1. Introduction
1. Conflicts are marked by gender-specific experiences:
on the one hand, women have different access to resources, power
and decision-making processes than men do (especially during and
after conflicts, but also in the run-up to conflicts), on the other
hand they are amongst the main civilian victims of conflicts. Conflicts not
only affect faraway countries – in Europe as well, conflict resolution
and post-conflict reconstruction remains an issue. Gender-based
violence, rape as a weapon of war,
forced pregnancy and trafficking in human
beings are common both during and after conflicts, in addition to
such problems as displacement and enforced disappearances which
also affect men. Unfortunately, in most cases, women’s problems
remain invisible to the public, and are thus not treated as a priority.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly has called for strengthening the
role of women in conflict situations in its
Recommendation 1665 (2004) and
Resolution 1385 (2004).
However,
five years after their adoption, it has to be said that little progress
has been made since then to fully involve women in conflict prevention
and resolution. Along with a number of other colleagues, I therefore
proposed that fresh impetus be given to this subject,
in
particular by stressing women’s participation in the prevention
and resolution of unsolved conflicts in the Council of Europe area.
I was appointed rapporteur on 29 January 2009.
3. With a view to preparing this report, the committee proposed
that the 5th meeting of the women members of the Assembly should
focus on women’s role in conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. This
meeting took place in Strasbourg on 24 June 2009 and was attended
by Ms Helen Shaw, Chair of the Board of British Irish Rights Watch,
the organisation which won the Parliamentary Assembly’s 2009 Human Rights
Prize, and Ms de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the
Council of Europe.
4. This report is timely as it is being drafted just as the Committee
of Ministers of the Council of Europe has recently reaffirmed the
need to improve women’s participation in conflict prevention and
management and decision-making processes at all levels
and is about to adopt
a recommendation on the role of women and men in conflict prevention
and resolution and peace building.
The Political
Affairs Committee of the Assembly organised the Forum on Early Warning
in Conflict Prevention in Strasbourg on 24 and 25 September 2009.
I attended this forum in my capacity as rapporteur and took the
opportunity to present the committee’s first thoughts on the subject.
5. In this report I would like to underline the fact that women
can and must play an active and constructive role in conflict prevention
and resolution, as well as post-conflict reconstruction. Women’s
capacities and knowledge should be better used. We need to realise
that the commitment of women to decision making is just as important
as the commitment made by men. Gender must be recognised as a crisis
management instrument, that is, crisis management benefits from
taking gender aspects into account. It should be taken more into
consideration in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts,
as well as in post-conflict reconstruction. Although gender should
not refer only to women, paying attention to gender-based questions will
help improve women’s situation in conflicts and open new windows
of opportunity in ongoing negotiations. It will also contribute
to the long-term stability of the society in conflict.
2. Taking
the gender issue seriously
6. Since the end of the Cold War, the number of intra-state
conflicts has increased worldwide.
Long-suppressed ethnic, religious
and regional tensions have turned into trouble spots. So called
“frozen conflicts”,
involving Council of Europe
member states such as Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia or Azerbaijan,
remain unsolved and constitute a permanent challenge. Even if conflicts
are not active for the time being, living in the shadow of frozen
conflicts has a deep impact on daily life, especially for women,
since even post-conflict reconstruction cannot really begin.
7. The Council of Europe, and the Parliamentary Assembly in particular,
have made numerous efforts over the past few years to promote dialogue
and resume contacts in unresolved conflicts. Attention should be
drawn in this context to the steps taken during the recent conflict
between Georgia and Russia (August 2008) and the work of the ad
hoc sub-committee on promoting dialogue between the Georgian and
Russian Assembly delegations,
the
long-standing work on the situation in Cyprus,
on
Nagorno-Karabakh,
including the work of the Ad
hoc Sub-Committee on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Middle East
and the setting-up
of a “Tripartite Forum” bringing together Israeli and Palestinian
parliamentarians with members of the Assembly, the meetings of the
Ad hoc Sub-Committee for the Organisation of the Round Table on
the Political Situation in the Chechen Republic Pursuant to
Resolution 1402 (2004),
or the hearing on frozen conflicts jointly organised by the Assembly
Monitoring Committee and the German Institute for International
and Security Affairs (Berlin, 5 and 6 November 2007).
