CoE Chief Swiss Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey to EuroFora: Debate ECHR's Future, Nature + Free Media

    - "It is important" that "we ...start debates on ECHR's future", "in order to ensure the application of Human Rights standards in the same way throughout all the European continent", and "take initiatives" to "bring in New Ideas that will make the system more efficient", stressed the incoming CoE President in office, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey in reply to "EuroFora"s questions

    At the same time, Rey, also expressed CoE's "will" to act for the protection of Natural Environment, and Freedom of Press, as she added in reply to other "EuroFora"s queries. evoking  "concrete" measures in real practice, during the 6 Months of the Swiss CoE Presidency, (November 2009- May 2010), that she presented together with CoE's new Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

    Her first reaction was vis a vis an "EuroFora"s observation on the plight of Refugee' Children, revealed the same Day at a crucial ECHR's Hearing in Strasbourg : The real cases of 3 Greek Cypriot Children, brutally obliged to flee from their Familiy Homes after the Turkish Military Invasion and Occupation of the northern part of Cyprus, and still hindered by Ankara to return, while the Father of 2 of them died in 2005 waiting for ECHR's judgements, which sometimes take 10, 15 or 20 Years to be issued and have not yet been fully applied, as it in the Onoufriou and Ariana Lordos affairs.

    The move timely came when CoE's Committee of Ministers just adopted Guidelines for the protection of Children from violence, the same day of ECHR's crucial Hearing of 8 Greek Cypriot Refugees' cases, and at the eve of UNO's International Day of action for Children on the 20th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, on Friday 20.

    This naturally incited the incoming CoE President-in-office, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, in reply to our questions, to promise more imminent moves to "strengthen" the system for the protection of Human Rights in 2010, in order to better protect European Citizens' rights, in such and other cases.

    - Today, while you anounced that No 1 Priority of CoE's Swiss Presidency will be Human Rights, and that the Ministerial Committe adopted Guidelines for Children's Rights, at ECHR's Hearing (on Cyprus' Refugees) we've just seen that Children expulsed from their Family Homes when aged only 2 or 7 are still hindered to return, and, meanwhile, saw their Father die, waiting for ECHR's judgements, which in such cases sometimes take 10, 15 or even 20 years to be issued and applied, "EuroFora" denounced at a CoE's Press Conference, to which participated also the new CoE's Secretary General Jagland. Is there any hope, during your Presidency, (i.e. up to May 2010) to make the whole System for the protection of Human Rights, from the Court up to the Committee of Ministers (i.e. inclusing execution of judgements), more efficient, in order not  to have this kind of situations in the future ?", we asked.

Facts were revealed on the sidelines of an ECHR's Grand Chamber Hearing, exceptionally attended also by many Judges from various other Countries.

    - "If You are asking me whether there will be Initiatives that we could take during the Swiss CoE Presidency in order to produce results, which could give a message to strengthen ECHR's efficiency, "my reply is "Yes", otherwise, we wouldn't undertake anything !", sharply replied to "EuroFora" the incoming CoE's President-in-office, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.

    - "Of course, we (i.e. the incoming Swiss CoE Presidency : November 2008 - May 2010) we shall try to bring in new ideas in order to make the system (i.e. ECHR and Committee of Ministers, as "EuroFora" had asked) more efficient", she promised.  

   - "In order to ensure than all Citizens in Europe, who have a pending case (at the ECHR), will have a (real) right to a  judgement" on time. she stressed, in reply to "EuroFora"s"question on a Greek Cypriot Refugees'  Family where the Father had tragically died before his expulsed Children and wife could even be heard by ECHR in Strasbourg...

    - "This is an essential commitment of the CoE", she stressed

    - Advancing further,  CoE's new President-in-office launched a call for more "Political involvement of other CoE's Member States" to boost ECHR's efficiency. "- "We are counting also, very much, on that", she stressed.  

 - "This (panEuropean) Court is important, in order to ensure the application of Human Rights standards in the same way throughout all the European continent", and "we must start debates on ECHR's future", culminating on decisions due at a High-level Ministerial Conference at Interlaken on February 2010, she added.

    But "it's not in just 6 Months of Swiss CoE Presidency that we believe to be able to fully achieve such a task, on which we are working together with our Slovenian predecessors, to try to stregthen (ECHR's efficiency), and which, I want to believe, will be continued by the presidencies which will come after us", Micheline Calmy Rey added, with a typically "French" style irony on the lips about the forthcoming ... Turkish CoE chairmanship : November 2010 - May 2011..

