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Recommendation 2133 (2018)
Protecting human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States
1. Referring to its Resolution 2225 (2018) on
protecting human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States,
the Parliamentary Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
1.1. continue its dialogue with human
rights defenders, in particular by holding regular exchanges of views
with them, in the framework of the work of its subordinate bodies;
1.2. support the work of the Council of Europe Commissioner
for Human Rights in the field of protecting human rights defenders,
including by ensuring that sufficient financial and human resources are
available to this institution;
1.3. establish a platform, similar to the Platform to promote
the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists, for
the protection of human rights defenders, or another mechanism for
monitoring and reacting to cases of reprisals against human rights
defenders in Council of Europe member States, as also called for
in Recommendation 2121
(2018) on the case for drafting a European convention
on the profession of lawyer;
1.4. request information from the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe on the implementation to date of his proposal
to establish a mechanism for regularly reporting on and reacting
to cases of intimidation of human rights defenders co-operating
with Council of Europe bodies, and share this information with the
Assembly;
1.5. streamline its work in this area through better co-ordination
with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the Conference
of International Non-Governmental Organisations, the Secretary General,
the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights and the Assembly;
1.6. adopt without delay the draft declaration of the Committee
of Ministers on the need to strengthen the protection and promotion
of the civil society space in Europe, as prepared by the Steering
Committee for Human Rights (CDDH);
1.7. organise a high-level seminar to mark the 10th anniversary
of the Committee of Ministers Declaration on Council of Europe action
to improve the protection of human rights defenders and promote
their activities and the 20th anniversary of the United Nations
Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups
and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 9 December 1998, as recommended
by the CDDH;
1.8. strengthen its co-operation on the protection of human
rights defenders with other international organisations, in particular
the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations.