UN SG Ban Ki Moon in Strasbourg: ECHR 60th Anniversary during EU G20+EAS Debate eve of Cyprus Report

UNO's Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, is due to visit, for the 1st time, Strasbourg, on the occasion of ECHR's 60th Anniversary, later this Month, at the same time that EU Parliament will be debating on the External European Action Service and on the Global G-20 Summit, "EuroFora" learned from CoE's official sources.

The exceptional event is scheduled to evolve further into an open Debate on ECHR's Future, after Speeches by CoE's Secretary General Thornbjorn Jagland and ECHR's President Jean-Paul Costa, with the participation of all Heads of various CoE's Monitoring bodies, competent to check if Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law are really respected in Practice, (f.ex. Ministerial Committee entrusted with the control of ECHR Judgements' execution by CoE Member States, PanEuropean Committee to prevent Torture, Human Rights' Commissioner, CoE's watchdogs on Minorities' protection, against Discrimination and Intolerance, etc).

UNO itself has started to advance towards a progressively greater importance on Human Rights issues than in the Past, particularly since its 2005 Summit at New York, on the International Organization's 60th Anniversary (1945 - 2005), when it created a Human Rights' Council at nearby Geneva, (comp. "EuroFora"'s co-founder's News-Reports, exceptionally from New York then).

At the same moment, ECHR is also involved in an on-going internal review and quest for ways to forge adequate mechanisms for a satisfactory monitoring of the way its recent Reforms work in real practice (after Interlaken's Ministerial Conference : See "EuroFora"'s NewsReports from the Swiss city on February 2010, and 14th Protocol's entry into force), as ECHR's President, professor Jean-Paul Costa recently revealed to "EuroFora", (See September 2009 DraftNews already sent to "EuroFora"'s Subscribers/Donors).

Among various crucial issues, October 2010 ECHR Strasbourg visit will timely come for Ban Ki Moon shortly before his reportedly important November 2010 Report on the 2009-2010 efforts to solve the Cyprus' issue through direct talks between Cyprus' President, Demitres Christofias, and the Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community (in the territories of Cyprus' still Occupied by Ankara's 1974 invasion Army : initially Mehmet Ali Talat, and recently Dervis Eroglu, reportedly more "hardliner"), whose hardest points include mainly Human Rights' issues, such as that of Greek Cypriot Refugees/Displaced Persons' right to Return at their Family Homes and Ancestral Land, as well as to Restitution of their Houses and private properties, or, if this is really impossible, at least an adequate Financial Compensation, according to ECHR's  1996-2010 long case-law

In fact, a great part of ECHR's credibility, and more generally, of the European System of Human Rights' protection, (i.e. CoE's Committee of Ministers monitoring  of the implementation of ECHR's judgements included), is at stake in these Cyprus - Turkey ECHR Judgements on Refugees, "Missing" Persons, Enclaved People, etc., because they have become, meanwhile, not only a well established case-law for CoE's 47 Membe, r States, but also World-wide Standards, from which have been inspired some of UNO's most important advances on Human Rights' issues, (such as, f.ex. UNO Rapporteur, Professor Paolo Sergio Pinheiro's (from Brazil) famous "Principles" on Refugees/Displaced Persons' rights, which have been edited in a UNO Handbook at nearby Geneva, officially signed by UNO's SG, and UN High Commissioners on Human Rights and on Refugees, etc. : See Pinheiro's statements to "EuroFora""s co-Founder, published elsewhere on 9/2007).

But, some controversial recent rulings by ECHR's Chambers, and/or their interpretation by some inside CoE's Committee of Ministers, by apparently departing from earlier ECHR's case-law, have notoriously raised several Question-marks, particularly in  order to know ifEurope will continue to have Better Human Rights' Legal Standards than other Regions in the World, or whether it will be out-paced, for the 1st time in History, by other, Foreign bodies in other areas of the World, which seem thus to claim now  comparatively stronger Human Rights' principles :

- F.ex., while the Experienced UNO's f. President of "Enforced Disappearances" Committee at nearby Geneva, Professor Corcuera, had clearly stressed to "EuroFora"'s co-founder that, in case of "Missing" persons' dramas, "the Violations of Human Rights are of a "CONTINUING" character, (i.e. can be invoked in front of an International Court by Victims' Families) as long as it has not yet been found what really happened to the "Missing" Persons, and those Responsible for their enforced disappearance have not been found and punished", (precisely as ECHR's traditional case-law also underlined), on the contrary, a 2009 prejudicial ruling by an ECHR chamber decided an unprecedented rejection of Greek Cypriot "Missing" People's Families' applications to Strasbourg versus Turkey's persisting refusal to give any information on these crucial points, on the pretext that, on the contrary, a certain period of Time had elapsed, meanwhile, (curiously throwing the Responsibility for the scandalously prolonged Uncertainty to the Victims, and not on the Turkish State's persisting refusal to even discuss these points)..

At the same moment, unearthings and re-burrials reportedly accelerate on Cyprus' "Missing" people, without doing any Forensic Examination in order to find what really happened to the Victims and who might be Responsible for their fate, contrary to ECHR's well established case-law and opposite even to what is currently happening in Latin America (f.ex. Argentina) where former Officials are arrested for Torture - Inhuman/Degrading Treatments of People Murdered back in the 1970ies, and even (what is the most important)  threatening to destroy Evidence of Crimes, as experienced Officials of the CoE, and/or Amnesty International, a.o. already warned "EuroFora" in reply to our relevant questions.

