[ALBSA-Info] Minority Protection in Europe

[Agron Alibali]

Subject:  PACE calls for stronger minority rights in
Europe: press release, debate and addendum

 
Assembly calls for stronger minority rights

http://stars.coe.fr/act/compress/CP01/47a(01).htm

STRASBOURG, 24.01.2001 - The Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly has just backed a
Recommendation to improve the protection of national
minorities and called for a draft protocol to the
European Convention on Human Rights on the rights of
national minorities which would include the definition
of national minority adpted in its previous
Recommendation (n° 1201 de 1993).

The Assembly stressed the importance effective
minority rights protection, as the only way to reduce
ethnic tensions that might provoke more conflicts. It
condemned the denial of the existence of minorities
and of minority rights in several Council of Europe
member states.

The Assembly said all member states must safeguard the
minimum rights of national minorities, as set out in
the Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities and called for the drafting of an
additional protocol to the Convention giving to the
European Court of Human Rights or to a general
judicial authority of the Council of Europe the power
to give advisory opinions concerning the
interpretation of the text.

In his report, Rudolf Bindig (Germany, Soc.) says that
Andorra, Belgium, France and Turkey have to date
neither signed nor ratified the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities and this
means that it cannot take full effect across the
continent. These countries have significant
minorities, which ought to be protected, and whose
rights are not officially recognised. The Assembly
called for these countries to bring their constitution
and their legislation into harmony with European
standards. Other countries - Georgia, Greece, Iceland,
Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal -
have signed but not yet ratified the framework
convention.

Turning to other texts which might help protecting
national minorities, such as the European Charter for
Regional or Minority Languages and Protocol 12 to the
European Convention on Human Rights abolishing
discrimination, the Assembly said states must to
ratify and to apply them properly.

It also proposed to reinforce the role of the Council
of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, by unblocking
funds and providing a staff member special
responsibility for minority rights' protection.

Contact: 
Sabine Zimmer 
Tel: +33 3 88 41 25 97 
Fax:+33 3 88 41 27 89 
pressunit at coe.int

 


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