17/04/2008 Session
At a hearing held by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the PACE, the representatives of various NGOs asked that the Council of Europe show firm political resolve towards the protection of human rights defenders and that it adopt a specific European instrument, in addition to the instruments that already existed for their protection. According to Amnesty International, the members of the PACE could play a significant role in persuading governments to make arrangements to deal with crisis situations (for example by granting emergency visas).
Holger Haibach (Germany, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on this subject, proposed setting up a network of contact parliamentarians in member states.
“We must step up our efforts and provide the resources required to protect those who are in the front line in the fight for human rights and ensure that existing human rights standards are applied” said Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
The hearing provided the opportunity to gather evidence on the pressure and violence to which human rights defenders are exposed, in particular in Serbia, Azerbaïjan, Turkey and Russia (especially in the North Caucasus). “Many NGOS come up against administrative obstacles, when seeking to register their organisation, and interference by the public authorities”, said Human Rights Watch, which referred to this omnipresent surveillance as “legal harassment”.