Slovakia: “Segregation and anti-Gypsyism at the core of Roma exclusion”
Strasbourg, 20/12/11 – "Concrete action to counter anti-Gypsyism and discrimination against Roma must be given priority by the authorities of Slovakia" said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, releasing today his report following a visit to Slovakia carried out...
The increasing repression in Belarus is worrying
Strasbourg, 19/12/11 – One year has passed since the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus declared Lukashenka as the winner. What came after was an increasing and unacceptable repression, said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights in an article published by the weekly...
Media freedom under threat in Europe
London, 08/12/11 – Ahead of human rights day (10 December 2011), Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, launched the publication Human rights and a changing media landscape at a press conference in London, hosted by ARTICLE 19, on Thursday 8 December 2011. "The...
Human Rights Comment
Politically-motivated murders are not effectively investigated – this feeds a culture of impunity
Assassinations of human rights defenders, investigative journalists, activist lawyers and critical opinion makers have not been seriously investigated in a number of critical cases. These flagrant examples have come to symbolise the phenomenon of impunity, which encourages further murders and has...
Ukraine: The independence and efficiency of the judiciary must be protected as a matter of priority
Kyiv, 25/11/11 – "The protection of the right to a fair trial should be central to judicial reform efforts" said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, at the end of a week-long visit to Ukraine. "In order to guarantee this fundamental human right to everyone,...
Human Rights Comment
The right to leave one’s country should be applied without discrimination
Strong measures have been taken by the Macedonian authorities to prevent citizens from travelling to EU countries - and seeking asylum there. The numbers doing so have gone up considerably since the EU agreed that people in Balkan countries would no longer require visas to enter EU territory....
Human Rights Comment
Ethical journalism: self-regulation protects the independence of media
The media play an enormously important role in the protection of human rights. They expose human rights violations and offer an arena for different voices to be heard in public discourse. However, the power of the media can also be misused to the extent that the very functioning of democracy is...
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...
Moldova: time has come to strengthen protection of the rights of people with disabilities, Roma and other vulnerable groups
Chisinau, 21/10/11 – "A prompt adoption of a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation will be an important step towards a more effective protection of the rights of the vulnerable groups in Moldova", said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights at the end of a three-day visit to...
Human Rights Comment
Public service media needed to strengthen pluralism
Two major threats to media freedom exist across Europe today. One is the attempt by state authorities to dominate the media market. The other is the trend towards commercialisation and monopoly. Both these tendencies undermine freedom of expression – and are good reasons for strengthening public...
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