A draft report and a draft resolution in the capacity of the Rapporteur of the Committee on the Assembly on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs were submitted by the Member of Parliament, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, at the meeting of the European Parliament and the Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly. (KS OASE) yesterday in Copenhagen.
According to a statement from Parliament, Mr Hatzigiannis stressed the need to reaffirm the commitment of OSCE countries to protect and promote human rights, noting a setback in a number of related areas. The main chapter of the report, he said, is the apparent downgrading of the importance attached to the protection of human rights in the context of foreign policy. Concluding this degradation and the pressures exerted within the states, especially due to the rise of populism, hate speech and racism, Mr. Hatzigiannis stressed that the reversal of this trend is of paramount importance, so that implementation is possible. the relevant commitments, which are included in the Helsinki Final Act.
Mr. Hatzigiannis called the continuation of the armed and protracted conflicts in the OSCE area another major cause of negative effects on the protection of human rights, including the significant violations of human rights as a result of military occupation.
Protecting children's rights is another key aspect of the report, Mr Hatzigiannis said, stressing the need to protect children's rights in the context of armed conflict, especially protecting them from accidents, and ensuring their access to education and adequate health care. He also referred to the phenomenon of a significant number of stateless children in the OSCE area, expressing concern about the deprivation of a number of their basic rights.
Referring to the crime of genocide, Mr. Hatzigiannis called on all participating states to ratify the relevant Convention in order to ensure the conviction of the perpetrators in order to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities in the future.
Regarding the phenomenon of increased migration and refugee flows, Mr. Hatzigiannis stressed the urgent need to ensure the access of asylum seekers to the national health systems of the countries that host them. He denounced the possible reinstatement of the death penalty in participating states, in which it had been abolished, describing it as a significant setback in the protection of human rights.
She also pointed to the persecution of journalists and human rights defenders, the violence, inequality and harassment that women continue to face, as well as individuals based on their sexual orientation, stressing that national parliaments play a key role as legislators and in the context of to exercise parliamentary control to prevent these phenomena.
In his report, the Cypriot MP also included the destruction of cultural heritage, modern slavery and child marriage, stressing that national parliaments must play an important role in tackling and preventing them.
Famagusta.News / KYPE