Incoming+OutGoing CoE Chairs Armenia+Andora F.Ministers Nalbandian+Sunyé to EuroFora on ECHR respect

*Strasbourg//CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- Replying to an "EuroFora" question on the Accumulation of Non-Implemented ECHR Judgements  which have condemned often serious Human Violations, but are still pending at CoE's Committee of Ministers, while, on the contrary, ECHR's inflow of New Applications, earlier growing during recent Years, has just been settled and even slightly diminshed last year (2012) for the 1st time in History, as ECHR's President Spielman anounced on January 2013 (comp. previous NewsReport with Replies given by President Spielman to our Questions), both the Incoming and Outgoing CoE Chairmen, Armenian Foreiogn Minister Edward Nalbandian and Andora's Foreign Minister Gilber Synué,, stressed mainly the current need to Try now to solve that remaining issue, while CoE should  carefuly assess the overall situation regarding the ECHR, in order to decide on next steps, without hurrying up to merely perpetuate the status quo ante, i.e. the previous phase of ECHR reforms.
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 - The Incoming CoE President-in-office, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, stressed to "EuroFora" his willingness to act efficiently in this regard, during the forcthoming Semester of May - November 2013 :

- I know that CoE's Committee of Ministers is rather overloaded" with ECHR judgements pending execution, and "We (the incoming 5 - 11/2013 CoE Presidency by Armenia) shall really Try" to find ways to start solving that problem, the new CoE's Chairman promissed in reply to a relevant "EuroFora"s question.

+ Moreover, in this regard, Nalbandian pointed also at the Conference on "European Standards on Rule of Law, and the Scope of Discretion of Powers in CoE's Member States", i.e. practically concerning mainly one of the Key Questions raised by "EuroFora" to ECHR's New President Spielman,  (particularly after the 2011 Brighton CoE Conference and Protocol No 15 to the ECHR), which has been scheduled, in principle, for July 3 to 5, (i.e. unfortunately during EU Parliament's July Session, at least partly...),

 Perhaps, the additional fact that the New COE's Chairman, Armeinan Minister Nalbandian, appeared earler Today to have very Good personal Relations with EU's Chairwoman-in-office, Irish EU affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton, might help the already important EU - CoE cooperation to become more active on this crucial issue for Human Rights' respect during the next Months.. 

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+ Meanwhile, during a Press Conference given earlier today by CoE's Secretary General Thornbjorn Jagland together with the outgoing CoE Committe of Ministers' Chairman, Andorran Foreign Minister, Gilbert Sunyé, on the outcome and perspectives after the Semester of November 2012 - May 2013, interesting replies were also given to "EuroFora" on a similar Question concerning the same issue which has become Crucial No 1 Today :

 -"One of the success that you passed over silence, was that, recently, the famous ECHR Crisis about too big number of cases at the ECHR, which was growing too much during the latest years, came for the 1st time in History, you succeeded to pass it under control, and even started to decelerate a little bit, as it was anounced also by the new President of the Court, Spielman, earlier on Januray 2013"; EuroFora observed from the outset.

- "But,  a question raised now both by the President of the ECHR (during  his Annual Press Conference on January 2013) and as it was also revealed by the Statistics published by CoE's Committee of Ministers,  is that another problem appeared recently, elsewhere :  it's about the Number of Cases which have been Pending for a too long Time at CoE's Committee of Ministers", (to which CoE's Statute has assigned the task to "Supervise the execution of ECHR's judgements")", we pointed out.

=> - "Do you think that, now, considering also the debate  that CoE's Committee of Ministers has now, particularly about  the Secretary General's initiative to strengthen CoE's "Monitoring", there might be a Hope in the foreseable Future to tackle  efficiently this other, remaining problem of the Execution of ECHR's Judgements ?", "EuroFora" asked "both" CoE leadership's representatives.
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 - "It's really Important to demonstrate Efficiency, particularly about the ECHR, since the Court is a Key element of the Structure of CoE", replied Positively the experienced out-going CoE Chairman, Minister Sunyé to "EuroFora"s query.

 - "So", we (CoE) have "to demonstrate that we can conclude work well,  that we can have Results", also on that remaining crucial issue, he stressed.

+ In this regard, "I think  that the Initiative (of CoE SG on boosting "Monitoring" : See Infra) can enable CoE and the Court to make progress, and it's also the (CoE's) Parliamentary Assembly that can be of great Help", he added.

 - "At this point, I'd like to say that I really appreciate the Progress that has been made in this respect. it's very good news", Sunyé added, referring to ECHR's application flow deceleration, obtained recently (Comp. supra)

- However, concerning the better way to further advance in the Future, (f.ex. in ordre to settle the remaining and growing problem of ECHR judgements pending for execution at CoE's Committee of Ministers), "We (outgoing Andorran's rotating CoE Presidency) have been trying to advance the idea that it's better to advance Step by Step., and take a moment to assess the situation and reflect, before reaching another decision. It's not by adding Reforms to Reforms that we can make progress", he warned carefully.

