PACE Calls upon Europe to Fight for Freedom in Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

The parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls upon European states to “demonstrate absolute rejection towards human rights violation in Europe”. It is said in the statement of the PACE adopted on April 18 summing up the results of a special debate on human rights and democracy state in Europe. “The PACE calls upon European states to take moves against such serious human rights violations, forcible abductions of people, extra-legal executions, tortures and secret detention in custody,” the statement reads.

MPs have condemned the “discrepancy between the standards on paper and the factual situation”. They also recommend expand possibilities of the PACE to carry out investigation. Besides, the assembly has decided to establish an annual prize “For outstanding civil actions in the human right defence sphere”.

Christos Pourgourides, a Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at PACE in his speech noted that “in a number of countries human rights activists who defend human rights are intimidated and repressed themselves”. “The time has come to turn words into actions and to ensure real implementation of human rights and following the principle of the rule of law. Human rights should first of all at the national level. In order to keep trust, the states should avoid double standards when they are engaged in problems related to human rights violations,” Christos Pourgourides said.

In one of the adopted resolutions it is noted that “black holes” still continue existing in Europe. Mechanisms of human rights observance are not respected there fully. One of such countries is Belarus. “The PACE is deeply concerned by existence of geographic areas in Europe, including Belarus, and some regions in the countries that are members of the Council of Europe where democratic principles are not observed,” the resolution reads.

The PACE has also recommended the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to pay careful attention to the situation with human rights in Belarus.