However, it's obvious (also by South Africa, ex-Yugoslavia, Latin America, post-NAZI Europe, and other concrete examples all over the world, that an adequate way to get the Truth out on what happened to "Missing" Persons, find and punish at least some among those Responsible for eventually Grave Human Rights Violations, at least symbolically, is a necessary condition for success to any sincere effort to establish Stable Peace and long-lasting Reconciliation between People who suffered from such tragedies, by giving a kind of Guarantee that such horrible Crimes will never happen again in Future.

+ Moreover, on Refugees' Human Rights to restitution, or, at least compensation for their usurpated Homes and private properties, as well as their Internationaly recognized Right to return back to their Family Homes and Ancestral Lands, (a principle for the application of which, the famous former UNO's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio de Mehlo, had notoriously worked for Decades throughout the World, from Africa up to Eastern Timor, etc., until he was astonishingly killed at Iraq, shortly after reportedly preparing a massive return of Kutdish Refugees at Northern Iraq area, often revendicated also by Turkey because of its Oil/Gas deposits), another recent ECHR's decision on Cyprus and Turkey astonishingly seems to downplay and largely restrict most of ECHR's traditionaly established principles, (See relevant Critical Analysis made by "EuroFora"'s publication on concrete points).

So that UNO's famous Handbook (and adopted Report) on the well-known "Pinheiro's Principles", obviously inspired by ECHR's traditional case-law, obviously risks now to become, on the contrary, much more advanced than what some want to allow vis a vis Turkey's obligations inside the CoE, which threatens to become dramatically ess..
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This context appears even more important, given the fact that, as Ban Ki Moon, also previous UNO SGs  visited officially Strasbourg always on exceptional moments :

-  Boutros Ghali did so, back in 1995, on the occasion of a landmark EU Parliament's debate on the "State of the Union" and EU's foreseeable Future, and returned later-on as a former UN SG, strong of his experience, (See Boutros-Ghali statements to "EuroFora"'s cofounder then).

- Koffi Annan visited both CoE and EU Parliament on october 2000, i.e. just after Turkey had been given a controversial "Candidate" status at December 1999 Helsinki Summit, while UNO's Secretariat was pushed by some Governments to launch attempts to put practically aside the Cyprus' issue, so that Turkey's impopular EU bid has no problems. (Comp. Koffi Annan's long reply to "EuroFora" co-Founder's question in his Press Conference at EU Parliament, attended by many Journalists from allover Europe).

- But, since the election of UNO's New SG, Ban Ki Moon, it will be now (on October 2010) his 1st venue in Strasbourg, which was visited, until now, only by his Deputy SG, Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, who participated in EU Parliament's activities, (See UNO deputy SG Migiro 's statements to "EuroFora"'s co-founder, given on that occasion).
Meanwhile, "EuroFora" got Ban Ki Moon Spokepersons' replies to our questions, both from his initial Spokesperson, Michele Montas, (f.ex. at 2007 G8 Summit in Heiligendam, Germany, and on 2008, on the sidelines of the "Union for the Mediterranean" Summit in Paris), and from his New Spokesman, Martin Nesirky (experienced former OSCE's Spokesman, f.ex. after Berlin's November 2009 Summit for the 20 Years since the fall of the Dividing Wall, in view of OSCE-related, possible developments, and on December 2009, at the immediate aftermath of the Copenhagen UNO Climate Change Summit : the biggest in UNO's History, as Ban Ki Moon himself observed).

Many other Statements/Replies to our Questions by previous UNO's Secretary Generals and/or other Top UNO's Officials were given to "EuroFora"'s co-founder on relevant issues on several other occasions, at various other locations and/or opportunities, such as, f.ex., Koffi Annan's replies he gave us at Baden Baden (Germany) on 2004, and in Paris (France) on 2006 ; UNO's former Director for Political affairs, Ibrahim Gambari (New York, 2005) ; UNO's High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres (Strasbourg/CoE 2008), UNO's new SG on Peace-Keeping operation, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy (Paris 2008), etc.

Ban Ki Moon's exceptional venue at the CoE in Strasbourg on the occasion of ECHR's 60th Anniversary is an obvious and timely Symbol of the fact that both the PanEuropean mechanism for the protection of Human Rights and UNO's own credibility and efficiency approach a kind of Historic cross-roads and a moment of Truth, tested in real practice, needing to find new ways to avoid Errors of the Past (f.ex. 2002-2004 attempts to practically white-wash Turkey on Cyprus' military invasion and persisting occupation, particularly by a former rather unbalanced UN Official, even speaking Turkish but not Greek, and apparently involved in some dubious interest networks, who was dismissed by Koffi Annan during Summer 2005, and/or a former EU Commissioner on Enlargement, accused to disregard EU Principles, who has just been hired by Turkey's Export Trade board, etc), which had notoriously resulted, inter alia, also in an unprecedented Blockade of EU's institutional development (f.ex. Majority Abstentions in 1999-2004 EU Elections, 3 "NO" to EuroReferenda since May 2005, etc).

In order to have a better chance in Future, it's obvious that both UNO and EU/CoE need on such crucial issues involving core principles of Human Rights and International Organisations' independence, objectivity and credibility, a much more "clean", honest, creative and innovative approach, able to provide well-balanced results, safeguard at least the essential among key principles, as well as to look further at the Horizon towards less makeshift, shaky recipes risking to stir soon even worse contradictions and conflicts, but, on the contrary, for real reconciliation, reunification, and stable Peace.