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116th Session of the Committee of Ministers
(Strasbourg, 18-19 May 2006) –

Conclusions of the Chair

The main theme of the 116th Session of the Committee of Ministers,
chaired by Mr Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Romania, was the follow-up to the Third Council of Europe Summit, one
year on from Warsaw.

In reviewing progress with the implementation of the Summit decisions,
the Ministers identified the following priorities:

– consolidation of the Council of Europe’s system of human rights
protection;
– relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union;
– reinforcement of the Council of Europe’s action in favour of democracy
and good governance;
– the Council of Europe’s action to develop intercultural dialogue;
– implementation of Part V of the Action Plan of the Third Summit,
concerning Council of Europe reform.

During their discussions, the Ministers noted the position and
intentions of the Committee of Ministers’ institutional partners in the
Council of Europe on the issues on the agenda. They noted in particular
the positive assessment made of the work carried out in the areas of
intercultural dialogue and democracy (including local and regional
democracy and transfrontier cooperation). In this context, they took
note of the offer by Ukraine to host the plenary session of the Forum
for the Future of Democracy in 2009. They underlined the importance of
joint efforts from all Council of Europe actors for the success of the
current reform process carried out under Chapter V of the Action Plan.

The participants in the session also took note with interest of the
interim report of the Group of Wise Persons entrusted with drawing up a
comprehensive strategy to secure the long-term effectiveness of the
European Convention on Human Rights, which was presented by the Group’s
Chairman, Mr Iglesias.

The Ministers’ decisions and conclusions on the range of issues which
were on their agenda appear in the Session Communiqué.

The Council of Europe’s action in favour of democratic stability in
Europe though the promotion of its values and principles in the fields
of human rights, democracy and the rule of law was foremost in the
discussions. In this connection, the exchange of views with Mr Martti
Ahtisaari, Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations
for the future status process for Kosovo, at the informal ministerial
meeting on the evening of 18 May, provided an opportunity to take stock
of the negotiations on this subject and to discuss the Council of
Europe’ possible contribution to the process, in particular on matters
relating to human rights protection, minority rights, decentralisation
and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Beyond Kosovo, particular attention was paid to the more general issue
of stability in south-east Europe, having in mind the important
referendum on Montenegro’s independence, scheduled for 21 May. It was
underlined that the referendum must be conducted in full respect of the
relevant international standards and Ministers called on all the
political forces of Serbia and Montenegro to act responsibly and to
accept the results of the ballot. It was also recognised that a crucial
phase would begin after the referendum, irrespective of the results.
Reference was made to the need to continue the reforms in the fields of
human rights, democracy and the rule of law and the Ministers agreed
unanimously that the Council of Europe should continue the activities
which it has carried out to this end for several years, in consultation
with the other international bodies concerned.

Several Ministers also expressed concern that Serbia and Montenegro was
still not giving the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) the full and entire co-operation expected. They
recalled that this co-operation was one of the fundamental undertakings
entered into by Serbia and Montenegro when it joined the Council of
Europe and they called on the country’s authorities to take immediate
steps to comply with this commitment.

Another issue addressed concerned the conduct of free and democratic
elections in Europe. The Ministers expressed satisfaction that the
parliamentary elections in Ukraine on 26 March 2006 had been in
conformity with the relevant international standards. They also noted
with satisfaction the positive assessment made by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the rerun of the parliamentary elections in ten
constituencies in Azerbaijan on 13 May, which was a prelude to future
major elections in this country. In order to ensure that these
elections take place in a fully democratic manner, the Committee of
Ministers recalled the necessity of revising the electoral legislation
in co-operation with the Venice Commission as soon as possible. The
same point was made with regard to the current revision of the Armenian
Electoral Code.

In the case of Belarus, several Ministers regretted that the
presidential election of 19 March 2006 had not respected the
international standards referred to above and expressed great concern
about the continued deterioration of the situation concerning human
rights and fundamental freedoms following the election. In this
context, they urged the Belarus authorities to release all the persons
arrested before and after the elections and to embark resolutely on a
democratic reform process, particularly by guaranteeing the exercise of
freedom of expression and association, in accordance with the country’s
international undertakings. In this respect, it was hoped that the
Belarus authorities would co-operate actively in the implementation of
the action plan recently adopted by the Council of Europe in order to
foster its values and principles in the fields of human rights,
democracy and the rule of law in Belarus.

It was noted that more than ever, the Council of Europe’s
standard-setting acquis and its adaptation to meet the new challenges
facing Europe were critical elements for the strengthening of democratic
stability in Europe. In this context, the Ministers welcomed the opening
for signature at the Session of the Council of Europe’s 200th treaty,
the Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State
Succession.

