Information Documents

SG/Com(2007)1010(restricted)         5 November 2007

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Communication by the Secretary General

and the Deputy Secretary General

to the 1010th meeting of the

Ministers’ Deputies (7 November 2007)

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Communication by the Secretary General

1.        Official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina

(28-30 October)

On 28-30 October, I made an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the invitation of Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj. 

I began my visit with a long meeting with Minister Alkalaj.  Our discussion focused on the commitments undertaken by Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of accession to the Council of Europe, and I asked the Minister to encourage everyone to fulfil the outstanding commitments as soon as possible.

I also met two members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Mr Haris Silajdžić and Mr Željko Komšić (current Chair). The third member, Mr Nebojša Radmanović, was in Republika Srpska so that he was represented by the Head of his Private Office.

In addition, I met Mr Nikola Špirić (Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the country), Minister of Security Tarik Sadović, Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Safet Halilović and Minister of Civil Affairs Sredoje Nović.

I exchanged views with Mr Milorad Dodik and Mr Nedžad Branković, the Prime Ministers of Republika Srpska and of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

I met the Speakers of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Milorad Źivković and Mr Ilija Filipović, and the members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and I addressed a meeting of the two Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The text of my speech, which was broadcast live on radio, is available on the Council of Europe internet site.

I met the High Representative (Mr Miroslav Lajčák) and the Head of the OSCE Mission (Mr Douglas Davidson).

I visited the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo (our biggest field office) and met representatives of NGOs as well as our staff.

Finally, I was invited to an informal breakfast meeting with representatives of civil society and the Ambassadors of several member states of the Council of Europe. This breakfast was arranged for me by Ambassador Niels Jørgen Nehring of Denmark, who previously served as member of your Committee. I was very grateful for his initiative.

I gave interviews to Hayat TV, the Dnevny Avaz newspaper and ONASA news agency. Unfortunately, a live interview with BHT1 TV (state public service broadcaster) had to be cancelled as a result of technical difficulties.

I should like to thank the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the excellent arrangements for the visit and especially thank Ambassador Borislav Maric who accompanied me throughout my stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2.        Meeting with Mr Yurii Bohutskyi, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine

Strasbourg (31 October)

On 31 October, Minister Bohutskyi visited me in Strasbourg. The Minister signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (CETS No. 199). During the meeting which followed, our discussions focused on the National Cultural Policy Review of Ukraine. The Minister informed me that Ukraine has firm intentions to follow up this National Cultural Policy Review. We discussed capacity-building and training needs arising from the recommendations of the Review. The Minister told me that many young people with academic qualifications in the field of culture have taken on management positions at local and regional level. However, they lack practical experience and need training in order to perform in accordance with Council of Europe standards.  I assured the Minister that the Council of Europe will do its best to provide the necessary assistance.

We also discussed the Kyiv Initiative.  The Minister informed me about recent developments, notably the appointment by Ukraine of Mr Kokhan (Deputy Minister) as national co-ordinator for the Kyiv Initiative, Ukraine’s participation in five of the projects of the Kyiv initiative and the convening of an inter-ministerial meeting in Kyiv with representatives from the ministries of all seven countries concerned, donors and NGOs to ensure better co-ordination of the activities of the Kyiv Initiative. 

3.        Official ceremony to honour the memory of "Morts pour la France"      

            Strasbourg (1 November)

I attended the ceremony on Thursday 1 November.

4.        European School in Strasbourg

I am delighted to be able to inform you that the Board of Governors of the European Schools took a unanimous decision on 24 October to approve the French proposal for a European School in Strasbourg. It will begin in September 2008.

5.        Future visits

Ceremony to mark the end of the Serbian Chairmanship, Belgrade (8 November)

Inauguration of the National Institute of Justice, Chisinau (9 November)

Communication by the Deputy Secretary General

1.        Meeting with two representatives of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

Strasbourg (23 October)

On 23 October I met two representatives from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), a UK-based NGO very active in the area of the protection of children’s rights. I discussed with them, in particular, the promotion of the ratification of our new Convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, and our action in favour of positive parenting and against corporal punishment (which they are very much supporting, both technically and financially). I was also interested in their work to protect children from abuse in sport, an area in which the Council of Europe could usefully develop its activities.

2.        28th Conference of the European Ministers of Justice and official contacts

Lanzarote (25‑26 October)

On 25 and 26 October 2007, I participated in the 28th Conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Justice on the theme “Emerging issues of access to justice for vulnerable groups, in particular: migrants and asylum seekers, children, including children as perpetrators of crimes”.

The Conference was attended by some 25 Ministers of Justice, 15 Deputy Ministers or State Secretaries, many Ambassadors and senior officials. Altogether, the Conference was attended by some 200 participants.

I opened the Conference together with the Spanish Minister of Justice, Mr Mariano Fernandez Bermejo, to whom I would like to express my profound gratitude for the excellent co-operation with the Council of Europe in the organisation of this Conference and for the warm hospitality we received. The Serbian Minister of Justice representing the Serbian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, Mr Dusan Petrovic, the Chairperson of the Committee on migration, refugees and population, Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, addressed the participants, as did the Minister of Justice of Portugal, Mr Alberto Costa, in his capacity as President of the Council “Justice, security and liberty” of the European Union. The Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Franco Frattini, sent a video message which was shown during the opening session. The Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, also had the opportunity to address the Conference participants.

