Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation

Recommendation 1710 (2005)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 22 June 2005 (20th Sitting) (see Doc. 10568, report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), co-rapporteurs: Mr Atkinson and Mr Bindig). Text adopted by the Assembly on 22 June 2005 (21st Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. Referring to Resolution 1455 (2005) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, the Parliamentary Assembly considers that Russia must continue in the years to come to benefit from the Council of Europe's assistance and co-operation programmes in order to foster pluralist democracy and respect for the rule of law and the protection of human rights.

2. Given Russia's size and diversity, the Assembly considers that the existing co-operation and assistance programmes (including joint programmes with the European Union) are insufficient, be it in terms of scope, funding or personnel, to have a significant impact in all 89 subjects of the Russian Federation, in particular in those areas where Council of Europe expertise and know-how would clearly be beneficial for the necessary current or future reforms.

3. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

analyse the obstacles encountered by the Russian authorities with regard to the ratification of Council of Europe conventions as, since accession 9 years ago, out of 200 conventions, the Russian Federation has ratified only 46 conventions and signed 15 (as of 31 May 2005), and insist in particular on a speedy ratification of Protocols Nos. 6, 12, 13 and 14 (ETS Nos. 114, 177, 187 and CETS No. 194) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) ;

encourage the Russian authorities to strengthen co-operation with the Council of Europe in order to ensure full compatibility of Russian legislation and practice with the Organisation's principles and standards, especially with regard to standards guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as full compliance with the decisions of the Strasbourg Court as regards the individual and general measures that may be required, and reinforce assistance and co-operation programmes to strengthen federal and regional ombudsmen institutions and the independence of the judiciary ;

invite the authorities of the Russian Federation to submit for Council of Europe expert evaluation in particular any draft legislation concerning the reform of the prosecutor's office (Prokuratura) and of the federal security service, the creation of a public broadcasting service, the revision of the laws on religious organisations and alternative military service, etc. ;

redefine, in consultation with the Russian authorities, the priorities of the existing and future co-operation and assistance programmes to enable the Russian Federation to fulfil as soon as possible its outstanding obligations and commitments as listed in Resolution 1455 (2005) ;

considerably reinforce the programmes for the Russian Federation by significantly increasing funding under the Organisation's budget devoted to programmes of assistance and co-operation. This should not be done to the detriment either of the intergovernmental programme of activities or of the co-operation and assistance programmes for other member states ;

ensure that the discussion of the human rights crisis in and around Chechnya remains a regular item on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers and Minister’s Deputies, and, in particular, ensure that monitoring of the human rights situation in and around Chechnya continues, inter alia, under the auspices of the Secretary General, and that the results of such monitoring are published.