The Ministers also took note with satisfaction of the signatures and
ratifications in recent months of (i) the Convention on the Prevention
of Terrorism, (ii) the revised Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure
and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of
Terrorism and (iii) the Convention on Action against Trafficking in
Human Beings.1 They reaffirmed the importance of these legal
instruments in the international fight against terrorism and human
trafficking and consequently encouraged countries that had not yet
signed or ratified these conventions to do so as soon as possible.

It was also pointed out that it was essential not only to sign and
ratify conventions but also to implement effectively Council of Europe
standards in domestic law and practice. The Ministers again stressed
member states’ individual and collective responsibility for ensuring
that judgments of the European Court of Human Rights were fully applied,
as an essential condition for the credibility of the Convention’s
supervisory system. They referred in particular to the four interim
resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers in the case of Ilascu
and others v. Moldova and Russia. They expect the Court’s judgment in
this case to be executed without any further delay.

Finally, the Ministers welcomed the emphasis placed over the past six
months on areas where joint action by member states, based on Council of
Europe values, could make a major contribution to democratic stability.
In particular they:

– welcomed the efforts of the Council of Europe, on the strength of the
Romanian Chairmanship’s input, to promote a culture of democracy with
the authorities and citizens of the member states, in particular through
the network of political schools aimed to train new generations of
leaders in the fundamental values of the Council of Europe (the first
conference of the schools took place on 27 and 28 April in Bucharest),
and the three-year action plan on education for democratic citizenship
and human rights, launched on the occasion of the evaluation conference
of the European Year of Citizenship through Education (2005) held in
Sinaia on 27 and 28 April;

– noted with satisfaction the launch in early 2006 of the activities of
the High-Level Task Force on Social Cohesion in the 21st century, which
had been mandated to review the Council of Europe’s strategy in this
area. In this connection, they welcomed the adoption in April of the
Ten-Year Action Plan on Equal Rights for People with Disabilities and
the Romanian authorities’ support for the plan’s implementation, in the
form of a regional seminar held in Constanta on 14-16 May 2006;

– gave their support for the Council of Europe’s three-year programme
“Building a Europe for and with Children”, inaugurated in Monaco on 4
and 5 April 2006, after the conference on children’s rights held in
Bucharest on 1 and 2 February, expressing the hope that the programme
would rapidly lead to practical and significant measures to improve
children’s rights, particularly where they live in difficult economic
and social conditions;

– recalled their firm commitment to the total abolition of the death
penalty in Europe and beyond. In this regard, they noted with
satisfaction that since their previous session Protocol No. 13 to the
ECHR had been ratified by Monaco, the Netherlands, Turkey and
Luxembourg, and signed by Armenia on 19 May at the Treaty event
organised in parallel to the session;

– stressed the importance of efforts to foster the rights of persons
belonging to national minorities (including Roma and Travellers). They
also welcomed the fact that, since the inauguration of the European
Forum for Roma and Travellers in late 2005, the Romanian Chairmanship
had supported this initiative, in particular by organising a conference
in Bucharest on 4 May on the implementation and harmonisation of
national policies on Roma, Sinti and Travellers;

– reiterated the importance they attach to the work carried out by the
Council of Europe of Europe in the area of the protection of national
minorities, particularly through the competent expert committee (DH-MIN)
which held its 3rd meeting in Bucharest in March 2006. In this context
they paid tribute to the Romanian Chairmanship’s initiative in
organising the same month in Brasov an international conference on the
role of consultative bodies in the promotion of the participation of
members of national universities in decision-making processes;

– gave their support to the Romanian Chairmanship in its efforts to
promote intercultural dialogue, through the 3rd Intercultural Forum of
the Council of Europe on “The promotion of intercultural dialogue
between generations” (Bucharest, 17-18 March 2006) and the seminar on
“Identity, citizenship and cohesion” (Bucharest, 5 May 2006), as well as
to encourage the protection of the environment and sustainable
development, with the Regional Conference held in Bucharest on 27 and 28
April 2006.

The Ministers once again underlined the importance of ensuring efficient
interaction and creating synergies between the Council of Europe and its
main partners on the European stage, so that citizens may reap practical
benefits from international action in these different areas. In this
respect they welcomed the useful cooperation between the Council of
Europe, the European Union and the OSCE over the last six months,
including through the high-level meetings held in Brussels on 30 January
with the OSCE and in Strasbourg on 15 March with the European Union.

At the end of the session, Mr Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation, informed his colleagues of the
Russian Chair’s priorities for the Committee of Ministers over the next
six months. The transfer of the chairmanship from Mr Ungureanu to Mr
Lavrov took place immediately afterwards.

1 7 new signatures and 2 ratifications were recorded during the Session.
This brought the number of signatures to 33 for the Convention on the
Prevention of Terrorism, 21 for the revised Convention on Laundering,
Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the
Financing of Terrorism and 28 for the Convention on Action against
Trafficking in Human Beings

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