Nyt fra E u r o p a r å d e t

Opdatering juni, kalender juli og august

 

‘High-value’ detainees were held in secret CIA detention centres in Poland and Romania, says PACE committee

Strasbourg, 08.06.2007 – So-called US “high-value” detainees (HVD) – whose existence were revealed by President Bush in September 2006 – were held in secret CIA detention centres in Poland and Romania between 2002 and 2005, according to a report of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) adopted today.

The report was based in part on the cross-referenced testimonies of over 30 serving and former members of intelligence services in the US and Europe, and on a new analysis of computer “data strings” from the international flight planning system.

It describes in detail the scope and functioning of the US’s “high-value detainees” programme, which it says was set up by the CIA “with the co-operation of official European partners belonging to Government services” and kept secret for many years thanks to strict observance of the rules of confidentiality laid down in the NATO framework.

The programme “has given rise to repeated serious breaches of human rights”, the committee declared, including the torture of detainees.

In an explanatory memorandum, rapporteur Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) also revealed:

· US “high-value detainees” (HVDs) were held at the Stare Kiejkuty intelligence training base during the period from 2002 to 2005

· A secret agreement between the US and NATO allies in October 2001 provided the framework for the CIA to hold “high-value detainees” in Europe

· Former Polish President Kwasniewski and former Romanian President Iliescu knew about and authorised such secret detentions

· Flights to Poland – including one that may have carried Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from Kabul to Szymany on 7 March 2003 – were deliberately disguised through the filing of “dummy” flight plans and the complicity of Polish air traffic controllers (see graphic 1)

· Mistaken terror suspect Khaled El-Masri was “homeward rendered” by the CIA from Kabul to the Bezat-Kuçova Aerodrome in Albania on 28 May 2004 (see graphic 3)

The committee said that only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada, a Council of Europe observer state, had fully acknowledged their responsibilities with regard to the unlawful transfers of detainees.

The parliamentarians said information as well as evidence concerning the liability of the state’s representatives for serious violations of human rights “must not be considered as worthy of protection as state secrets”.

The disclosure of the truth, they said, “is the the best way of restoring the vital co-operation between secret services for the prevention and suppression of terrorism”.

 

 

 

Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly: 25-29 June 2007

 

CIA secret detentions in Europe: PACE urges oversight of military and foreign intelligence services

Strasbourg, 27.06.2007 – Parliamentarians from across Europe today backed the conclusions of the report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), declaring that it is now established with a high degree of probability that secret detention centres operated by the CIA, forming part of the High Value Detainee (HVD) program, existed for some years in Poland and Romania. In a recommendation, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) also said European governments should look into the need for democratic oversight of military intelligence services and foreign intelligence services operating on their territory. The parliamentarians noted that some states invoked national security, or “state secrecy” laws, to block investigations into grave human rights violations committed by their agents. It urged that such restrictions be reduced to a minimum when exposing secret services’ wrongful acts. They urged compensation for the victims of such unlawful acts, and said only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada, the latter an observer to the Council of Europe, had fully acknowledged their responsibilities regarding the unlawful transfers of detainees. The parliamentarians also called on NATO to make public the additional components to the authorisation of 4 October 2001 – granting blanket permission to the US for anti-terror operations in Europe – that have until now remained secret.

Romanian delegation will no longer take part in PACE’s activities until Dick Marty visits the country

[28/06/2007]   The Romanian Parliament's delegation to PACE has decided to take no further part in the Assembly’s activities until the rapporteur on secret detentions Dick Marty personally visits Romania to verify the "so-called information and proof" forming the basis for the accusation that the country was involved in hosting secret detention centres. The delegation expressed its consternation at the rapporteur's refusal to accept repeated invitations to visit, and said this approach, assumed by the Assembly as a whole, may jeopardize PACE's credibility.

Carla Del Ponte: 'It is essential that the remaining fugitives be brought to justice'

[28/06/2007]   “The Council of Europe and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) aspire to the same goal: combating impunity and promoting reconciliation. Thus, we can and should work closely together to achieve these goals”, said Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY, addressing PACE today. “It is essential that the remaining fugitives be brought to justice” before the Tribunal’s mandate expires, she added, as the failure to apprehend the fugitives in a timely manner “would have a lasting negative impact on victims as well as create a terrible legacy for the region as whole”. Mrs Del Ponte welcomed the fact that the members of the new government of Serbia had confirmed their “strong commitment to provide all necessary assistance to locate and arrest fugitives”.

