Human rights in the world (general policy of the CE)

Recommendation 829 (1978)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 27 January 1978 (25th Sitting) (see Doc. 4101, report of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1978 (25th Sitting).

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Recalling the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the European Convention on Human Rights ;

2. Concerned at the widespread serious violations of human rights being committed throughout the world, as revealed by Amnesty International's report for 1977 listing 116 guilty countries ;

3. Recognising that the human rights issue is at the heart of the eternal conflict between authority and liberty, by reason of the simultaneously individual and collective nature of the human condition ;

4. Bearing in mind that, by their acceptance of the European Convention on Human Rights, the member states have discarded the outmoded notion that respect for human rights is solely a matter of national concern ;

5. Considering that there is no interference in the internal affairs of states when the defence of human rights is upheld by taking this question up in international circles, by acting in favour of cooperation for the achievement of the different rights, and by speaking out against serious and repeated violations of those rights wherever they may occur ;

6. Affirming that the dignity and the value of the human person need not be diminished by reason of ideological differences ;

7. Stressing that, if no basic value is set on the individual, then all the other rights due to him can only be ephemeral because the state can suppress them at any time ;

8. Considering that everyone is entitled freely to develop his or her culture and language ;

9. Believing that the achievement of civil and political rights must be accompanied by the due satisfaction of essential demands in economic and social matters ;

10. Considering that the recent Symposium on the European Social Charter, organised by the Assembly, shows that there is room for improvement in some parts of that instrument ;

11. Recognising that the human rights issue is becoming an integral part of day-to-day international relations ;

12. Considering that the participation of democratic Europe in the action being taken at worldwide level for the defence of human rights should become an essential part of its international relations,

13. Calls upon governments of the member states :

a to undertake a twofold endeavour in their political action in the field of human rights :

by acting against the oppression of fundamental rights, and

by acting in favour of greater equality and economic and social justice throughout the world ;

b fully to support on the world-wide level the human rights' instruments at the disposal of the United Nations ;

c to maintain the discussion on and the implementation of human rights in the framework of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, as dialogue and co-operation cannot but increase respect for the human person ;

d to encourage the activities of non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International which are capable, without being impeded by the divergent interests of national governments, of playing an important role in respect of human rights at the national and international levels ;

14. Welcomes the initiative taken by the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs to reinforce the Council of Europe's activities in the field of human rights and the Committee of Ministers' decision to act upon it ;

15. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a continue its efforts to ensure that the Council of Europe remains the framework for the democratic countries of Europe, bound by the European Convention on Human Rights and united by their effective commitment to the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms ;

b insist on every signatory state to the convention recognising the right of individual appeal to the Commission and the jurisdiction of the Court of Human Rights ;

c continue its efforts to revise and improve certain clauses of the Social Charter, and in particular the machinery for supervising the Charter's application ;

d ask member states which have not yet done so to sign and ratify the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers ;

e contribute to a better appreciation in Europe and the world of the significance of the European human rights' institutions and their work, so that the Council of Europe may be seen to be one of the main channels through which Europe takes part in world-wide efforts to protect human rights ;

f contribute, as part of its political co-operation, to the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms as a factor in international relations, particularly by working out guidelines for the adoption by democratic Europe of a position on the subject in the United Nations and at international conferences.