ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Europarådet 2023-24
ERD Alm.del Bilag 3
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STANDING COMMITTEE

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

28 November 2023

TEXTS ADOPTED

BY THE ASSEMBLY

Provisional versions

F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex | Tel: + 33 3 88 41 2000 |

ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Table of contents

Recommendation

Recommendation 2264 (2023)

Heritable genome editing in human beings (Doc.

15855)

Resolution

Resolution 2523 (2023)

Institutional racism of law enforcement authorities against Roma and

Travellers (Doc.

15856)

ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Recommendation

2264

ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

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Recommendation 2264 (2023)

Provisional version

Heritable genome editing in human beings

Parliamentary Assembly

In November 2018 it was announced that, as a result of unsanctioned work by a Chinese researcher, at

least two twin girls had been born with modified genes with the aim of conferring on them immunity to the HIV/

AIDS virus. The act was strongly criticised by ethicists and scientists worldwide due its premature nature and

high risk of unwanted side effects. This led to renewed calls for a worldwide moratorium on establishing a

pregnancy with germ line cells or human embryos having undergone intentional genome editing of their

nuclear DNA.

The Parliamentary Assembly recalls its

Recommendation 2115 (2017)

“The use of new genetic

technologies in human beings”, in which it pointed out that deliberate germ line editing in human beings would

cross a line viewed as ethically inviolable. Indeed, the 1997 Council of Europe Convention for the Protection

of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine:

Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (ETS No. 164, “Oviedo Convention”), binding on the

30 member States which have ratified it, posits in its Article 13 that “an intervention seeking to modify the

human genome may only be undertaken for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes and only if its aim

is not to introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants”.

The Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health

(CDBIO) assesses the ethical and legal challenges raised by emerging genome editing technologies

regarding the Oviedo Convention. The Assembly commends the clarifications agreed by CDBIO in 2022, that

Article 13 applies in the research as well as the clinical context, and that any intervention that seeks to modify

the human genome may be carried out only for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes – and that

gametes, embryos or their precursors that have been subject to such an intervention may not be used for the

purposes of procreation.

There is a broad consensus in the scientific community that the current technology is not yet safe and

effective enough to establish a pregnancy with germ line cells or human embryos having undergone

intentional genome editing of their nuclear DNA, and no country explicitly permits it. In the last five years,

there has, however, been a noticeable push by many scientists for a “translational pathway for heritable

human genome editing” to be developed, namely the opening of clinical trials when certain minimum

standards are met in the future.

The Council of Europe has a mandate that encompasses the promotion and protection of human rights

of all individuals and is thus responsible for carefully weighing the human rights implications of heritable

genome editing in human beings. The risks are serious and manifold, and cannot be ethically justified. For the

Assembly, even if and when the technology is considered safe and effective enough, the ban on establishing

a pregnancy with germ line cells, their precursors, or human embryos having undergone intentional genome

editing of their nuclear DNA should thus be upheld.

Text adopted by the Standing Committee,

acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 28 November 2023 (see

Doc. 15855,

report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Mr Stefan Schennach).

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ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Recommendation 2264 (2023)

The Assembly thus recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

6.1. urge member States which have not yet ratified the Oviedo Convention to do so without further

delay;

6.2. remind the States Parties to the Oviedo Convention of their obligation to give life to its Article 28

through the promotion of a broad and informed public debate on heritable genome editing in human

beings; the protection of the human genome as the heritage of humanity, as well as future generations’

human rights also need to be debated;

6.3. call upon Council of Europe member States to embrace a clear and total prohibition of

establishing a pregnancy with germ line cells, their precursors, or human embryos having undergone

intentional genome editing of their nuclear DNA, by introducing legislation at the national level, and

opposing permissive regulation at European and international level.

ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Resolution

2523

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Resolution 2523 (2023)

Provisional version

Institutional racism of law enforcement authorities against

Roma and Travellers

Parliamentary Assembly

Over the past several decades, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as well as the

monitoring work of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and of the Advisory

Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157) have

brought to light serious breaches of human rights committed by members of the law enforcement authorities

against Roma and Travellers throughout the member States of the Council of Europe.

Despite these repeated findings and the recommendations addressed to States to end the practices at

issue and prevent similar cases from arising, police brutality is still too often committed against Roma and

Travellers in Europe. It ranges from inhuman and degrading treatment to torture, from excessive use of force

to violence resulting in some cases in the victim’s death.

Violent raids and attacks against Roma villages and settlements and places where Travellers have

halted continue to take place – sometimes committed by members of the law enforcement authorities

themselves, sometimes by other members of the population without the law enforcement authorities

intervening to protect the victims. Such violence, as well as ethnic profiling, harassment, marginalisation and

provocation are part of daily life for too many Roma and Travellers on our continent and form part of their

shared experience of law enforcement authorities.

Systematic stops of caravans and the criminalisation of begging or of the illegal occupation of land

moreover punish persons who are already victims of discrimination and create conditions in which Roma and

Travellers are brought into contact to a disproportionate degree with law enforcement authorities; at the same

time, these measures increase their distrust of the authorities.

