
and their families and beneficiaries;
3.3.3. review how grants are awarded to and used by non-governmental
organisations, consult them on their needs, and monitor and evaluate
the support services provided on a continual basis to ensure an
efficient and effective distribution of resources;
3.4. with regard to supporting victims of terrorism at the
international level, to:
3.4.1. implement Article 13 of
the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No.
196) on “Protection, compensation and support for victims
of terrorism”;
3.4.2. implement the Revised Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers
on the protection of victims of terrorist acts of 19 May 2017, on
a proactive basis;
3.4.3. strengthen international co-operation not only to fight
more effectively against terrorist organisations, but also to better
share information between national compensation services, avoid
situations of double compensation or non-compensation and co-ordinate
assistance;
3.4.4. share good practice, experience and expertise, also through
international organisations, to allow the international community
to learn from the unique experience of certain States and thus support
the training of victim support professionals;
3.4.5. prioritise the improvement of support for cross-border
victims of terrorism in future reforms.
4. The Assembly invites the European Union to:
4.1. ensure that the European Union
Centre of Expertise for Victims of Terrorism also embraces a pan-European
dimension and co-ordinates its activities with the Council of Europe,
also with a view to promoting the full implementation of the Council
of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, its 2015 additional
protocol (CETS
No. 217) and the Revised Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers on
the protection of victims of terrorist acts;
4.2. examine, in consultation with the Council of Europe, the
possibility of adopting a European charter on the rights of the
victims of terrorism to facilitate recognition, communication and
co-ordination in greater Europe and thereby highlight the importance
of rights and recognition of the status of victims of terrorism.
5. Finally, the Assembly believes that the survivors of terrorist
attacks, along with former terrorists and foreign fighters, should
be actively involved in all efforts to prevent radicalisation leading
to violent extremism in all Council of Europe member States, and
resolves to closely follow this matter in its future work.