Warsaw conference calls on OSCE countries to uphold human rights principles
WARSAW, 25 September 2007 - The OSCE participating countries should embrace open dialogue to identify the human rights shortcomings and challenges facing the region, said the head of the OSCE's human rights watchdog at the start of Europe's largest human rights conference in Warsaw.
Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which is hosting the two-week conference, said the Warsaw meeting provided an ideal opportunity for governments and civil society to work together.
"This meeting is a reality check, where civil society representatives can present their very concrete experiences, good and bad. This allows the conference to credibly fulfill its mandate, that is, to review how OSCE commitments are being implemented by participating States, what further effort is required, and how solutions can be found and shared," he said.
One of the key-note speakers at the conference, Aaron Rhodes of the International Helsinki Federation, expressed concern that some OSCE States were "waffling on questions like torture, arbitrary detention, the right to counsel, and extradition."
"These policies deprive our societies of what can be one of the most powerful shields against terrorism - commitment to human rights," he said in an address to delegates from OSCE's 56 member countries, academics, experts and representatives from non-governmental organizations. The International Helsinki Federation is a community of 46 human rights NGOs in the OSCE region.
The rise of hate crimes in the OSCE region was discussed at the conference, with the ODIHR presenting a new report on hate crimes and violent manifestations of intolerance in 2006. Italian parliamentarian Tana de Zulueta called for more reliable data on hate crimes: "Inadequate data collection can hide discrimination and abuses against vulnerable groups."
De Zulueta also emphasized that parliamentarians played an important role in combating hate incidents, and that they could and did contribute to intolerance with their statements. "Members of parliaments and politicians in general are often a part of the problem - and what is worse, in growing numbers, according to recent reports from Europe," she said.
"What we parliamentarians can most usefully do is to try to sustain national and international awareness of the profoundly corrosive effect of racist or intolerant attitudes on our societies. To do this, we need a strong partnership with civil society and trans-national dialogue of the sort we are having here today."