“If the Council of Europe is to wear proudly its human rights badge, it must be more ambitious in tackling the human rights and humanitarian consequences of the war between Russia and Georgia.,“ said Corien Jonker (The Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the Migration and Refugee Committee in her address to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, today in Strasbourg.
In speaking to the representatives of the 47 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the Council of Europe, Mrs Jonker called on them to get the Council of Europe involved in the so called “Geneva Process”, the political mechanism for dealing with the aftermath of the conflict. Furthermore Mrs Jonker said, “The Council of Europe needs eyes and ears on the ground in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Without this it will at best be partially sighted, and if not deaf, then hard of hearing.”
Mrs Jonker also called on the Committee of Ministers to tackle the barrier placed by Russia and George on implementation of activities. “At every turn access is blocked to carrying out activities in relation to the breakaway regions. The excuse is always linked to the problem of recognition or non-recognition of the status of these regions. This excuse can no longer be tolerated for activities which are clearly humanitarian and of a human rights nature”.