 - Already, "F.ex. we have now the arriving Protocol 15, and the (forthcoming) Armenian presidency will have to deal with the arriving Protocol  16" to the PanEuropean Convention on Human Rights, etc. "The idea is to analyze at first  how the Existing Protocols can help to Solve Problems, and how we might need f.ex. to Amend them", Minister Sunyé advised.

+ "And then, we can move forward. ... That's the idea. I do encourage to follow that Strategy; i.e. to advance Step by Step, I'm sure that it's  Best. We (CoE) can't just  add Reform to Reform", he concluded.
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+ Meanwhile, CoE's Secretary General, Thornbjorn Jagland, speaking at the same Press Conference, stressed the exceptional importance of proposals currently made in order to Strengthen CoE's "Monitoring" mechanisms, for more Efficiency and a Stronger protection of Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law : CoE has arrived now at "a Crucial Stage", Jagland warned, pointing at the Debate that CoE's Foreign Ministers and Permanent Representatives will hold later Today, during their May 2013 Semestrial Session. 

In this regard, one of CoE's Member Countries which has the Oldest, and growing until recently, ECHR case law with many ECHR Judgements condemning Turkey for "continuing" serious Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Territories of the island controlled by Ankara's Invasion and Occupatoin Army, (f.ex. in cases of "Missing" Persons, Refugees obliged to flee and still hindered to return to their Ancestral Fatherland and/or Family Homes and prrivte properties, experienced former Minister, and now Secretary General of Cyprus' Foreign Ministry, Mavrogianis,  replying yesterday to a relevant "EuroFora"s question, pointed at the need for the CoE to really do something to upgrade its Monitoring mechanisms in order to, at last, apply, in real practice, ECHR's judgements, still pending unexecuted for too long.

 Later-on, the Official Conclusions of Today's (Thursday's) CoE Committee of Ministers' Session in Strasbourg; under the Presidency of Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian, welcomed the Proposals made by CoE's Secretary General Jagland on strenghening the overall "Monitoring" of the PanEuropean Organization in order to achieve a better Implementation of Human Rights, and invited him to present, for the 1st time, a general Report on the Situation of Human Rights throughout all CoE's Member States, with concrete suggestions, at the latest on May 2014.

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                           - Today, "Europe is at the Crossroads", because "the European model as we know it is under considerable  Strain", since "there are signs that some may have lost the motivation or the stamina to live up" to European "Values", and . "this is reflected" even  in  "Regression in Human Rights and Democratic conduct", Jagland's Report on CoE's "Monitoring" warns from the outset

        That's why, "In order to be able to live up to the CoE's responsibilities and face new challenges", we must "strengthen the Monitoring activities, not broaden them or create new mechanisms", by "better "identify(ing) shortcomings in individual, as well as member States’ general trends in Europe", "with an emphasis on assisting member States to undertake necessary reforms", while, at the same time, in parallel ECHR would complete its own restructuring in order to saveguard "Europe's ...unique and unprecedented Mechanism for the protection, enforcement and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law", with its "distinctive  character ", which "lies, in particular, in the legally Binding character of its standards, in its institutional set-up and in its continent-Wide Geographical scope".
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    One of those CoE Member Countries which still face some among the most Long-standing and Serious Human Rights Violations : Cyprus, where ECHR's well established case-law has already found, as early as already on 1992, 1996 and 2001 etc., Massive and Continuing Human Rights Violations particularly against "Missing" Persons and their Families, as well as against Refugees and Displaced Persons, since the 1974 Turkish Invasion/Occupation of the Norhern part of the Island by Ankara's Foreign Army, naturally feels the need to ensure a Better Respect of CoE's Standards :

    - "Given also the serious cases that we still have pending at the CoE, we are sincerely interested into safeguarding its pan-European Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights, as well as to find adequate ways to make it function better", replied to an "EuroFora" question its representative to CoE's Ministerial Session, experienced former EU affairs Minister, and current Secretary General of Cyprus' Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Mavrogianis, (who has also a keen experience of UNO's Headquarters at New York, where he met "EuroFora"s co-founder during the Historic 2005 60thAnniversary Summit, which reformed UNO mainly by creating a UN Human Rights' council at nearby Geneva, before serving also as EU Chairman-in-office recently on 2012 : Comp. Mavrogiani's statements to "EuroFora", at EU Parliament in Strasburg and/or at EU Summits in Brussels).

    A "Preliminary Overview" of currently outstanding, general Human Rights problems thrughut Europe, drafted by CoE's Secretary General and published Today, points mainly at "Corruption" and "Discriminations", but also "Ill-treatment by law enforcement officers" and "Detention conditions", added to "Expulsions and Asylum procedures" together with the "Effective functioning of the Judicial system", and even "Freedom of Expression/Media", among the most Important contemporary issues.

    However, some independent but experienced CoE observers find that, without even mentioning explicitly any "Sanction" whatever, (contrary, f.ex., to the Exclusion from the CoE that the former Regime of Colonels in 1967-1974 Greece had to face shortly before collapsing and letting Democracy and EU accession take precedence), and by refusing from the outset to "Shame and Blame", .."Not" even "Finger-Pointing" at those Member States which might seriously disrespect CoE's Human Rights Standards, as Jagland's Report reveals, things might not go as far as needed, particularly if recalcitrant Governments would not feel really obliged to move...