| COMMITTEES, MONITORING, WORKING GROUPS | | CDADI The CDADI adopted its first documents in written procedure. Its Working Group on Intercultural Integration GT-ADI-INT, the Working Group on Political Participation of Minority Youth and the Working Group on Covid-19 Responses continued their work on drafting respective reports, studies or guidelines to be presented to the CDADI for discussion and adoption during its 2nd plenary meeting on 2-4 February 2021.
ECRML On 8 December 2020 the Committee of Ministers adopted recommendations on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by Armenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Sweden. Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers took note of the evaluation by the Committee of Experts of the implementation of the recommendations for immediate action by Denmark, Finland and Hungary.
FCNM On 8 December 2020 the Committee of Ministers adopted the resolutions on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by the Russian Federation and by Ukraine. Furthermore, on 13 January 2021 the resolutions on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Albania, Bulgaria and Cyprus were adopted.
ECRI On 11 December 2020, ECRI Bureau member Tena Šimonović Einwalter participated in the Online event on the negative impact of COVID on migrants and minorities organised by the Migration, Diversity and Justice Centre of the Institute for European Studies. On 20 January 2021, ECRI 1st Vice-Chair Domenica Ghidei Biidu attended the "Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers" regional consultation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On 14 and 18 December 2020, the Committee of Experts on the rights and the best interests of the child in parental separation and in care proceedings (CJ/ENF-ISE) held its second meeting. The meeting was organised jointly with the CDCJ secretariat and focused on: i) examining the contributions received from member states and observers on the questionnaires disseminated; ii) discussing the main aspects that should be covered by the feasibility studies; and iii) making preliminary proposals on the possible practical instruments and/or tools to be developed for professionals dealing with parental separation situations and/or care proceedings.
On 12 January 2021, the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) Secretariat met with members of the United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to discuss a possible contribution by the CDENF to the 2021 UNCRC Day of General Discussion on “children’s rights and alternative care”. On 12 and 13 January respectively, the process of child consultations related to the preparation of the new Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) was initiated through two calls: (i) a call for consultancy to support this process to be led by June 2021, and (ii) a call for firm commitment by national delegations to support the same process from their sides and in close co-operation with the Council of Europe, and any relevant national partners in this area.
52nd meeting of the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) This meeting took place online, via KUDO on 17-18 December with 105 participants representing 45 of 52 States Parties, one observer state (USA), and 8 observer organisations, including the European Commission, UNESCO, IOC, WADA and UEFA. Among the most important decisions was the endorsement of the General principles of fair procedure applicable to anti-doping proceedings in sport developed by the T-DO Ad hoc group on Human Rights and Athletes, as well as establishment of the T-DO Ad Hoc group on Whistleblower protection, where the representatives of Azerbaijan, Australia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Turkey and the UK are appointed as members. The delegations reviewed the progress of implementation of T-DO recommendations in Albania, Cyprus, Croatia, Montenegro, the UK, Italy, as well as planned evaluation the Netherlands, closed the evaluation cycle in Poland, adopted of the revised 2017 analytical report and 2019 factual report on the national anti-doping policies in the states parties.
Athlete’s involvement A special hearing took place with athletes’ representatives about the involvement of athletes in implementation of the Anti-Doping Convention. The discussion focused on the effectiveness of the current system of protection of the rights of athletes in Europe and the need for further normative developments in this area. It was apparent that beyond the significant work of the T-DO in the area of protection of athletes' rights (particularly in the context of its activities on access to justice or protection of whistle-blowers), consideration should be given to establishing a more permanent dialogue with athletes in the framework of relevant standard-setting activities of the Council of Europe.
Cooperation with the USA Considering the importance of the recently-enacted Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA), recently-enacted by the US Congress, an exchange of views between the representatives of the State Parties to the Anti-Doping Convention and the United States authorities (represented by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Congress) took place to discuss its possible impact on anti-doping policy and practice in Europe. This exchange contributed to fostering a dialogue on issues related to the fight against doping in sport, including on the concerns of European countries with RADA.
New Doping list in force from 1 January 2021 The Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) adopted by written procedure the 2021 list of pharmacological classes of doping agents and doping methods banned by the relevant international sports organisations. Since 2003 this international organisation is the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and respectively, the Prohibited List adopted by WADA. The T-DO adopted list is available on the website of the Treaty office of the Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/135. | |
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