A round-table discussion concerning the issue of how to improve the protection and promotion of human rights in present-day Europe was held on 17 April in Strasbourg at the invitation of the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, and the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Rene van der Lindenround. (20-APR-07)
Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
Representatives of leading nongovernmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists and IHF) and international organizations mandated in the domain of human rights (including the Council of Europe, the European Union, OSCE and the UN) took part in the several-hour-long discussion. The Foundation’s President, Marek Antoni Nowicki (picture), was among the invited guests and spoke inter alia about the fact that the current atmosphere surrounding human rights in Europe indicates the need to remind the society of the essence and basics of these rights as well as their significance in the democratic society. He also called for an inspection of the institution of Ombudsman and other similar national institutions in Europe from the perspective of their better exploitation in consolidating human rights protection and for the implementation of standards in this domain by the states.
The discussion preceded a general debate that took place the next day during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concerning the state of human rights protection and democracy in Europe.
More information http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Activities/event_files/070417HRroundtable_en.asp
