|
|
Doc. 9532
2 September 2002
Right to association for members of the professional staff of the armed forces
Opinion1
Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
Rapporteur: Mr Francisco Arnau, Spain, Socialist Group
I. Conclusions of the committee
1. The rapporteur and the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee believe that human rights do not stop at the barrack gates. The Legal Affairs Committee’s initiative and the draft recommendation must therefore be welcomed and supported.
2. The right to association is unusual in that it simultaneously belongs to two categories of rights, namely civil and political rights and economic and social rights. Granting the right gives expression to and symbolises the indivisibility of human rights, which are the main focus of the Council of Europe’s action.
3. The recommendation is confined to the right to association. Nevertheless, it is still the exception in our member states for armed forces personnel to be granted all fundamental human rights. Moreover, as Mrs van Ardenne’s report rightly states, this is becoming increasingly hard to accept in view of the professionalisation of armed forces personnel, who are becoming like ordinary employees, and of the need to attract young people.
II. Explanatory memorandum
4. If a professional army is to remain effective, it must recruit personnel of a certain calibre and in some cases, renew them at regular intervals. In most states, current recruitment campaigns targeted at young people also emphasise the “skills” aspect of the armed forces, which the slogans designed to attract young people portray as the ideal place either for acquiring new skills or improving existing skills in “cutting-edge” fields that offer good career prospects.
The restrictions and the rights
5. It would be pointless highlighting all the shortcomings that remain in terms of guaranteeing human rights for members of the armed forces. Mrs van Ardenne provides a good overview of the huge differences between our member states (cf paragraph 19 et seq in the report). The practices that exist also deserve to be challenged: by way of example, some armed forces personnel still have to seek permission from their superiors before marrying!
6. Granting the right of association and the right to join political parties is a crucial first step that should pave the way for further developments. There can be no doubt that the granting of other civil and political and economic and social rights will follow in the shorter or longer term.
7. At the same time, all of our member states should take the adoption of the recommendation produced by the Legal Affairs Committee as an opportunity to review their - often outdated - regulations on the members of the armed forces and bring them up to date.
Terrorism and Human Rights
8. In the aftermath of 11 September 2001 and in view of the current war on terrorism, one might, of course, ask whether now is the right time in political terms to be granting a right that also entails the right to strike. Is there not a risk of our heightening the feeling of insecurity among civilians, who are now the declared targets and victims of ongoing conflicts and terrorist activity?
9. Yet it is also true that granting this right would be in line with the recommendations made by all Council of Europe bodies and by the Parliamentary Assembly in its St Petersburg Declaration, namely that the fight against terrorism must not be used as a pretext for undermining the implementation of human rights in Europe.
10. In any case, if granted to the armed forces, the right to association and the right to strike can only be implemented if properly regulated, as is the case with all rights, and specific provision is made for this in Article 31 of the European Social Charter. The right to association and the right to strike can always be restricted or suspended in the event of threats to public order or national security.
11. It is also important to underline a point that is all too often misunderstood or disregarded, namely that, both in the armed forces and in the civilian sector, the right to strike is a last resort that should only be used in the event of the failure of prior negotiation, mediation and arbitration procedures: hence the importance of establishing machinery of this kind such as, for example, the ombudsmen’s offices advocated in the report.
*
* *
Reporting committee: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Doc. 9518)
Committee for opinion: Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
Reference to committee: Doc. 9080 and Reference No. 2607 of 22 May 2001
Opinion approved by the committee on 2 September 2002.
Secretariat of the committee: Mr Newman, Ms Meunier and Ms Karanjac