8. However, I am afraid I have to note that in the Council of
Europe, as in other international organisations, there are practically
no women at the negotiating tables. The gender dimension is too
often neglected. Not much account is taken of either the specific
difficulties encountered by women
or
the opportunities for dialogue that they offer. I firmly believe
that this dimension would give fresh impetus to the Council of Europe’s efforts
– and give women the opportunity to participate fully in peace efforts.
As stated earlier, it would also help to make Europe more stable
and more secure.
2.1. Women as victims
9. There are two sides to the gender issue in this context:
women as victims and women as actors. Women as victims in/after
armed conflict are slowly becoming more visible, and action is starting
to be taken to defend their rights better. The Assembly has most
recently adopted
Resolution
1670 and
Recommendation
1873 (2009) on sexual violence against women in armed
conflict, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on
women, peace and security is also devoted to combating rape and
other forms of sexual violence in armed conflict.
10. It is necessary to underline that prostitution and sex work
is often a side effect of protracted conflicts. Sexual work zones
surrounding occupying or peacekeeping countries military bases have
a long history. Later, these facilities catering for the military
often become sex tourist sites and thereby enable continuance of
the sexual exploitation of women and girls. Prostitution may also
be linked to human trafficking and other kinds of forced labour
and exploitation – as has happened in the Balkans. All organisations
and actors in conflict management must therefore act as role models
and have a zero tolerance policy towards prostitution in conflict zones.
11. Violence against women, including domestic violence and human
trafficking, both of which particularly affect women, are crimes
that unfortunately tend to become more frequent during and, above
all, after armed conflicts.
The
Council of Europe is particularly active in these fields, with its
Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings and the
forthcoming convention on preventing and combating violence against women
and domestic violence.
The
Council of Europe’s member states should also place particular emphasis
on protecting victims and combating gender-based violence, because
the latter is a serious violation of women’s fundamental rights
and an obstacle to their full participation in society.
12. When it comes to crimes and human rights violations which
are not considered gender-based, be it forced displacement, enforced
disappearance, torture, murder, etc., the fact that women are at
the same (if not a higher) risk of being victimised during and after
conflict is often less recognised. As the committee pointed out
in its opinion on “The state of human rights in Europe: the need
to eradicate impunity”,
it is necessary to punish and put
an end to all forms of violence against women. Access to the law
and to justice is one of the fundamental rights that must be safeguarded,
not only for men but also for women.
13. Thus, many women are being threatened because of their peace-building
work, as they stand up for justice and human rights.
Thus, for example, a
number of women activists who led peace organisations during the
wars in the Chechen Republic were detained and tortured by Russian
and pro-Moscow Chechen forces; some of them died.
These women commit themselves
to a cause and risk their lives, as can be seen from the recent
murders of Natalia Estemirova, who worked for the well-known Russian
human rights NGO Memorial in Chechnya (July 2009)
and
Zarema Sadulayeva, Chair of the NGO “Save the Generation” in Chechnya
(who was murdered with her husband in August 2009). The Assembly
should take action in this case, to ensure that the perpetrators
of these crimes are brought to justice, and other human rights defenders in
the region are better protected.
Paradoxically, women become victims
also when they act politically in the conflict. For instance, in
the Chechen conflict, the Russian Government and media have framed
all Chechen women as combatants, as “black widows”, thereby taking
away the protection they might have had from the conflict had they
been considered civilians.
2.2. Women as actors
14. Women as actors and women as victims are, of course,
interlinked. Women who are marginalised, invisible, ignored and
overexposed to gender-based violence are also confined to stereotyped
roles – and being an actor in preventing and resolving conflicts,
and participating in post-conflict reconstruction decisions is not
one of those roles! This means that women who do not conform to
stereotyped roles and become actors in conflict situations also
put themselves at high risk of becoming victims.
15. Academic research and policy discourse attest indeed that
conflicts are influenced and based on specific roles and stereotypes
of women and men and power hierarchies among them.
For
example, the widespread belief that the woman’s profession is to
be a housekeeper, the lack of feminist literature, the absence of women’s
confidence in handling power and a general refusal to take women’s
needs seriously are reasons why women are not involved in any peace
negotiations in Cyprus.