    ECHR's final judgement in the 8 new Cyprus' cases heard today, is due to be issued "in about 5 or 6 Months", i.e. during the Swiss CoE Presidency, said meanwhile to "EuroFora" ECHR Grand Chamber's Legal Director Vincent Berger.
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    On the sidelines of Strasbourg's ECHR's crucial Hearing, which has mainly to judge Turkey's attempt to block access of Greek Cypriot Refugees to Strasbourg's European Court, by obliging them to go first to a controversial "Commission" set up by the illegal Turkish Occupation regime in the Territories controlled by Ankara's Foreign Army, "EuroFora" learned by Refugee Children themselves their plight :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

    F.ex. Nicos and Demetrios Onoufriou, were young Children aged only 2 and 7 years old, when they were brutally expulsed from their Family Home at Morphou, Occupied by Turkey's Army and hindered to return since 1974. Now, they were in Strasbourg with their Refugee Mother, Eudokia, to ECHR's Hearing, waiting for Justice to be done.  But their Father, Charalambos, had died meanwhile, on 2005. - "Every Sunday, the poor man tried to cross to the Occupied Territories and look at our Home from far away, with pain and sorrow, but hope", they said to "EuroFora".

    Similar story with small Ariana : a baby girl aged only 2, living with her Family in an appartment at Famagusta's beautiful Seaside, when, suddenly, they were obliged to flee the invading Turkey's Military in 1974, and now they can only look the Ghost Town from far away behind the fences, blocked by the Turkish Army :  - "ECHR's judgement on Loizidou gave us hopes", said her Father, Demetrios Lordos to "EuroFora" in Strasbourg. "Our Family was earning its living by the work done in Famagusta's Hotels", now a Turkish Military area of No-mans-land, added her Mother.

 

The initiative to call for a "High-Level, new Poliical boost" to a far-reaching EuroCourt's reform, was taken by ECHR's President, professor Jean-Paul Costa himself, as he anounced to Strasbourg's Journalists including "EuroFora" in a Press Conference in Strasbourg as early as since January 2009 (Comp. relevant "EuroFora" publication from the larger event).

As CoE's Director on Legal and Human Rights' affairs, Philippe Boillat told earlier "EuroFora", the Interlaken PanEuropean Conference is due to attract the active participation of several Foreign and Justice/Home affairs Ministers, Top Legal Experts, European/International NGOs, etc.. A crucial Report currently prepared by CoE's inter-Governemental Legal Experts (CDDH) is expected to present draft proposals to CoE's Committee of Ministers "from November, or so".

On the same occasion about Children's Rights, the out-going CoE's chair, new Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Samuel Zbogar, and new CoE's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, jointly stressed also that, as a matter of general principle, "Nowhere in Europe should teenagers be detained as a result of political and security issues".

This was said on the occasion of denunciations for "prolonged detention of teenagers by the de facto authorities of South Ossetia", vis a vis which they expressed their "deep concern". South Ossetia's or Russia's reply is not known.

Given the fact that "teenagers", (considered as "children" according to CoE's standards, but not according to Turkish law), are notoriously held in controversial conditions in Turkey's detention centers, as EU Commission's latest, October 2009 Report denounced, in addition to the recent (Spring 2009) arrests of young demonstrators at the South-East areas, apparently CoE's leadership believes that this principle applies also to Turkey, and not only to Russian ally South Ossetia, unless the ommission of Ankara here might mean that Turkey is "nowhere in Europe",  to follow the statements' wording.. As facts clearly show, no other logical conclusion seems possible.

    Meanwhile, replying to other "EuroFora"s questions on other topical issues included in the Swiss CoE Presidency's Programme, Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey also anounced that :   

 -  "On Natural Environment, there is certainly a commitment from our side. There is certainly a Political will to send a message. And of course the will to start a work which will be, we hope, continued afterwards", (i.e. even after May 2010).

    She was responding to "EuroFora"'s observation that "on natural environment, among the Swiss CoE Presidency's priorities, is also the Bern Convention on the protection of Wildlife, with a 2 Days Conference in Bern on its 30th Anniversary, while, recently, CoE's Assembly voted for the recognition of a "Human Right to a Healthy Environment", and Russia is preparing to host in Moscow, during the Swiss Presidency, the 1st Ministerial Conference on the PanEuropean Convention on "Landscape", indicating a growing CoE interest for Nature.
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     - And "on Freedom of Expression", "speeches are not enough", Micheline Calmy-Rey observed.

    - "Swiss People are pragmatic : So, in concrete terms, we are going to put at the disposal of CoE's secretary General  an Officer, to closely work together" on that area, she anounced, among other practical measures.

    Thus, "we shall try to strengthen CoE's SG Jagland's secretariat, who has the same Priorities as us, on Freedom of Expression and Press. "So I hope that our joined forces can make together a difference", she concluded.

    It's interesting to note the fact that CoE's New Chairwoman in office said that in reply to "EuroFora"s question on "On-line Media", as "EuroFora", for which CoE's Assembly recently denounced various serious problems against Freedom of Press, (evan after the famous Gongadze muder case in Ukraine, where the On-Line editor was found atrociously murdered, 3 suspects being arrested meanwhile, but not the mastermind yet), followed, also, by some possibly "positive" moves by certain CoE Member States, as, f.ex. France in 2009, to create a "Status for On-line Media Editors" (See previous relevant "EuroFora" publications).