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Human Rights Comment
Why remembering the Holocaust is a human rights imperative
The Shoah stands out as one of the defining moments of history that has shaped the conscience of mankind. It is unique in its roots, implementation and envisioned totality. During my mandate as Commissioner for Human Rights, I have attended a number of ceremonies of commemoration of the victims...
Human Rights Comment
Human rights defenders’ work is vital for redress to victims of enforced disappearance
Last March I published an Issue Paper on Missing persons and victims of enforced disappearance in Europe, aiming to help Council of Europe member states improve their law and practice. Much remains to be done, considering that thousands of cases of missing persons and enforced disappearance...
Human Rights Comment
Time to cure amnesia about the history of Roma in Europe
In a few days, we will commemorate the liquidation 71 years ago of the so-called “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau. On 2 August 1944, 2 897 persons were taken to the gas chambers and exterminated. Only a few months earlier, on 16 May 1944, the detainees of the “Gypsy camp” had refused to...
Human Rights Comment
Armenian-Turkish Reconnections and Human Rights
History continues to divide Armenian and Turkish officialdom, but there are many civil society, cultural and academic initiatives aiming to reconnect the two societies. April 24 marks the centennial of the beginning of the mass killings, deportations and dispossession of Armenians in the Ottoman...
Human Rights Comment
Missing persons in Europe: the truth is yet to be told
Tens of thousands of persons remain missing and still haunt Europe decades after the demise of dictatorships and the end of armed conflicts. For example, Spain has yet to come to terms with its past and shed light on the fate of more than 150 000 persons who remain missing as a result of the...
Human Rights Comment
Pravda i pomirenje predugo se čekaju na Balkanu
Više od 20 godina nakon prvog rata u vezi s raspadom Jugoslavije, naslijeđe nasilja još uvijek lebdi nad regijom. 12 200 ljudi se još uvijek vode kao nestali, 423 000 izbjeglica i raseljenih lica još uvijek ne mogu da se vrate u svoje domove, nekih 20 000 ljudi su još uvijek apatridi ili im...
Human Rights Comment
Interno raseljeni u Evropi: još jedna izgubljena generacija?
Mediji često ukazuju na to da se, kao rezultat ekonomske krize, u Evropi lako može pojaviti nova “izgubljena generacija”. Ali, jedna drugačija izgubljena generacija, stvorena vojno-političkim krizama u prošlosti, već preživljava u brojnim evropskim zemljama. Ovdje mislim na interno raseljene...
Human Rights Comment
Only genuine justice can ensure durable peace in the Balkans
European institutions failed to protect people in the former Yugoslavia from ethnic cleansing and other war atrocities in the 1990s. The return to normalcy has been slow and major obstacles still remain. However, there are now grounds for some hope – which gives Europe a second chance to offer...
Human Rights Comment
Countries of the former Yugoslavia need to step up their efforts to resolve cases of missing persons
The presidents of Serbia and Croatia have met on several occasions recently and the issue of missing persons has been high on their agenda. It has been reported that the president of Serbia, Mr Boris Tadic, brought with him important documents to the latest meeting concerning persons who have...
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Human Rights Comment
Reconciliation Stalled in the Western Balkans
In March 2012 I travelled to Sarajevo with my predecessor for the launch of an Issue Paper on post-war justice and durable peace in the former Yugoslavia, followed by vivid discussions with political leaders and civil society representatives in Sarajevo, Zagreb, Belgrade and Ljubljana. This...
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