 

 

 

Still a ‘blatant lack of political will’ to prosecute war criminals in former Yugoslavia

[28/06/2007]   The authorities of some states, or entities, of the former Yugoslavia are still showing “a blatant lack of political will” to prosecute war criminals, to the point of undermining real efforts made by the judiciary in these countries, PACE said in a resolution today. The parliamentarians said it would be up to national courts to take over prosecutions of such crimes after the ICTY closed its doors, and called on the states concerned to improve their legislation and allow extradition. The fact that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, in particular, had not yet been brought to justice was “an insult to the memory of the victims”, they said.

 

 

Assembly backs separation of church and state, reaffirms precedence of human rights over religious principles

[29/06/2007]   Human rights must ultimately take precedence over religious principles where they conflict, PACE said today in a recommendation, following a special debate on intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. States should welcome and respect religions, in all their plurality, “as a form of ethical, moral, ideological and spiritual expression” by citizens, and should protect individuals’ freedom to worship, but there should also be a clear separation of church and state, the parliamentarians said.

 

 

PACE: criticism of religions is permissible, inciting hatred against them is not

[29/06/2007]   Religious groups must tolerate criticism and debate about their activities, provided it does not amount to gratuitious insult, but on the other hand hate speech – inciting discrimination or violence against people of a particular religion – should be penalised, PACE said today in a recommendation. Meanwhile blasphemy laws – which often result from the dominant position of one particular religion – should be reviewed.

 

 

Adopted texts

 

Date		Document title
25/06/2007		Resolution 1556 Euro-Mediterranean agricultural and rural policy
26/06/2007		Resolution 1557 The image of women in advertising
26/06/2007		Recommendation 1799 The image of women in advertising
26/06/2007		Resolution 1559 Europe’s social dimension: full implementation of the revised European Social Charter and evaluation of new labour regulations and minimum wages
26/06/2007		Resolution 1558 The feminisation of poverty
26/06/2007		Recommendation 1800 The feminisation of poverty
26/06/2007		Resolution 1560 Promotion by Council of Europe member states of an international moratorium on the death penalty
26/06/2007		Resolution 1561 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): focus on eastern and south-eastern Europe
27/06/2007		Resolution 1562 Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: second report
27/06/2007		Recommendation 1801 Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: second report
27/06/2007		Resolution 1563 Combating anti-Semitism in Europe
27/06/2007		Recommendation 1802 Situation of longstanding refugees and displaced persons in South East Europe
28/06/2007		Resolution 1564 Prosecution of offences falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
28/06/2007		Resolution 1565 How to prevent cybercrime against state institutions in member and observer states?
28/06/2007		Recommendation 1803 Prosecution of offences falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
28/06/2007		Resolution 1566 Honouring of obligations and commitments by Monaco
28/06/2007		Resolution 1567 Iran’s nuclear programme: the need for an international response
29/06/2007		Recommendation 1804 State, religion, secularity and human rights
29/06/2007		Recommendation 1805 Blasphemy, religious insults and hate speech against persons on grounds of their religion

 

 

Countries worldwide turn to Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention

Strasbourg, 13.06.2007 – To fight ICT-based crimes like child pornography, money laundering, fraud and terrorism through the internet, countries worldwide are turning to the Council of Europe’s innovative Cybercrime Convention, which includes provisions for a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week online crime-fighting network and facilitates public-private partnerships.

Held on 11 and 12 June in Strasbourg, the conference gathered over 140 cybercrime experts from 55 countries, international organisations and the private sector to promote the Convention – the only internationally binding instrument against cyber crime.

To date, the Convention has been ratified by 21 states and signed by another 22, including non-Council of Europe states. Indeed, reforms to fight web-based crime based on Convention guidelines are already underway in Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Experts agreed that cybercrime is an increasing threat worldwide – and the conference included detailed discussions on specific web-based threats such as malicious codes and software, spam mail that carries such software, “botnets,” which spread adware and spyware, fraudulent online virtual pay systems and web-based sexual exploitation of children.