In Georgia, many internally
displaced women have adapted to extreme stress and have quietly
taken the lead in providing basic income and food for their families.
But
this leading role of women as income earners has not led to the
empowerment of women in Georgia.
In
fact, they do not consider themselves as working
and
are often unaware of their rights: of the 105 displaced women questioned
in a survey, only five were aware of their basic human rights.
16. Women’s roles as political activists and combatants have often
been left in the shadow. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration
(DDR) initiatives developed by UNIFEM showed that female combatants
and females in supportive roles needs are neglected and became invisible.
They have had unequal access to DDR benefits. This has given them
again a position of a victim. The women-specific DDR measures are
essential, especially for those women who have experienced sexual
abuse or been rejected by their communities.
17. I therefore believe there is an urgent need to take the issue
of gender equality in unresolved conflicts seriously. In this respect,
I would like to quote Donald Steinberg: “even today, people within
our institutions refer to gender issues as the “soft side” of security
and military matters. There is nothing “soft” about going after traffickers
who turn women and girls into commodities. There is nothing “soft”
about preventing armed thugs from abusing women in internally displaced
persons’ camps or about holding warlords and other human rights violators
accountable for their actions against women. There is nothing “soft”
about forcing demobilised soldiers to refrain from domestic violence
or about insisting that women have a seat at the table in political
and peace negotiations and a prominent position in peace operations.”
3. Lessons learned
on women’s participation in conflict situations: gender as a crisis
management tool
18. Practice has shown
that women are community
leaders, with formal and informal authority. Often they are working
in non-governmental organisations and citizen-empowerment movements
which have the purpose of supporting democracy in their countries.
In many cases, women outnumber men after a conflict, which means
they take an active part in the basic implementation of peace agreements.
Unfortunately, experience shows that, when it is time to create
a new constitution and basic law, women who worked hard on developing a
post-conflict government were not consulted any more. Women in Kosovo
like
Vjosa Dobruna, founder of the Pristina Centre for the Protection
of Women and Children, for example, had this experience.
19. Women are often skilled at bridging ethnic, religious, political
and cultural divides. Research has shown that women are more collaborative
than men are and therefore more willing to seek consensus and compromise.
Northern Ireland provides a good example of women sitting around
the negotiating table.
In 1996, they managed to
put up 70 candidates in nine weeks so that, in the end, two of 12
members in the peace negotiations were women. Mutual concerns and
common visions made it possible to continue the discussions while
the men left the table during the peace talks that finally led to
the Good Friday Agreement.
Helen Shaw, Chair of the
Board of British Irish Rights Watch, therefore believes that women
can be tough, strategic, hard-headed and impartial, just like men,
but that they can also be empathetic, sympathetic, and emotional
when some men may find it more difficult to express their emotions
– although not impossible.
20. Women have excellent connections to community life due to
their role in society. They can provide important information about
potential activities leading to an armed conflict, since women live
and work close to the roots of conflict. But they can also become
an active part in mobilising their communities in rebuilding after
hostilities are over. Vjosa Dobruna, former paediatrician in Kosovo,
collected evidence to prove massacres in Kosovo. “There’s a tendency
to think that women can work on social issues, but not in ‘higher’ politics
– that’s why women aren’t usually brought to the negotiating table.
I was at the table because there was respect for my work. People
started to recognise that I had the information, knowledge, and will.”
Furthermore, the Union
of the Committees of Soldiers Mothers of Russia
is a good example illustrating
how women – even during a conflict – organise across the lines to
fight for justice when conscripted soldiers had to suffer from beatings,
humiliation, torture and other crimes.
21. The empowerment of women often in fact means that women can
work more freely. During the first Intifada between Israel and Palestine,
the group Jerusalem Link, a co-ordinating body of two independent women’s
centres from both sides, was permitted to have meetings although
cross-border community gatherings were not allowed. The explanation
for this exception was that Jerusalem Link was “just a group of women
talking”.
This example shows that
women are often seen as less threatening and thus have access where
men may not. Men in power very often consider them to be less dangerous,
ironically because of their status as “second-class citizens”. This
is the way of thinking that we want to change.
22. Though women have experienced good practices, such good practices
tend to be the exception and often the result of hard-working women
who achieved their goal, not only to be heard but also to be involved in
political decisions. In Kosovo, women’s groups were struggling for
years to become part of the decision-making process. The international
staff who came to their country assumed that, in an extremely patriarchal society,
no women’s movement could thrive. The existing women’s groups had
to put all their energy into explaining to those expert groups that
they were willing to share and get involved in post-war reconstruction
. “We were eager to work with the
international agencies in developing effective strategies for responding
to the pressing needs of Kosovar women, but most of those agencies
did not recognise that we existed and often refused to hear what
we had to say on decisions that affected our lives and our future”.
The gap between being
involved in a non-governmental organisation or in a women’s movement
and official roles in politics still seems irreconcilable. As the
late Lord Russell-Johnston (United Kingdom, ALDE) said in his 2006
report on the situation in Kosovo: “Despite their potential for
innovation, women and youth are marginalised from the political process”.
23. Finally, NGOs’ role in promoting women’s participation in
conflict prevention and resolution should be underlined: NGOs and
special focus groups can help raise awareness, build and mainstream
professional practice on how to implement Security Council Resolutions
1325 and 1820. Therefore, more work should be done at the grass-roots
level to support women’s organisations and to see how they can use
Resolution 1325 to advance the interests of women and girls.
National networks mobilising the international
community and seeking the adoption of national action plans by governments,
such as Operations 1325 in Finland and Sweden established by NGOs,
ought to be supported
to encourage national governments to take concrete steps.
4. How to improve
women’s role in the solution of unsolved conflicts
24. There are many specific measures and tools by which
the participation of women in the solution of unsolved conflicts
in Europe can be enhanced. In the first place, they must be able
to play a full part in public affairs, and be fully eligible for
decision-making posts. The domestic legislation of the countries
concerned must include arrangements and positive measures to encourage
the balanced participation of women and men in elective offices.
25. Other measures could also improve women’s participation in
the solution of unsolved conflicts in Europe.
- All parties to armed conflicts must fully respect international
law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls as
civilians. If a perpetrator infringes upon human rights in a conflict
area, the country’s legislation should be compatible with the statute
of the International Criminal Court and other international legal
instruments in order to prevent and pursue crimes against women.
Adopting appropriate laws and other measures help to prevent any
form of violence against women, including sexual violence against
women in armed conflict.
- Education about gender mainstreaming is crucial. On the
one hand, the support for gender-sensitive training and recruitment
of gender advisers is strongly recommended to achieve a gender-based perspective
and expertise at peace negotiating tables, post-war reconstruction
as well as military and civilian crisis management operations. But
the education of children is nevertheless just as important so
that they can be aware of gender issues, in order to avoid future
generations’ repeating the crimes being committed today.
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment are unattainable
without education in general, but still education for a lot of girls
and women remains insufficient. To
become leaders at decision-making levels, to have the knowledge
and self-confidence to take active part in politics, education plays
a key role. Especially after a conflict there is the possibility
to change such basic matters and existing discriminatory power relations.
A sad example in Tajikistan underlines this situation: during a
five years’ civil war women gained from this setting by liberating
themselves progressively from the traditional role of women. But
after the conflict, the return to local customs and traditions destroyed
women’s gains by placing a low premium on education for girls, and
putting pressure on girls to marry early and to agree to arranged
marriages.
- Empowering women’s groups in areas of serious conflict
and enhancing their access to meetings dealing with peace and security
in order to prevent conflicts are further measures. There are numerous examples.
- Governments should actively support actions which aim
at strengthening women’s active role in conflict solutions, by systematically
consulting, involving and including women and women organisations
in official peace processes and, inter
alia, by training them as mediators. Unfortunately, even
the United Nations has a lot to learn in this field. For instance,
it has never appointed a female peace negotiator so far. In fact
it should be made mandatory to appoint both female and male negotiators
and to include gender analysis in all peace negotiation processes.
In this context, special tribute should to be paid to Martti Ahtisaari,
the former President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 “for
his important efforts, on several continents and over more than
three decades, to resolve international conflicts”. As a United Nations
diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work, he
has put great emphasis on women’s participation in conflict resolution.
