Berlin, 24.03.2009 – Declaring a state of emergency should be “a means of last resort only”, clearly limited in time and subject to legislative oversight, according to PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs, meeting today in Berlin.
Approving a report by Holger Haibach (Germany, EPP/CD), the committee said it was “concerned” by recent recourse to declarations of states of emergency in several member states, especially Georgia and Armenia.
While such declarations are permitted under the European Convention on Human Rights “in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation”, they should never exceed what is required by the situation, and should always stay within international law, the committee pointed out in a draft resolution.
“Declaring a state of emergency must not become a pretext to unduly restrict the exercise of fundamental human rights,” the parliamentarians said.
Restrictions on demos or marches should be kept to a minimum, while media clamp-downs should be avoided if possible. Rules of engagement for security forces – particularly in those countries which, like Russia, have inherited certain rules from the Soviet period – should be thoroughly reviewed and modernised in the light of the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Finally, Council of Europe bodies should closely scrutinise any declared state of emergency for signs of abuse, and to make sure that human rights are upheld.