The Convention’s Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism – to date ratified by 11 and signed by another 20 states – includes specific provisions to fight hate crimes on the web.

During the conference, the Microsoft Corporation outlined the benefits from its public-private partnership with the Council of Europe. Microsoft attorney Tim Cranton called for three major rules for such partnerships to assure better cooperation between industry and law enforcement bodies, and balance privacy rights with security needs: open communication, a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities and trust between the two partners.

Looking ahead, the Council of Europe will contribute to the next meeting of the Internet Governance Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007.

More information, including the conference summary, is available at www.coe.int/cybercrime.

 

Forum plans measures to strengthen democracy and human rights

Forum for the Future of Democracy (Stockholm and Sigtuna, 13-15 June 2007)

Strasbourg, 15.06.2007 - The Council of Europe’s Forum for the Future of Democracy has ended with a call for action to counteract a growing apathy among citizens for political participation.

Concluding that democracy is the best form of government for the protection of human rights, the Forum proposed ideas that would strengthen and invigorate national, regional, local and individual approaches to democracy.

It stressed that no democracy is possible without a strong opposition and that the legal framework and material conditions must enable opposition parties to fulfil their functions. It called for lower thresholds of parliamentary representation to allow the views of all citizens to be represented in parliament.

National human rights action plans are a powerful tool to help countries ensure the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups, and the Council of Europe should prepare a base line study to help member states to build and implement them, said the Forum. Local and regional authorities were called upon to contribute to this plan.

Local and regional authorities were a vital element in allowing individuals to express their democratic rights, with the Council of Europe’s proposed new strategy for innovation and good governance providing a means to place the individual at the heart of democratic institutions and practices. The Forum also stressed that the sovereignty of the people should not be confined to election day. The promotion of education for democratic citizenship, with a special stress on work with young people, would strengthen democratic participation. Information and communication technologies were a powerful tool for participation – but would only facilitate enhanced participation if the growing feeling of political discontent and disaffection was addressed.

Genuine democracy could not exist without equality, and efforts must be made to promote this, both through legal means and campaigning. The Forum called for the Council of Europe’s “All Different All Equal” campaign to be extended and focussed on different groups in vulnerable situations.

The Forum is the third of a series organised by the Council of Europe as a means of strengthening political freedom and citizens’ participation. The next Forum will be held in Madrid in October 2008.

For further information visit: www.coe.int or www.coe.int/democracy or

www.sweden.gov.se/democracyforum

 

 

Menneskerettighedskommissærens opfølgningsrapport om Sverige

 

The Commissioner - CommDH(2007)10 / 16 May 2007
Memorandum to the Swedish Government : Assessment of the progress made in implementing the 2004 recommendations of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS ISSUES RECOMMENDATIONS ON MINORITY PROTECTION IN IRELAND AND NORWAY

Strasbourg 20.6.2007 - The Committee of Ministers has just adopted a resolution on the protection of national minorities in Ireland and Norway. These resolutions contain conclusions and recommendations, highlighting positive developments but also a number of areas where further measures are needed to advance the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The resolutions are largely based on the corresponding Opinion of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention. The detailed Opinions of the Advisory Committee of independent experts, together with the comments by the government of Ireland, are also available on line.

 

 

Domme i nordiske sager ved Den Europæiske Menneske-rettighedsdomstol

 

7.6.2007        Kukkonen v. Finland (no. 57793/00): No violation of Article 6 § 1, (right to a fair hearing);

 

29.6.2007      (Grand Chamber) Folgerø and Others v. Norway (no. 15472/02): Violation of Article 2 of               Protocol No. 1 (right to education).  

 

 

 

Møder i juli

(hvor intet andet er nævnt, holdes mødet i Strasbourg)

 

2.-6.               Summer University for Democracy: The future of the European project

3.                   Konference: Transfrontier cooperation in Europe: Examples in the Great North and the                Baltic Sea (Tromsø)

5.                   Ministerkomitéen

11.                 Ministerkomitéen

 

 

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”Nyt fra Europarådet” sendes til nyhedsmedierne i de nordiske lande 11 gange om året.

Nærmere oplysninger om tidligere og kommende møder kan fås ved henvendelse til:

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E-mail: [email protected], Internet: www.coe.int