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Council of Europe, Europe's oldest political organization, seeking to
redefine its role at Warsaw summit
AP Worldstream
May 15, 2005
JAN SLIVA
The Council of Europe will seek to redefine its role in the face of an
ever-widening enlargement of the European Union when government
leaders and heads of state meet here at a two-day summit starting
Monday.
With democracy and the rule of law firmly established in the 25-member
EU and improving rapidly in the countries waiting at its doorstep, the
continent's first pan-European political organization now acts mostly
as a human rights watchdog.
But with the European Union planning to establish its own human rights
agency, the Strasbourg, France-based Council of Europe is asking
political leaders to clarify its mandate.
"There must be no double standards, no new dividing lines in
Europe. The European Union should not duplicate our work but use the
experience, institutions and instruments of the Council of Europe,"
said Rene van den Linden, chairman of the Council's Parliamentary
Assembly.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among
the 46 leaders _ each representing a Council of Europe member state _
taking part in the summit at Warsaw's Royal Castle.
France will be represented by Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, a
replacement for Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who canceled his
attendance due to illness; Britain is sending Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is attending for
Russia.
The Council of Europe was created in 1949 _ originally to oversee the
democratization of western Europe after the end of World War II and to
standardize member states' social and legal practices.
It is still the only European body where former Soviet countries such
as Moldova or Azerbaijan can be heard, and is best known for working
to expose breaches of civil liberties and ensuring that international
human rights treaties are being adhered to across the continent.
However, the EU is planning to launch a human rights agency of its own
by 2007 by expanding the mandate of its anti-racism center.
The Vienna-based European Monitoring Center of Racism and Xenophobia
keeps track of some human rights abuses, and the new agency would have
a wider role and make recommendations on how to protect and promote
human rights.
But with another body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, also partly fulfilling that role, the Council of Europe is
worried its own role will be diminished.
"There's a lot of overlapping," Council of Europe Secretary General
Terry Davis told journalists recently. "We need to establish who does
what."
Also on the summit's agenda will be the massive backlog of cases at
the European Court of Human Rights, which is directly supervised by
the Council, and the signing of three new treaties on fighting
terrorism and human trafficking.
The treaty on the prevention of terrorism calls on all European
countries to stop terror groups from recruiting new members, to
improve extradition and mutual assistance arrangements, and to ensure
that victims of terrorist attacks receive government compensation.
A second treaty on the financing of terrorism urges member states to
curb money laundering and ensure quick access to information on assets
held by criminal organizations, including terrorist groups.
The third treaty aims to combat human trafficking and ensure the
protection of victims' rights.
"With these conventions, we are better armed to fight the evils of
human trafficking and terrorism across Europe," Davis said. "I call on
all our member and observer states to sign and ratify them ... in
order to ensure their speedy entry into force. We cannot wait for more
victims of terrorism and trafficking."
On the sidelines, the leaders of Turkey and Armenia are expected to
discuss efforts to promote dialogue between the neighboring nations,
which do not have diplomatic relations.
The two countries sharply disagree over the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks during World War I, which Armenians say was genocide.
Armenia's President Robert Kocharian also is expected to meet with
Azeri President Ilkham Aliev to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
redefine its role at Warsaw summit
AP Worldstream
May 15, 2005
JAN SLIVA
The Council of Europe will seek to redefine its role in the face of an
ever-widening enlargement of the European Union when government
leaders and heads of state meet here at a two-day summit starting
Monday.
With democracy and the rule of law firmly established in the 25-member
EU and improving rapidly in the countries waiting at its doorstep, the
continent's first pan-European political organization now acts mostly
as a human rights watchdog.
But with the European Union planning to establish its own human rights
agency, the Strasbourg, France-based Council of Europe is asking
political leaders to clarify its mandate.
"There must be no double standards, no new dividing lines in
Europe. The European Union should not duplicate our work but use the
experience, institutions and instruments of the Council of Europe,"
said Rene van den Linden, chairman of the Council's Parliamentary
Assembly.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among
the 46 leaders _ each representing a Council of Europe member state _
taking part in the summit at Warsaw's Royal Castle.
France will be represented by Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, a
replacement for Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who canceled his
attendance due to illness; Britain is sending Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is attending for
Russia.
The Council of Europe was created in 1949 _ originally to oversee the
democratization of western Europe after the end of World War II and to
standardize member states' social and legal practices.
It is still the only European body where former Soviet countries such
as Moldova or Azerbaijan can be heard, and is best known for working
to expose breaches of civil liberties and ensuring that international
human rights treaties are being adhered to across the continent.
However, the EU is planning to launch a human rights agency of its own
by 2007 by expanding the mandate of its anti-racism center.
The Vienna-based European Monitoring Center of Racism and Xenophobia
keeps track of some human rights abuses, and the new agency would have
a wider role and make recommendations on how to protect and promote
human rights.
But with another body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, also partly fulfilling that role, the Council of Europe is
worried its own role will be diminished.
"There's a lot of overlapping," Council of Europe Secretary General
Terry Davis told journalists recently. "We need to establish who does
what."
Also on the summit's agenda will be the massive backlog of cases at
the European Court of Human Rights, which is directly supervised by
the Council, and the signing of three new treaties on fighting
terrorism and human trafficking.
The treaty on the prevention of terrorism calls on all European
countries to stop terror groups from recruiting new members, to
improve extradition and mutual assistance arrangements, and to ensure
that victims of terrorist attacks receive government compensation.
A second treaty on the financing of terrorism urges member states to
curb money laundering and ensure quick access to information on assets
held by criminal organizations, including terrorist groups.
The third treaty aims to combat human trafficking and ensure the
protection of victims' rights.
"With these conventions, we are better armed to fight the evils of
human trafficking and terrorism across Europe," Davis said. "I call on
all our member and observer states to sign and ratify them ... in
order to ensure their speedy entry into force. We cannot wait for more
victims of terrorism and trafficking."
On the sidelines, the leaders of Turkey and Armenia are expected to
discuss efforts to promote dialogue between the neighboring nations,
which do not have diplomatic relations.
The two countries sharply disagree over the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks during World War I, which Armenians say was genocide.
Armenia's President Robert Kocharian also is expected to meet with
Azeri President Ilkham Aliev to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.