European Commission against Racism and Intolerance Council of Europe
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs-DGHL F–67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Tel: 33 3 88 41 29 64 Fax: 33 3 88 41 39 87 E-mail: ecri@coe.int
Website: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/default_en.asp
Commissioner for Human Rights
The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, created in 1999 and mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in all Council of Europe States.
Mandate
The objectives of the Commissioner for Human Rights are laid out in Committee of Ministers resolution (99) 50, in which the Commissioner is mandated to:
• Foster the effective observance of human rights and assist member States in the implementation of Council of Europe human rights standards;
• Promote education in and awareness of human rights in Council of Europe member States;
• Identify possible shortcomings in laws and practices concerning human rights;
• Facilitate the activities of national ombuds institutions and other human rights bodies;
• Provide advice and information regarding the protection of human rights throughout the region.
The Commissioner’s work focuses on encouraging reforms that will achieve tangible improvement in human rights promotion and protection. The Commissioner cannot act upon individual complaints. However, he or she may receive information from any source, including individuals and NGOs, and can take wide-ranging initiatives on the basis of such information if it reveals a systematic human rights problem within a particular country. Among the specific themes to which the Commissioner devotes attention are the eradication of discrimination and the rights of children and migrants.
The Commissioner cooperates with a broad range of international and national institutions, as well as human rights monitoring mechanisms. The most important intergovernmental partners of the Commissioner include the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the European Union and OSCE (see chap. XIII). The Commissioner also cooperates closely with leading human rights NGOs, universities and think tanks.
Activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights
The Commissioner seeks to engage in ongoing dialogue with Council of Europe member States and conducts official country visits to examine and evaluate the human rights situation when he or she deems it necessary. These visits commonly include meetings with the highest representatives of Government, parliament and the judiciary, as well as leading members of human rights institutions and civil society. During country visits, the Commissioner engages in
dialogue with minority representatives and organizations representing them. The Commissioner’s reports contain both an analysis of human rights practices and detailed recommendations for improvement. The reports are published and widely circulated in the policymaking and NGO communities and the media. By 2008, all member States of the Council of Europe had been visited by the Commissioner and an evaluation report had been published on every country.
A few years after an initial visit to a country, the Commissioner or a staff member carries out a follow-up visit to assess the progress made in implementing the recommendations or a more focused visit to review priority concerns. The Commissioner issues a follow-up report, which is also widely publicized. Shorter visits may be made to countries or regions in order to strengthen relations with the authorities and examine specific human rights issues, although these visits do not necessarily result in a public report.
When it is appropriate, the Commissioner makes recommendations regarding a specific human rights issue in a single member State or in several States. On the request of national bodies or on his or her own initiative, the Commissioner may also give an opinion on draft laws and specific practices. In 2004, for example, the Commissioner issued an opinion on the creation of a national body for counteracting discrimination in Poland.136
To promote awareness of human rights in member States, the Commissioner is involved in organizing seminars and events on human rights themes, and seeks to maintain a permanent dialogue with Governments, civil society organizations and educational institutions. The seminars and events usually lead to the publication of recommendations, opinions or reports by the Commissioner on issues discussed.137
The Commissioner cooperates closely with national ombudsmen or women, national human rights institutions and other Government institutions concerned with the protection of human rights, and maintains close working relations with the Ombudsman of the European Union. The Commissioner encourages the establishment of such bodies in Council of Europe member States where they do not yet exist.
The situation of minorities has been assessed in most of the country reports issued by the Commissioner. Particular attention has been paid to Roma and Travellers, due to the persistent, systemic discrimination they encounter. A general report on the human rights situation of Roma, Sinti and Travellers was published in 2006, and a subsequent study, Recent Migration of Roma in Europe (carried out in cooperation with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities) in 2009.138 The Commissioner’s Office has also organized seminars with outside partners on Roma-related questions.
The Commissioner’s country monitoring on minorities has often built on the work of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the committee of experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which are described above. However, the Commissioner also assesses the situation of minorities in countries which have not yet adhered to these instruments. The Commissioner has evaluated member States’ approaches to including or excluding minorities falling under the protection of international instruments.
