Council of Europe Commissioner published a book on human rights in Europe

The Council of Europe is a group of countries that want to make sure every person in Europe has rights. The Council of Europe now published a new book. The book says that still a lot needs to be done so that every person in Europe can enjoy their rights.

Human rights in Europe: No grounds for complacency is the title of the new book of Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. On 370 pages, Hammarberg points out at an implementation gap between political declarations and human rights standards on one hand and the European reality on another. The book gathers the different human rights comments which have been written and updated by the Commissioner during his tenure since April 2006 and reflects his experiences from travelling·to almost all the 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

“On each visit he has met victims of violations of human rights and their families, leading politicians, prosecutors, judges, ombudsmen, religious leaders, journalists and civil society representatives as well as inmates of prisons and other institutions, law enforcement personnel and others. The "viewpoints" written on the basis of these many visits summarise his reflections, conclusions and recommendations.”

The book is divided into 15 chapters; each of them deals with the human rights issue from a different angle: xenophobia and identity, Roma rights, immigration and asylum policies, protection against homophobia and transphobia, gender rights, the rights of the child, social and economic rights, police, courts and prisons, fighting terrorism, gross violations in the past, media freedom and freedom of expression, human rights defenders, systematic measures for human rights implementation and international action.

The 5th chapter is dedicated to the rights of people with disabilities, individually addressing the concept of inclusive society, the rights of people with mental disabilities and discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities.

The book also includes the record of signatures and ratifications of Council of Europe’s key human rights instruments.

More information is available here.