Rights aren’t words

As previously announced, on January 23rd, when the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe opened in Strasbourg (at the Palais de l’Europe, ongoing until January 27), Jean-Claude Mignon, (EPP/CD) from France, was elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Taking over from Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG), he is the 26th President of the Assembly since 1949 and the first French person to hold this office in 23 years. He served as PACE Vice-President since 2007. “I want to make sure in my new position that the rule of law, respect for human rights and the promotion of democracy are not just empty words, and that we are moving forward in these areas, including beyond our borders, in particular by engaging with Europe’s neighbours who are moving down the path to democracy”, he said in his installation speech. A concrete and human Europe. In close co-operation with the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, Jean-Claude Mignon intends to put the Council of Europe back at the centre of the European and international stage. To this end, he wants to make PACE “even more responsive” so that “the Europe of human rights may become an inescapable reality”. “For too long, this organisation was on the defensive, in particular vis-à-vis the European Union, and in danger of being the ‘overlooked beauty’ on the banks of the Ill, an institution that belonged in the past”, he added. According to the newly-elected President, “Following the glorious decade of the 1990s” when the organisation welcomed in the countries of central and eastern Europe, “we acquired a new purpose:” namely, to bring the Council of Europe closer to the European Union “in order to reconcile ordinary people with Europe, a tangible, human Europe that makes itself felt in their everyday lives through the observance of fundamental rights, security, the freedom to come and go, dignity and respect for the rights of the opposition”.Conflict resolution and women’s rights. The new president said he hopes “that Human Rights becomes an ineludible reality in Europe”, “to find solutions to frozen conflicts” and devote his presidency to the cause of women. “The dangers of selective abortion are a reality in Europe itself, violence against women is still all too often a fact of life and equality in the workplace is still an unfulfilled goal”, he pointed out. Born on 2 February 1950 in Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne, France, a politician and former business leader, Jean-Claude Mignon has represented Seine-et-Marne in France’s National Assembly since 1988, He has been Mayor of Dammarie-lès-Lys since 1983. Mr Mignon has long-standing international experience in PACE and the Western European Union. He has served as PACE Vice-President since 2007. Protecting freedom of speech. “At the end you can always say that we have not done enough, but I can assure you that I did my best during my Presidency to strengthen the Parliamentary Assembly and its institutional role”, said on January 23 Mevlut Çavusoglu at his last press conference in his capacity of PACE President. Referring to his home country, Cavusogli recalled “a lot of pressure” received “to change article 301 of the Turkish penal code that contains harsh punishment “for denigration of the Turkish nation”, notably speaking about the so-called “Turkish genocide”. Former PACE president explained, “I chose not to make any statement about this matter in my capacity of President of the Assembly, but I do now speak about it because I believe that we can not accept to penalise freedom of speech in any Council of Europe State”. Risk of populism and nationalisms. In his speech on the state of PACE, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland listed the main achievements of 2011 and the challenges awaiting the Organization in 2012 and in the near future. “Thanks to reforms”, he said, the CoE “is more flexible” and “its initiatives, based on juridical – an not politicized – tools, are the only path enabling Member States to progress”. However, “in many parts of Europe democratic norms and values are under serious threat”, notably by “new economic forces and growing populist tendencies” and by the risk of “Renationalisation” of European politics”. As relates to Hungary, Jagland made known that Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi gave a positive reply to his proposal of dialogue with the Council of Europe, recalling the close partnership with the EU. After the launch of bilateral cooperation with Morocco and Tunisia, consultations with Jordan have also started. For Jagland CoE tools and skills can be used “to build confidence between Israel and Palestine”.