COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

________

DECLARATION

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50^TH ANNIVERSARY

OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 10 December 1998,
at the 651bis meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE,

1. Considering that today marks the 50^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the member States of the Council of Europe are deeply committed and whose continued importance they reaffirm;

2. Recalling that the Universal Declaration is the basis of the human rights protection systems of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and other organisations in different regions of the world;

3. Recognising that the universal protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms is the foundation of justice and peace in the world, and an essential factor for the development and strengthening of pluralist democracy;

4. Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural;

5. Welcoming the progress made in the last 50 years in the universal acceptance and implementation of international human rights standards;

6. Paying tribute to the work of the United Nations in this field at the global level and stressing the need for an in-depth assessment of progress in the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993);

7. Recognising the indispensable contribution of non-governmental organisations as well as individuals to the defence of human rights throughout the world;

8. Welcoming the adoption, on 17 July 1998 in Rome, of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, as an important step towards the establishment of the rule of law at the international level and a significant contribution to the international protection of human rights;

9. Deploring strongly the fact that serious and large-scale violations of human rights continue to occur throughout the world;

10. Believing that further efforts and enhanced co-operation are needed to ensure that human rights are effectively protected at the national, regional and international levels;

11. Reaffirming in this context their attachment to the fundamental principles of the Council of Europe – pluralist democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and stressing its essential role in the protection, promotion and further development of human rights;

12. Recalling the historic changes which have made Europe so much more united around common values than it was fifty years ago;

13. Recalling that, by adopting the European Convention on Human Rights, the member States of the Council of Europe took the first steps to ensure the collective enforcement of rights stated in the Universal Declaration;

14. Reaffirming:

- the need to reinforce the protection of fundamental social and economic rights,

- the need to combat racism, intolerance, xenophobia and anti-Semitism,

- the importance of the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities,

all of which form an integral part of human rights protection;

15. Welcoming therefore the entry into force of the collective complaints Protocol to the European Social Charter, the enhanced programme of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the implementation of the monitoring mechanism of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities;

16. Stressing the need to secure the full enjoyment of human rights by women;

17. Stressing the importance of effective protection of the rights of the child;

18. Reaffirming that the protection of media freedoms is an integral part of the international protection of human rights;

19. Recognising the need to promote a genuine human rights culture in all sectors of society through education and awareness-raising in human rights;

20. Recalling the European regional colloquy "In Our Hands – The Effectiveness of Human Rights Protection 50 Years after the Universal Declaration", organised by the Council of Europe on 2-4 September 1998 as a contribution to the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the Declaration;

21. Bearing in mind the decisions of the First and Second Summits of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Vienna, October 1993 and Strasbourg, October 1997),

I. CONDEMN VIGOUROUSLY the continuing serious and large-scale violations of human rights throughout the world, and CALL FOR immediate steps to put an end to them and to bring those responsible to justice;

II. CALL ON STATES:

- to become Party to the universal human rights instruments, wherever possible without reservations, to review existing reservations with a view to withdrawing them and to ensure the full and effective implementation of those instruments at the national level;

- to refrain from any steps in contradiction with the General Comment of the United Nations Human Rights Committee of 29 October 1997 confirming that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is not subject to denunciation or withdrawal;

- to sign and ratify the Rome Statute and facilitate the rapid establishment of the International Criminal Court;

III. FURTHER CALL ON ALL STATES:

- to establish or reinforce independent national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights;

- to draw up and implement programmes and policies for education and awareness-raising in human rights for all sectors of society;

IV. URGE ALL STATES to abolish the death penalty as soon as possible, to maintain a moratorium on executions pending complete abolition or to refrain from re-introducing the death penalty;

V. REAFFIRM that the promotion and protection of human rights shall remain of the highest priority for the Council of Europe;

VI. INVITE ALL MEMBER STATES to sign and ratify the human rights instruments of the Council of Europe, wherever possible without reservations, to review existing reservations with a view to their withdrawal and to ensure the full and effective implementation of those instruments at the national level;

VII. HIGHLIGHT the significance of the establishment of the new European Court of Human Rights on 1 November 1998, for the consolidation of the judicial protection of human rights set up by the European Convention on Human Rights;

VIII. CONFIRM their continued support for the other human rights treaties of the Council of Europe, as well as their supervisory mechanisms notably the European Social Charter, the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities;

IX. UNDERTAKE to set up the institution of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights as soon as possible in 1999;

X. AGREE to finalise as soon as possible the text of a legally binding instrument providing for the prohibition of discrimination in all its forms;

XI. UNDERTAKE, in the light of the decisions of the First and Second Summits, to take all necessary further steps so that:

- priority continues to be given to the intergovernmental and other human rights activities of the Council of Europe;

- the Council of Europe's human rights treaties and mechanisms are capable of effectively defending the rights of individuals throughout Europe;

- the Council of Europe continues to play a pre-eminent role in the promotion and protection of human rights within Europe;

XII. CALL on the members of the international community - both governmental and non-governmental - to co-operate in achieving the aims of the Universal Declaration.