136 Available from https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=980009&Site=CommDH&BackColorInternet=FEC65B&Bac kColorIntranet=FEC65B&BackColorLogged=FFC679 (accessed 4 December 2012).
137 Available from www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Activities/themes/default_en.asp (accessed 4 December 2012).
138 Available from https://wcd.coe.int/wcd/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1536357. The 2006 report is available from https://
wcd.coe.int/com.instranet.InstraServlet?command=com.instranet.CmdBlobGet&InstranetImage=320815&SecMo de=1&DocId=941416&Usage=2 (both accessed 4 December 2012).
Many national and international NGOs representing minorities or working for the realization of their rights provide information to the Commissioner’s Office on a regular basis. They also make use of the Commissioner’s findings and recommendations in their own work.
Contacts and further information
Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe
F–67075 Strasbourg Cedex France
Tel: 33 3 88 41 34 21 Fax: 33 3 90 21 50 53 E-mail: commissioner@coe.int
Website: www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Default_en.asp
Council of Europe engagement on Roma issues
The Council of Europe estimates the number of Roma presently resident in Europe at between 10 million and 12 million. Roma are among the most deprived of all communities, with many living in extreme poverty, facing racism and discrimination on a daily basis, and being excluded from the normal life – and protection of fundamental rights – that other people take for granted.
In October 2010, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe launched an initiative to bring the member States to agree on priorities for better social inclusion of Roma and respect for their human rights. From 2011, a dedicated team has worked on the issue, led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Roma issues. It acts as the hub for a range projects, discussed below.
Capacity-building and awareness-raising Training programme for mediators
Mediators build a bridge between Roma communities and local public institutions. They work to enrol Roma children in local schools, ensure that families obtain proper health care, obtain identity cards, secure decent housing and find jobs. The ROMED training programme for mediators for the Roma community began in October 2010 and the European Commission joined the programme in July 2011. Specialized training took place in 21 countries during 2011 and 2012.
A new training curriculum for mediators (available in 16 languages) has been drawn up, together with the European Code of Ethics for Mediators to protect mediators against abuse and to enhance the quality of services provided. A European pool of 38 ROMED trainers has been created, 21 of whom are of Roma origin.
The European Database on Mediators is a valuable resource with up-to-date information on various aspects of Roma mediation in a number of countries.139
Training for lawyers defending Roma
Since 1996, the Council of Europe and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) have organized training sessions to encourage and assist advocates in bringing cases involving Roma before the European Court of Human Rights (see above) and the European Committee for Social Rights (under the European Social Charter mechanism for collective complaints). The Programme for
139 Available from www.coe-romed.org.
Lawyers Defending Roma has been implemented in France, Greece, Italy and Turkey and training continues in Romania and Bulgaria.
Combating anti-gypsyism
Dosta! – “Enough!” in the Romani language – is the slogan of the Council of Europe campaign to change attitudes and have people discover the true potential of the Roma people. Launched in 2008, the campaign has been implemented in 14 countries to date. The multilingual website of the Dosta! campaign is regularly updated with new information and documentation, including leaflets, posters, television and radio spots and a toolkit for campaigning against stereotypes.140 Recognition of the Roma genocide
The Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues within the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of OSCE (see chap. XIII), has a project to enhance recognition and increase awareness of the genocide of Roma and Sinti during the Second World War. The project includes the production of teaching materials on Roma history and culture and the organization of events and meetings. A website devoted to Roma remembrance comprises a database on this period of Roma history, with a virtual library of the best-known and most useful publications, and an interactive map indicating special or distinctive features by country; and information on curricula, available teaching materials, school textbooks, places of remembrance, and innovative practices introduced by ministries, civil society, international organizations, museums and schools.141
Analysis and exchange of policies and good practices Database on policies and good practices
A database established in 2011 includes examples of policies, strategies and “promising”,
“demonstrated” and “replicated” (or best) practices relating to Roma at national, regional or local levels. It integrates information in cooperation with member States, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, and international partners such as the Decade for Roma Inclusion, European Commission, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and ODIHR.
The Council of Europe Roma portal (www.coe.int/roma) reflects the transversal approach taken and includes a link to all Roma-related texts adopted by various Council of Europe bodies and updated information on Roma-related projects.
Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues
An intergovernmental body dealing with Roma issues was first set up in 1995. Following the adoption of the Strasbourg Declaration on Roma in October 2010, intergovernmental work on Roma issues has been strengthened and new terms of reference adopted for an Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM), which is answerable directly to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The terms of reference place emphasis on the analysis and evaluation of the implementation of national policies and thematic exchanges of experience and good practices. The Committee has established three thematic groups of countries, based on the role of local and regional authorities in implementing national strategies and action plans for Roma, on absenteeism and school dropout of Roma children and on social housing for Roma.
140 See www.dosta.org.
141 See www.opusidea.eu/trr/.
In 2011, CAHROM adopted an opinion on Parliamentary Assembly recommendation 1941 (2010) on Roma asylum seekers in Europe. It also approved an implementation report on the Committee of Ministers recommendation on Roma employment142 which includes member States’
good practices in this field, as well as a draft declaration on the rise of anti-Gypsyism and racist violence against Roma in Europe which was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 1 February 2012. CAHROM is currently also drafting a recommendation on mediators, to encourage the use of mediators and establish basic principles for effective mediation which has maximum impact.143
European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion
A European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion was agreed to at the Summit of Mayors in September 2011. Its aim is to help cities and regions increase their capacities for Roma inclusion, provide advice and support the exchange of experiences and practices. A core group of 11 cities and regions has been entrusted with setting up the Alliance.
The role of local and regional authorities in the social inclusion of Roma is of paramount importance as most problems related to Roma health, education, employment and housing are, in general, the responsibility of these authorities.
Education of Roma Children in Europe
The future of Roma communities depends on the schooling of their children, as education is a key factor in comprehending the situation and achieving social integration. In 2002, the Council of Europe began the Education of Roma Children in Europe project, which supports the integration of Roma communities into the mainstream education system. Roma themselves were actively involved in initiating the project, including its design and execution. The project has developed a teaching kit to prepare Roma children who have not attended nursery school to better cope with their first primary school class; training seminars devoted to Roma issues, within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Pestalozzi programme for education professionals; a guide for Roma mediators or school assistants; teaching materials for use in classes of Roma and non-Roma children, designed to foster mutual understanding; and development of material on the Roma genocide during the Second World War.144
Teaching and learning of the Romani language
The Council of Europe Language Policy Division fosters the teaching and learning of the Romani language in Europe through its Curriculum Framework for Romani.145 It draws on the Council’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which focuses on ages 4-16, can be adapted to local contexts and needs, and is designed for practitioners, manual designers and policy decision makers. Supplementing the Curriculum Framework are two European Language Portfolio models (for ages 6-11 and 11-16), each comprising a personal document for the learner and a handbook for teachers. Translation of these materials into additional Romani dialects and national or official languages is encouraged.
142 Recommendation Rec(2001)17 on improving the economic and employment situation of Roma/Gypsies and Travellers in Europe.
143 Further information on CAHROM is available from www.coe.int/roma.
144 See www.romagenocide.org. Further information on the project, which was concluded in 2009, is available from www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/roma/default_en.asp (accessed 4 December 2012).
145 See www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Rom_CuFrRomani2008_EN.pdf (accessed 4 December 2012).
International Task Force for the Education of Roma
The International Task Force for the Education of Roma (ITFER) is composed of representatives of the Council of Europe, UNICEF, the European Commission, UNESCO, ODIHR, the Fundamental Rights Agency, Open Society and the International Step by Step Association. It aims at developing and ensuring the close coordination of European and international initiatives on all levels of education for Roma, Sinti and Travellers and reinforcing cooperation among its representatives’
member States.
Route of Roma Culture and Heritage
The objective of the Route of Roma Culture and Heritage is to increase the knowledge of Europeans about Roma history, culture, values and lifestyle; encourage the contribution of Roma to Europe’s cultural life and diversity; and contribute to reversing negative stereotypes of Roma. The first phase of the project is the development of a network of organizations (including associations, museums, documentation and cultural centres, art and education institutions, festivals) which work to develop activities in common. The second phase will develop a series of tourist itineraries across Europe which will promote better understanding of Roma culture.146