Information Documents Follow-Up to the Helsinki Decisions on Civil Society
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Information Documents SG/Inf(2020)8 2 June 2020 ________________________________________________________________________________ Follow-up to the Helsinki decisions on civil society ________________________________________________________________________________ SG/Inf(2020)8 2 I. The scope 1. The present document contains the Secretary General’s proposals on the implementation of the decisions adopted at the 129th Session of the Committee of Ministers (Helsinki, 17 May 2019) “A shared responsibility for democratic security in Europe – The need to strengthen the protection and promotion of civil society space in Europe”, following the decisions taken at the 1347th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies who: a. “invited their Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM) to examine options for strengthening the role and meaningful participation of civil society organisations and national human rights institutions in the Organisation, in line with the decision taken by the Ministers and report back; b. invited the Secretary General to make proposals for further strengthening the Organisation’s mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders, including the Secretary General’s Private Office procedure on human rights defenders.” In Helsinki, the Committee of Ministers also agreed to: c. “invite the Secretary General to explore the possibilities of inviting the relevant human rights NGOs to a regular exchange with a view to further enhancing co-operation between civil society and the Council of Europe and enriching the discussions of the Committee of Ministers and other Council of Europe bodies.” 2. These proposals are built on existing standards1 and practice, including the more recent comprehensive Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)11 of 28 November 2018 on the need to strengthen the protection and promotion of civil society space in Europe, other relevant reflections in particular within the framework of the Warsaw conference on “The Role and Position of NGOs in the Council of Europe” (22 March 2019; DD(2019)427)2, as well as internal meetings convened by the Private Office, including consultations with national delegations and civil society representatives. 3. With the exception of specific activities restricted to member states, nearly all of the Council of Europe’s standard setting, monitoring and co-operation activities involve some level of engagement with civil society. The proposals focus on areas where it was identified that further action was necessary, hence complementing the existing framework of work with civil society which will be pursued. The existing framework is appended to this document. The appendix was prepared on the basis of contributions by the relevant bodies and departments at the request of the Secretary General, also taking into account an overview carried out in 2014.3 1 See in particular, European Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of International Non- Governmental Organisations (ETS No. 124); Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the legal status of non-governmental organisations in Europe; the Committee of Ministers 2017 Guidelines for civil participation in political decision making. 2 Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland in co-operation with the Council of Europe and with the participation of the Finnish Presidency of the Committee of Ministers. 3 SG/Inf(2014)23, “Thematic debate on “The Role and Functioning of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Council of Europe”. 3 SG/Inf(2020)8 4. The unprecedented crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the emergency measures taken by member states have also impacted the space for action of civil society and NGOs by sometimes restricting their rights and limiting their interaction with citizens. In such a context, the decisions taken at the Helsinki Ministerial Session take on a new and reinvigorated meaning; their implementation could be seen as one of the elements of the Council of Europe’s response to such a crisis (SG/Inf(2020)11 “A toolkit for member states, Respecting democracy, rule of law and human rights in the framework of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis”). 5. Some of these proposals may require further streamlining in light of ongoing work. It is recalled that following the adoption of Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)6 on the development of the Ombudsman institution accompanied by a selection of good national practices, the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) has been tasked to proceed by 31 December 2020 with the revision of Recommendation No R(97)14 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the establishment of independent national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. II. Implementation of decision 1: “examine further options for strengthening the role and meaningful participation of civil society organisations, and national human rights institutions in the Organisation, with the view to increasing its openness and transparency towards civil society, including access to information, activities and events” 6. The essential role played by civil society vis-à-vis the Council of Europe’s mission and the tangible and diverse ways of this contribution is detailed in the appendix.4 7. It was however considered, as also highlighted in the Warsaw conference, that access to the Council of Europe can be further enhanced so as to ensure better and more timely information on the Organisation’s activities enabling civil society to effectively contribute to the Council of Europe’s priorities. The following proposals constitute a first response to this call. They would be tested through implementation; additional measures could be considered in the future in light of available resources. • develop a handbook/e-handbook to inform civil society/NGOs about the different forms of access/co-operation/input/participation/partnership which they can pursue within the Council of Europe; • create a civil society portal available from the main Council of Europe website which would help NGOs navigate the Organisation’s website to find the right institutional or Secretariat address/contact point for the type of co-operation they seek or can provide – increasing transparency towards civil society about the structural forms of co-operation they may be able to develop; • implement an online calendar of events in order to help civil society to identify ongoing or upcoming events, actions, initiatives presenting opportunities to participate which may be accessible to them. 4 See also Evaluation of the contribution of NGOs to standard setting and monitoring, Directorate of Internal Oversight, 2016. SG/Inf(2020)8 4 III. Implementation of decision 2: “further strengthen the Organisation’s mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders, including the Secretary General’s Private Office procedure on human rights defenders” 8. In addition to the judicial protection offered by the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention” or “the ECHR”), and the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”), the Organisation’s mechanisms related to human rights defenders have been significantly developed in recent years with a view to enhancing their protection in the light of the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on Council of Europe action to improve the protection of human rights defenders and promote their activities of 6 February 2008. 9. The Parliamentary Assembly’s work has been streamlined, notably with the ratification of the terms of reference of the General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on 8 October 2018.5 The Commissioner for Human Rights’ specific duty to work on issues related to human rights defenders is highlighted in the above-mentioned Declaration. Throughout the years, the Commissioner and her predecessors have used various tools in the framework of their mandate with the aim of improving the situation of human rights defenders, assisting them when they are at risk and promoting their work.6 This constitutes a priority action for the Commissioner. A comprehensive overview of both procedures is presented in the appendix. 10. The Private Office procedure of 2017 is specific and distinct from the procedures of the European Court of Human Rights and the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Commissioner for Human Rights. In addition to the regular meetings that the Secretary General has with NGOs in Strasbourg and in member states, this procedure aims at assisting human rights defenders7 who allege that they have been subject to reprisals for their interaction with the Council of Europe. Since 2017, the Private Office sought the experience of other international organisations with similar procedures. Discussions have also been held with national delegations and civil society as well as with all Council of Europe stakeholders concerned. 11. Consequently, and in response to the Helsinki decision, the operating criteria have been reviewed. Following their presentation at the 1351bis meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (10 July 2019; see SG/Inf(2019)22), all major administrative entities were informed of this through a detailed memorandum and information was published on the website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/secretary-general/procedure-human-rights-defenders. 5 See information note by Mr Raphael Comte (Switzerland, ALDE), the PACE General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. At present, Ms Alexandra Louis (France, ALDE) is the (second) General Rapporteur. 6 See the Reply