Rights and democracy to the test

Syria and Lampedusa: the two humanitarian emergencies topped the agenda of the autumn plenary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 30 September – 4 October). On October 3, on the day of the urgent debate on the conflict in Syria – over 100 thousand dead and over two million refugees in two and a half years of violence – the news of the tragedy of Lampedusa was broken in the Hall of Palais de l’Europe. Among the items on the agenda figure also national security and access to information, employment and growth, as well as the democratic institutions of certain Countries.   Lampedusa and migration. On October 4 Tineke Strik, rapporteur on the report “”Lives lost in the Mediterranean”, called for an investigation into allegations that fishing or other boats failed to go to the rescue of drowning persons off the island of Lampedusa. The Danish parliamentarian urges to “examine, whether current national criminal provisions” may be contributing to the number of reports of boats failing to help persons in distress at sea, along with “co-ordinated European action, including the possibility of safe passage for asylum seekers and refugees”. PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon, voicing his “shock for this awful tragedy” which “is not the first”, announced his intention to go himself to Lampedusa on the occasion of his official visit to Italy from 10 to 11 October. On the day before the sinking of the boat, referring to 13 Eritrean citizens drowned during their landing in Scicli, in the area of Siracusa, the Migration Commission declared that Italy once more proved to be “unprepared” to handle the migration flows on its coasts. Democracy for Syria. On October 6 began the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), to whom PACE communicated its full support in a resolution unanimously approved by all its members on the basis of Björn von Sydow’s report (Sweden). The Resolution “renews hopes for peace”, MEPs cautioned that nonetheless “it does not put an end to the war”. The Assembly insists that those who commit crimes against humanity be brought to justice, including, as appropriate, before the International Criminal Court; it calls upon member State governments to make use of their bilateral relations with Arab and other States in the region to secure their support for a ceasefire”, and “to support the emergence of a democratic, inclusive and stable state in Syria”. Finally, an invitation to solidarity towards Syrian refugees. Crisis and security. Speaking at the plenary, OECD general secretary Ángel Gurría underlined “the social wounds of the crisis”, high unemployment rates, the need to recover people’s confidence, and recalled the action plan “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” (BEPS), presented by the Organization past July by G20 Finance ministers: “15 actions that will result in the most fundamental change to the international tax rules”. Arcadio Díaz Tejera, author of the report on national security and access to information on which was adopted a Resolution, said the Wikileaks revelations did not seem to have caused any serious diplomatic repercussions or lasting damage. The document underlines that invoking “national security” as a ground for secrecy should be subject to “reasonable limits”. Crimes such as murder, enforced disappearances, torture or abduction committed by state agents do not deserve to be protected as “state secrets”. Evolving democracies. Armenian Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian presented to the Assembly the activities undertaken by the Council of Ministers it chairs since past May 16 (on November 14 Austria will assume its presidency). After having analysed the performance of democratic institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which “is making important progress in pursuing Europe’s democratic standards”, underlined CoE general secretary Thorbiorn Jagland, the Assembly decided to continue supporting the Country in its reform process. President Tomislav Nikoliæ said that Serbia, an EU candidate for adhesion, “is a step away from a major opportunity and I can assure you that it will not miss it”. The Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergueï Narychkine outlined the reasoning of Russian lawmakers when adopting recent legislation such as “the laws on meetings and demonstrations, and the law Protecting Religious Sentiment”. In the opening of the meeting The first ever Václav Havel Human Rights Prize was awarded to Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatsk. As Mr Bialiatski is currently in prison, the prize was presented to his wife, Natallia Pinchuk.