The Parliamentary Assembly deplores the fact that Roma and Travellers are thus very often subject to

excessive surveillance, controls and even use of force by the members of law enforcement authorities, which

violate their rights; yet the responses provided are often inadequate when these populations are victims of

criminal offences, whether committed by public officials or by private individuals. All too often, when acts likely

to constitute such offences are committed against Roma or Travellers, no effective investigation is carried out

to help elucidate the facts, which is also a violation of their rights.

These human rights violations destroy the confidence of Roma and Travellers in law enforcement

authorities, which should protect their safety and security as they do for all citizens. Discrimination in access to

justice further worsens this situation and deprives the victims of abuse of adequate remedy.

This situation can be described as institutional racism, or systemic racism, of law enforcement

authorities against Roma and Travellers. The Assembly underlines that these terms do not imply that every

individual working within the institution in question is racist but refer to the discriminatory effects of the

functioning of the institution as a whole, which are first and foremost the result of the policies and practices

that it applies.

Text adopted by the Standing Committee,

acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 28 November 2023 (see

Doc. 15856,

report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, rapporteur: Mr Jean-Pierre Grin).

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ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Resolution 2523 (2023)

The Assembly deplores this situation and underlines that States have a duty to prevent and combat

these serious human rights violations. It notes that to do so, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of

the structural shortcomings at issue, in order to find effective responses.

In this context, the Assembly refers to its

Resolution 2364 (2021)

“Ethnic profiling in Europe: a matter of

great concern” and its

Resolution 2413 (2021)

“Discrimination against Roma and Travellers in the field of

housing”, which already examined some of these concerns and recommended that States take a series of

measures in order to address them.

10. The Assembly also draws member States’ attention to the recommendations set out by ECRI in this

field, notably in the framework of its General Policy Recommendations No. 11 “Combating racism and racial

discrimination in policing” and No. 13 “Combating antigypsyism and discrimination against Roma”. It further

underlines that the priorities approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its Strategic

Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025) include combating antigypsyism and discrimination

and supporting real and effective equality.

11.

In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States,

11.1. as concerns the legislative framework, to:

11.1.1. ensure that criminal law provisions applicable to hate-motivated offences cover acts

motivated by antigypsyism and anti-nomadism;

11.1.2. ensure that national antidiscrimination legislation applies to the actions of the members

of law enforcement authorities and that acts of discrimination committed against Roma and

Travellers are duly punished by law;

11.1.3. refrain from criminalising behaviour such as begging or the illegal occupation of land

wherever other measures, notably administrative law measures, measures concerning the

establishment of adequate halting sites or social policy measures would be better adapted to

resolving the problems that lead to the behaviour in question;

11.2. as concerns the fight against impunity and the obligation to conduct an effective investigation, to:

11.2.1. offer rapid and effective remedies to victims of police violence, giving priority to simple,

flexible and accessible procedures;

11.2.2. create independent investigative mechanisms, free from any political pressure, with

sufficient resources and powers to effectively investigate complaints against members of law

enforcement authorities and to punish offenders;

11.2.3. improve internal procedures for reporting misconduct within the law enforcement, in

particular by adopting measures to protect whistleblowers;

11.2.4. protect victims against police intimidation, reprisals and harassment – all of which are

encouraged by a sense of impunity – and provide for penalties for offenders that are

commensurate with the seriousness of their actions and that are dissuasive;

11.2.5. support the activities of non-governmental organisations working to promote the access

of Roma and Travellers to justice;

11.3. as regards preventing new, similar human rights violations, to:

11.3.1. introduce recruitment procedures aimed at promoting that the composition of the law

enforcement authorities reflects the diversity of the population;

11.3.2. train all members of law enforcement authorities to apply methods that fully respect

human rights in all circumstances; such training should also be provided at regular intervals;

11.4. as concerns strengthening mutual trust between Roma and Travellers, on the one hand, and law

enforcement authorities, on the other, to:

11.4.1. give priority to policies and practices that avoid having recourse to law enforcement

authorities;

11.4.2. provide a sufficient number of halting sites and other stopping places adapted to the

needs of Travellers, and prioritise recourse to trained mediators rather than law enforcement

officers when it comes to the reception of Travellers;

ERD, Alm.del - 2023-24 - Bilag 3: Tekster vedtaget af Standing Committee november 2023 i Liechtenstein

Resolution 2523 (2023)

11.4.3. establish frameworks for dialogue and co-operation between law enforcement

authorities and Roma and Travellers;

11.4.4. provide full support to Roma and Travellers who are victims or witnesses of misconduct

committed by members of law enforcement agencies.

12. The Assembly encourages member States to strengthen the fight against antigypsyism and anti-

nomadism by recognising these phenomena as forms of racism that must be covered by criminal and civil law

provisions prohibiting racism and racial discrimination, and working together with Roma and Travellers to

overcome stereotypes and prejudice within the wider community, as well as mutual mistrust.

13. The Assembly encourages member States to actively promote education about and awareness of

Roma and Traveller history and culture as an integral part of the fight against antigypsyism and anti-

nomadism.

14. The Assembly further invites national parliaments to support the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, its

mandate and its functioning.