The Ministers adopted two Resolutions, which will be distributed to all of you, both which aim at ensuring effective access to justice for the most vulnerable in our societies, notably migrants, asylum-seekers and children. One of the key results of the Conference is the wish to draw up Council of Europe guidelines for a child-friendly justice: there cannot be a mini-justice for children.

The reality and the importance of what we were discussing in Lanzarote invited itself to the Conference through the tragic loss of human lives outside the shores of the island where a boat full of irregular migrants sank with the alleged loss of life of some 50 persons. The Ministers and myself immediately issued a statement on behalf of all participants expressing our profound regret for this tragic loss of human lives, but also our collective determination to fight irregular migration while at the same time respect the fundamental Human Rights of those who come to Europe or move within Europe.

In my closing remarks, I also highlighted on the basis of the various interventions during the Conference (in addition to the issue of child-friendly justice) the following areas in which further Council of Europe action would be welcomed:

On the day of the opening of the Conference on 25 October, the Council of Europe Convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse was signed by 23 member states: this is amongst the highest number of signatures for the day of opening for signature of a Council of Europe treaty. I encourage all member states to sign and ratify this Convention as soon as possible.

I also had several bilateral meetings and discussions, not only of course with the Spanish Minister of Justice, but also with the Dutch Minister of Justice and the Dutch State Secretary for Justice, the Portuguese, Finnish, Serbian and Norwegian Ministers of Justice. Topics of discussion included the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding in the legal field and the importance of early consultation on legal texts between the Council of Europe and the EU, the ratification of the Warsaw treaties and of the “Lanzarote Convention”. With the Serbian Minister of Justice I also discussed the action of his government to combat corruption and we agreed on the possibility to consider drawing up a cooperation programme to prevent and combat corruption, building also upon the GRECO recommendations.

The Norwegian Minister proposed to host the 29th Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe and Austria the Conference thereafter. Both proposals were welcomed by the participants.

The media coverage in all our member states of the event was impressive, with more than 50 accredited journalists and a wide media coverage all over Europe.

I gave numerous interviews (notably Spanish, Italian and Turkish media) and participated in two press conferences. We organised also a “press point” on the new Council of Europe on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

I should like to express my gratitude to the Spanish Minister of Justice, his staff and the Permanent Representation in Strasbourg for what I can only describe as an excellent Conference which demonstrated, once more, the centrality of Human Rights and the Rule of Law in the Council of Europe overall architecture.  It also provided a strong support by the Minister of Justice for our programme “Building a Europe for and with children" and its continuation beyond 2008.

3.        33rd Pio ManzùInternational Conference: “The Flight of the Humming Bird” and official contacts

Rimini (27-28 October)

On 28 October, I went to Rimini to give a keynote speech at the International Conference on “The flight of the humming bird: the future of children in the mind and society of the world”, organised by the Pio Manzù International Research Centre. It was the 33rd edition of this Conference which, this year, was devoted to the issue of the promotion of children’s rights. In my keynote speech, which is available on the Internet site, I highlighted the achievements of the Council of Europe in the field of the protection and promotion of children’s rights (through our Programme “Building a Europe for and with children”), and the challenges which lie ahead of us to make Europe (and the world) a better place for children. On this occasion, I was honoured to receive, together with other personalities (such as the Deputy President of the Spanish Government, Ms Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega; the President of Bolivia, Mr Evo Morales; the First Lady of Congo, Ms Antoinette Sassou-Nguesso; and the Independent Expert who led the UN Secretary General’s Study on violence against children, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro) the gold medal of the President of the Italian Republic. I consider this award not only as a personal recognition of my work in favour of children’s rights, but also as a recognition of the Council of Europe’s work and achievements which has become more and more a reference for the world at large. I should like to thank the Italian authorities and the Pio Manzù centre for granting me this honour.

In the margins of the event, I had a bilateral meeting with Professor Pinheiro who informed me that the draft Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the rights of the child, which is intended to provide a follow up to the Secretary General’s Study on violence against children has recently been tabled and is expected to be adopted by this year’s General Assembly. In this respect, I call upon all our member states to support the adoption of this Resolution by the end of the year. For our part, the Council of Europe should continue to play a key role in the implementation of the Study’s recommendations in the European region.

The Conference was broadcast live on the Italian Television RAI DUE. I also gave two interviews to San Marino and Italian media respectively.

4.        Cérémonie de remise de la Croix de Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur à Monsieur Armand Perego, Président de la délégation départementale de la Croix-Rouge française du Bas-Rhin

            Strasbourg (29 octobre 2007)

Le 29 octobre j’ai participé à la cérémonie de remise de la Croix de Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur à Monsieur Armand Perego, Président de la délégation départementale de la Croix-Rouge française du Bas-Rhin, par le Président de la Croix-Rouge française, Monsieur Jean-François Mattei. A cette occasion j’ai continué mes discussions avec Messieurs Mattei et Perego sur l’organisation de projets communs entre la Croix-Rouge française et le Conseil de l’Europe, tant au plan local que national, notamment dans le domaine de l’enfance.

5.        Future visits

Hearing with the Commission on Children at the Italian Parliament and official contacts, Rome (6 November)

Internet Governance Forum, Rio de Janeiro (12 November)

World Conference on Doping in Sport, Madrid (15 November)

WADA Foundation Board, Madrid (17 November)