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Recommendation 1980 (2011) Final version
Combating “child abuse images” through committed, transversal and internationally co-ordinated action
1. Referring to its Resolution 1834 (2011)
on combating “child abuse images” through committed, transversal
and internationally co-ordinated action, the Parliamentary Assembly
recommends that the Council of Europe take a strong position on
the action to be taken to combat child abuse images. The Council
of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention, CETS No. 201)
belongs to the most complete and advanced standards in this field,
next to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution
and Child Pornography, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime
(Budapest Convention, ETS No. 185) and the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197).
2. However, the articles of the Lanzarote Convention on “child
pornography” should be strengthened with regard to the full series
of crimes related to child abuse images, including their production,
distribution, collection and consultation. The fact that Article
20 (paragraph 1.f) of the
convention provides an opt out to member states allowing them not
to criminalise the act of “knowingly obtaining access, through information
and communication technologies, to child pornography” is not acceptable
for the Parliamentary Assembly. Provisions relating to the legal
and political measures to be taken to effectively fight child abuse
images and related offences should be further developed. These provisions
should include the obligation to block websites with illegal content
when their rapid deletion is not possible.
3. At national level, the Lanzarote Convention and the upcoming
European Union Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
of children and child pornography, expected to be adopted by the European
Parliament and the European Council before the end of 2011, should
be implemented in a co-ordinated manner, so as to ensure a maximum
impact of these instruments on national legislation and, finally, the
protection of every child.
4. The Assembly welcomes the general commitment of the Committee
of Ministers to the protection of children’s rights, not least by
initiating the Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign to stop sexual
violence against children (2010-2014). It also welcomes the strong
involvement of the Council of Europe in the “European Dialogue on
Internet Governance (EuroDIG)” and encourages the Committee of Ministers
to maintain a high level of activity in this field, also as a united
European contribution to the international debate.
5. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
5.1. continue promoting the ratification
and implementation of the Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions in
all member states;
5.2. elaborate and adopt an additional protocol on child abuse
images and related crimes to the Lanzarote Convention as soon as
possible, with the purpose of covering offences related to child
abuse images in more detail and of reinforcing relevant provisions,
in particular by criminalising not only the production and distribution
of images but also their intentional consultation and by defining
the blocking of illegal websites as a complementary but mandatory
legal measure when deleting them fails;
5.3. initiate intergovernmental work on the legal responsibility
of private players, notably Internet service providers (ISP), in
the framework of the Council of Europe agenda on matters of rule
of law and of the Steering Committee on Media and New Communication
Services (CDMC);
5.4. further develop and reinforce the ONE in FIVE Campaign
in order to allow the Council of Europe and member states involved
to address specific matters of sexual abuse and exploitation of
children in an appropriate manner;
5.5. ensure that the activities of Council of Europe bodies
regarding the protection of children’s rights and the right to the
freedom of expression are well co-ordinated, inter
alia, by creating closer links between the Council of
Europe programme “Building a Europe for and with Children” under
its next Strategy (2012-2014) and the intergovernmental work undertaken
by the CDMC, and by involving the Assembly at an early stage whenever
appropriate.