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Resolution 1660 (2009)
Situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states
1. The Parliamentary
Assembly pays tribute to the invaluable contribution that human
rights defenders make to the protection of human rights, the rule
of law, democracy and the prevention of conflicts, sometimes at
the risk of their own personal security.
2. The Assembly considers that human rights defenders are all
those persons who, individually or together with others, act to
promote or protect human rights. It is their activities in this
field that define them as human rights defenders.
3. States have the obligation and responsibility to protect human
rights defenders and their work by providing an enabling environment
and, if necessary, protection mechanisms to ensure the physical
integrity of defenders who face specific threats. Parliamentarians
have a major responsibility for shaping the political context and
the working environment of human rights defenders in an appropriate
way and monitoring human rights developments.
4. In many countries, human rights defenders are generally well
protected in law and practice. The Assembly deplores, however, that,
in some Council of Europe member states, human rights defenders
are sometimes confronted with a difficult environment and face numerous
obstacles and restrictions. The latter range from physical violence
to more subtle and insidious measures, such as administrative obstacles.
In a number of Council of Europe member states, defenders face defamation
campaigns aimed at discrediting them or are accused of being unpatriotic,
traitors, “spies”, or “extremists”. In the most extreme cases, human
rights defenders receive death threats, are abducted, face arbitrary
arrests and detention, as well as unfair trials, and are ill-treated
or even murdered. In some cases, their family and professional entourage
are also targeted.
5. The Assembly is particularly concerned by the situation of
human rights defenders who are most exposed to attacks and abuses
because of their identity and/or because they work on “unpopular”
or sensitive issues. At special risk are those fighting against
impunity for serious crimes and against corruption, as well as those
working on economic, social and cultural rights, on the rights of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and for the rights
of migrants and national or ethnic minorities. Women human rights
defenders also face distinct risks and obstacles. The situation
of human rights defenders in the Caucasus region is especially critical,
where some of them face the most violent repression, including murder,
abduction, arbitrary arrests and detention.
6. The Assembly considers that all attacks on, and violations
of, the rights of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member
states, whether carried out by state or non-state actors, are unacceptable
and should be firmly condemned. It stresses that freedom of expression
and freedom of assembly and association, which are of crucial importance
for the work of human rights defenders, are fundamental rights protected
by the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).
7. The Assembly recalls the United Nations Declaration on Human
Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998 by the General Assembly, and welcomes
the recent establishment of the Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR) Focal Point of the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for Human Rights Defenders and
the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
8. The Assembly urges the Council of Europe, Europe’s leading
guardian of human rights, through its unique array of instruments
and bodies, to 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.
9. Consequently, the Assembly warmly welcomes the Declaration
on Council of Europe action to improve the protection of human rights
defenders and promote their activities, adopted by the Council of
Europe Committee of Ministers on 6 February 2008, which mandates
the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen
the role and capacity of his office in order to provide strong and
effective protection for human rights defenders and to intervene
in serious situations where there is a need for urgent action. The declaration
also calls on other Council of Europe bodies to pay special attention
to issues concerning human rights defenders.
10. Given the key responsibility of parliamentarians to create
an enabling environment for human rights defenders, the Assembly
intends to step up its support for human rights defenders across
the continent, to complement – without overlapping – the role of
the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. In this respect,
the Assembly recalls that it has recently established an annual
Parliamentary Assembly Human Rights Prize to reward outstanding
civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe.
11. Finally, the Assembly stresses that a broad range of protection
measures is often the most effective response to ensure adequate
protection for human rights defenders. These measures must involve
the political and judicial authorities, national human rights structures,
human rights defenders themselves and their networks, international
human rights mechanisms, the diplomatic community and the media.
