“The protection of human rights in Europe has suffered serious setbacks in 2022,” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, presenting her Annual Report, on April 24, before the Parliamentary Assembly.
The report largely focuses on the atrocities committed by the Russian Federation in its military attack on Ukraine.
“The appalling crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine must not go unpunished. Justice must be done, including through effective cooperation with the International Criminal Court and long-term support for the Ukrainian justice system,” the Commissioner writes. This includes addressing violations of the human rights of Ukrainian children transferred to the Russian Federation or temporarily occupied territories, some of whom have been given Russian citizenship in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
The Commissioner also stresses that the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in Europe shows a consistent and deliberate failure by many member states to uphold their international human rights obligations in this area. “Pushbacks, refusals to rescue boats in distress, inhumane conditions and treatment are the common features of an approach to migration disproportionately focused on security that endangers human lives. Instead of continuing down this path, member states should focus on providing safe and legal routes, humanitarian assistance along migration routes and search and rescue at sea.”
2022 was also marked by a pervasive climate of intolerance, hostility and even violence against LGBTI people.
“The political instrumentalisation of issues related to their human rights, such as the legal recognition of same-sex couples or their right to family life, has only served to increase hostility and disinformation against LGBTI people and to polarise society,” writes the Commissioner, stressing that this situation is a symptom of a wider problem of regression in the commitment to ensuring equal rights for all.
The Commissioner also stressed that the space for civil society, human rights defenders and individuals in general to exercise fundamental freedoms has continued to shrink.
