“2016 will likely be remembered as a critical turning point for human rights in Europe” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks today while presenting his annual activity report for 2016. “We will either see it as a low point from which European countries, individually and collectively, bounced back to reaffirm their commitment to human rights, or it will mark the beginning of the end of the European human rights system and European integration.”
The Commissioner underlined the unprecedented situation whereby three countries – Ukraine, France and now Turkey – have derogated from the European Convention on Human Rights. 2016 also stood out as a result of moves undercutting the right to asylum at national and European level, the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, the attempted coup in Turkey and the ensuing deterioration of the human rights situation there, policy initiatives seriously threatening the rule of law in Poland, and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.
