On 5th October 2005, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected new Commissioner for Human Rights – Mr Thomas Hammarberg who won the most votes in the second round, defeating two other candidates: Mr Marek Antoni Nowicki – President of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and Marc Verwilghen – Belgian minister of economy and power industry.

After the first round of voting, the person who came most closely to winning was Mr Marek Antoni Nowicki who got 89 out of 232 votes, while Mr Hammarberg got 78 votes, and Mr Verwilghen – 65. However, in the second round members of the Assembly were disposed more favourably to Mr Hammarberg as he got 104 out of 230 votes, while Mr Nowicki got 93, and Mr Verwilghen – 33 votes.

Thomas Hammarberg was a special representative of UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia and an adviser to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He will take up the office on 1st January 2006 for a period of 6 years.

The Commissioner was established in 1999 by the Committee of Ministers on its session in Budapest. The main tasks of the Commissioner are:

– promote education in and awareness of human rights in the member States;
– identify possible shortcomings in the law and practice of member States with regard to   compliance with human rights;
– help promote the effective observance and full enjoyment of human rights, as embodied in the various Council of Europe instruments.