Council of Europe: continent facing worst human rights crisis since Cold War News
Council of Europe: continent facing worst human rights crisis since Cold War

[JURIST] The Council of Europe’s (COE) Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland [official websites] issued a report [text, PDF] Wednesday addressing the dire human rights issues Europe is facing. Jagland stated in the report that more action needs to be taken due to the Ukrainian crisis creating a negative impact on European society. In the preface to the report, Jagland emphasized the need for European nations to address critical problems such as political corruption, racism and human trafficking:

Human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe now face a crisis unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. Serious violations–including corruption, immunity from prosecution, impunity, human trafficking, racism, hate speech and discrimination–are on the rise throughout the continent. People’s rights are also threatened by the impact of the economic crisis and growing inequalities.

As a result of the current problems developing in Europe, the report called for a COE Summit in 2015 to address issues of democratic security.

Recent problems in European society have illustrated the need to address human rights issues. The ongoing conflict [BBC timeline] in Ukraine has reinvigorated fears of Cold War Era politics and increased tensions between Russia and the West. Earlier this week the UN Security Council [official website] convened [JURIST report] to address violence occurring in the Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russia militias. Last month Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks [officail profile] urged [JURIST report] Greece not to include a clause in a draft immigration law that would allow the government to deport migrants following the rejection of their claims of abuse by law enforcement officials. In January the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that Ireland is liable for the sexual abuse of a schoolgirl by a teacher in an Irish National School in 1973. In November the COE released a report [JURIST report] describing numerous rights violations committed by Turkish police forces during protests in May and June of 2013.

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