12. Against this background, the Assembly urges member states
to:
12.1. fully implement the relevant
provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted
by the European Court of Human Rights, especially the right to life,
to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, from torture and
ill-treatment, to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and
association, as well as the right to a fair trial and to an effective
remedy;
12.2. fully implement the United Nations and Council of Europe
declarations on human rights defenders, which call for an enabling
environment for their work, as well as their promotion and protection,
including by:
12.2.1. publicly and
firmly supporting their activities and guaranteeing in all circumstances
their physical and psychological integrity;
12.2.2. swiftly and firmly condemning, at the highest level, threats
to, or attacks on, human rights defenders, their organisations and/or
relatives, putting an end to such unacceptable behaviour and ensuring
that law-enforcement bodies carry out effective, impartial and transparent
investigations and prosecute the perpetrators;
12.2.3. ensuring the effective access of human rights defenders
to international protection mechanisms, in particular to the European
Court of Human Rights;
12.3. immediately abolish requirements for registration of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) or other bureaucratic barriers that may impair
the effective enjoyment of the right to form, join and participate
in NGOs, associations or groups working to defend human rights or
that may otherwise obstruct their work.
13. The Assembly also calls upon member states to:
13.1. set up appropriate infrastructures
and assistance programmes for human rights defenders at risk;
13.2. establish humanitarian visa schemes or take any other
appropriate measure for human rights defenders facing imminent danger
or in need of respite as a consequence of persistent persecution
in third countries, or at least facilitate the issue of emergency
visas for them in such situations;
13.3. make full use, if they are European Union member states,
of the European Union Guidelines for Human Rights Defenders in third
countries, and to implement the principles contained therein within
their own borders.
14. More specifically, the Assembly calls upon national parliaments
of Council of Europe member states to:
14.1. take relevant measures to implement, at parliamentary
level, the United Nations and Council of Europe declarations on
human rights defenders; parliaments should in particular ensure
that legislation relating to defenders and their work is in conformity
with international standards;
14.2. adopt and implement non-legislative texts, such as national
action plans or strategies, on the protection of human rights defenders,
requiring, inter alia, the
government to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders
in its internal and foreign policies and ensure scrutiny of government
policies and action to guarantee that the work of human rights defenders
is both protected and promoted;
14.3. develop and maintain regular contacts with human rights
defenders;
14.4. provide public recognition for the work of human rights
defenders, by organising hearings and parliamentary debates and
by establishing awards for human rights defenders;
14.5. support assistance and protection measures for human rights
defenders at risk, such as the issue of emergency visas, trial observation
and involvement in networks of parliamentarians in support of human
rights defenders;
14.6. provide publicity for existing protection mechanisms,
the United Nations and Council of Europe declarations on human rights
defenders, and in particular for the new mandate of the Council
of Europe Human Rights Commissioner to protect human rights defenders
in the Council of Europe member states;
14.7. ensure that effective action is taken at the national
level to follow up on Council of Europe work and recommendations;
14.8. place the situation of human rights defenders at the top
of the agenda at international parliamentary meetings, such as the
annual meeting of the human rights committees of parliaments of European
Union member states.
15. The Assembly pays tribute to the work of the Council of Europe
Human Rights Commissioner in support of human rights defenders and
calls on him to:
15.1. fully carry
out his reinforced mandate and use his resources to support and
protect human rights defenders in the Council of Europe member states,
which requires monitoring and reporting activities, interventions
in urgent cases of human rights defenders at risk, public awareness
raising and creating networks, as well as co-operation and co-ordination
with key partners and actors;
15.2. recognise and make full use of the specific contribution
of the Assembly and parliamentary diplomacy, both in a long-term
perspective to improve the working conditions of human rights defenders and
in serious situations where there is a need for urgent action.
16. The Assembly further resolves to:
16.1. fully support the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner
in his efforts to carry out his reinforced mandate;
16.2. remain seized of the matter, in close co-ordination with
the Human Rights Commissioner, in order to complement and reinforce
his work in this field;
16.3. continue to support the development of vibrant civil societies
and the work of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member
states, notably through the newly-established annual Parliamentary
Assembly Human Rights Prize, through involving human rights defenders
in its work and, as appropriate, through the mechanism of parliamentary
diplomacy.