- The inclusion of the gender component in field operations
such as peacekeeping troops, the participation of women in conflict
resolution areas and civil crisis management as well as the gender
expertise and perspective should be guaranteed at all stages. A
good example of the latter is the effort of the OSCE and the Interior
Ministry in Azerbaijan which are currently trying to defy women’s
stereotypes by mainstreaming gender into the community-oriented
police force since 2008. A
good example of the former is from East Timor where a special civilian
police unit, staffed by women, was established to handle cases of
rape and other gender-based crimes. It appears that women felt safer
to report cases. On the other hand, the example of peacekeeping
troops in South Ossetia demonstrates that there is still the need
to promote the idea of women in armed military forces: out of 20
unarmed military monitoring officers in August 2008 just before
the war broke out, there was just one woman.
- The international monitoring of the widespread practice
of impunity in cases of gender-based violence has to increase. Various
international instruments are not used because of the absence of
monitoring, accountability and enforcement mechanisms. A
good example is the training of monitors in November and December
2008 for the European Union monitoring mission in Georgia, where
the gender perspective was included. Support organisations monitoring
the implementation of resolutions and international instruments
are strongly needed to denounce and effectively combat human rights violations.
26. Another problem is the lack of awareness of the existing above-mentioned
resolutions. International and regional bodies should use their
influence convincing governments to support women’s peace organisations and
to incorporate the gender perspective into organisations.
- Out of 12 peace agreements reached
between 1991 and 2001 in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia,
El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kosovo, Liberia, Rwanda
and Sierra Leone and East Timor, only four (El Salvador, Liberia,
Sierra Leone and East Timor) included a provision directly related
to women.
- Although the problem of the role of women in conflicts
has been raised in the international community, few countries set
up national action plans to implement international instruments,
such as United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000)
and 1820 (2008) on women, peace and security. So far just 10 European
countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands,
Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom) have
adopted specific national action plans to implement United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325.
27. Finally, it is important to improve the socio-economic rights
of women through adequate legislation. Tackling female unemployment
and access to the labour market, the right to land and property
ownership and the provision of physical and mental health services
for women injured and traumatised during a conflict is a precondition
for post-war reconstruction.
5. Conclusions
and proposals
28. This report shows several examples of good practice
and the importance of the participation of women in conflict prevention,
resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. But it also attests
that women are an unexploited resource in conflict prevention and
resolution which should be used by member states and by the international
community.
29. The resolution and recommendation adopted five years ago by
the Parliamentary Assembly already proposed a series of possible
actions and alerted the international community. However, to date
not much has changed. Therefore, we need to launch new initiatives
and mobilise parliaments and governments to include women in conflict
prevention, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction.
30. The Assembly recently organised the Forum on Early Warning
in Conflict Prevention (Strasbourg, 24 and 25 September 2009). One
outcome has been the setting up of a sub-committee on conflict prevention through
dialogue and reconciliation. This offers an excellent opportunity
to try out various novel approaches. I hope that the sub-committee
will include a gender perspective in its programme and working methods
to ensure a balanced participation of women and men. One suggestion
might be to ask national delegations to appoint full and substitute
members of different sexes. The sub-committee should also take account
of women’s specific situation in connection with topics considered
or case studies, particularly by means of systematic hearings of
representatives of women’s organisations. It could also organise
a seminar on women’s contribution to the prevention process and
the settlement of unresolved conflicts in Europe.
31. Furthermore, the Assembly should ensure that, when entrusting
ad hoc committees and sub-committees to deal with frozen conflicts,
conflicts and post-conflict situations, there is balanced participation
of women and men in this work and that they take into consideration
women’s expertise and consult women organisations.
32. Finally, taking into account gender equality when preparing
monitoring reports on the countries concerned would help to better
assess the respect of fundamental rights, the difficulties and potential
of women in unsolved conflicts in Europe.
33. The Assembly should urge its member states to:
- protect and respect the fundamental
rights of women and girls and combat all forms of gender-based violence;
- implement Resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1325 (2000) on women,
peace and security of the United Nations Security Council, in particular
by adopting national action plans;
- adopt national action plans on the implementation of United
Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 including efficient
monitoring mechanisms;
- include a gender equality dimension and expertise in peacekeeping
operations and crisis management missions;
- make gender equality training courses mandatory for officials
and diplomats working in the field of conflict prevention and resolution;
- ensure that all peace- and security-related actions are
gender sensitive and that the implementation of gender mainstreaming
is monitored at the highest level;
- take account of the specific needs of women and girls
during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration
and post-conflict reconstruction;
- support women’s peace initiatives at local level and indigenous
processes for conflict resolution that involve women in all of the
implementation mechanisms of peace agreements.
34. The Parliamentary Assembly should urge the Committee of Ministers
to:
- adopt, as soon as possible,
a recommendation to member states on the role of women in conflict prevention
and resolution;
- ensure that the future Council of Europe convention to
prevent and combat violence against women and domestic also covers
the situation of women in armed conflicts;
- include in its subordinate bodies which deal with frozen
conflicts, current conflicts, and post-conflict situations, a balanced
participation of women and take into account women’s expertise.
***
Reporting committee:
Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men
Reference to committee: Doc. 11753, Reference
3512 of 26 January 2009
Draft resolution and draft recommendation unanimously
adopted by the committee by on 27 January 2010
Members of the committee:
Mr José Mendes Bota (Chairperson),
Ms Gisèle Gautier (1st Vice-Chairperson), Ms
Mirjana Ferić-Vac (2nd Vice-Chairperson), Ms Doris Stump (3rd Vice-Chairperson),
Ms Sonja Ablinger, M. Francis
Agius, Mr Florin Serghei Anghel, Ms Magdalina Anikashvili, Mr John Austin, Mr Lokman Ayva, Ms Deborah
Bergamini, Ms Oksana Bilozir, Ms Rosa Delia Blanco
Terán, Ms Olena Bondarenko, Mr Han Ten Broeke, Ms Sylvia
Canel, Ms Anna Maria Carloni (alternate: Ms Federica Mogherini Rebesani), Mr James Clappison, Ms Ingrida Circene, Ms Anna Čurdová, Mr Andrzej Cwierz, Mr Kirtcho Dimitrov, Ms
Mesila Doda, Ms Lydie Err,
Ms Pernille Frahm, Ms Doris Frommelt, Ms Alena Gajdůšková, Mr Giuseppe Galati,
Ms Sophia Giannaka, Mr Neven Gosović (alternate: Mr Obrad Gojković), Ms Claude Greff, Mr
Attila Gruber, Ms Ana Gutu, Ms Carina Hägg,
Mr Håkon Haugli, Ms Francine John-Calame,
Ms Nataša Jovanoviċ, Ms Charoula Kefalidou (alternate: Mr Dimitrios Papadimoulis), Ms Birgen Keleş,
Ms Krista Kiuru, Ms Elvira Kovács, Ms Athina Kyriakidou, Ms Sophie Lavagna,
Mr Terry Leyden, Ms Mirjana
Malić, Ms Assunta Meloni, Ms Nursuna Memecan,
Ms Danguté Mikutienė, Ms Hermine Naghdalyan, Ms Yuliya Novikova,
Mr Mark Oaten (alternate: Mr Tim Boswell),
Mr Kent Olsson (alternate: Ms Marietta de
Pourbaix-Lundin), Ms Steinunn Valdis Óskarsdóttir, Ms
Beatrix Philipp, Ms Carmen Quintanilla
Barba, Mr Stanislaw Rakoczy (alternate: Ms Jadwiga Rotnicka), Mr Frédéric Reiss, Ms
Mailis Reps, Ms Maria Pilar Riba Font, Ms Andreja Rihter, Mr Nicolae
Robu, Ms Tatiana Rosova, Ms
Karin Roth, Ms Klára Sándor, Mr Manuel Sarrazin, Ms Albertina Soliani,
Ms Tineke Strik, Mr Michał Stuligrosz, Ms Elke Tindemans,
Mr Mihal Tudose, Ms Tatiana Volozhinskaya, Mr Paul Wille, Ms Betty
Williams (alternate: Baroness Gale),
Ms Gisela Wurm, Mr Andrej Zernovski, Mr Vladimir Zhidkikh (alternate:
Ms Natalia Burykina)
NB: The names of the members who took part in the meeting
are printed in bold
Secretariat of the committee:
Ms Kleinsorge, Ms Affholder, Ms Devaux