RESOLUTION A3-0025/92

Resolution on respect for human rights in the European Community (annual report of the European Parliament)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

-having regard to the United Nations Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the protocols thereto,

-having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its protocols,

-having regard to its resolution of 12 April 1989 adopting the Declaration of fundamental rights and freedoms,

-having regard to the principles deriving from international and European human rights standards,

-having regard to its resolution of 12 March 1992 on the death penalty,

-having regard to its resolution of 13 October 1989 on conscientious objection,

-having regard to the Treaties establishing the European Community,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the general principles of law common to all the Member States,

-having regard to the Joint Declaration of 5 April 1977 by Parliament, the Council and the Commission on fundamental rights,

-having regard to the Joint Declaration of 11 June 1986 by Parliament, the Council, the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council and the Commission on racism and xenophobia,

-having regard to the European Charter of Fundamental Social Rights,

-having regard to its resolution of 29 October 1982 on the memorandum from the Commission on the accession of the European Communities to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

-having regard to the Commission communication of 19 November 1990 on Community accession to the European Convention on Human Rights,

-having regard to its resolution of 9 July 1991 on human rights,

-having regard to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities,

-having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media (A3-0025/93),

A.whereas respect for human rights is the foundation of democracy and constitutes a basic principle of Community integration,

B.having regard to Community action to promote human rights in the world,

C.having regard to the principle of interference on humanitarian grounds, as recognized by the international community in UN Security Council Resolution No. 688,

D.deeply concerned by the rise in racism and xenophobia and in particular the acts of racist violence committed against foreign communities in a number of Member States,

E.whereas in certain Member States and in European scientific bodies there is discrimination on grounds of trade union and party membership and whereas the rights of trade union delegates are restricted,

F.whereas jurisdiction over respect for human rights in the Member States lies with national courts and the relevant organs of the Council of Europe,

G.whereas up to now, Community law, the common legal principles of the Member States and the rules of international law have provided protection of fundamental rights against the actions of Community institutions and bodies,

H.whereas, however, there are no specific checks on whether human rights are respected in Community law,

I.whereas there is no body of law setting out the fundamental rights of European citizens and guaranteeing protection of those rights within the Community legal order,

J.whereas certain groups of people, including women, children, the disabled, the elderly, detainees, internees, those placed in institutions, itinerant persons and foreigners, are especially vulnerable and insufficiently well organized to assert their rights and to defend their fundamental freedoms; whereas legal assistance, legal protection and the judicial process and information about them are not sufficiently accessible to such groups, inter alia because of the high costs, the complexity and the inappropriateness of the system,

General principles

1.Takes the view that the abolition of internal frontiers under the Single European Act, and the provisions for intergovernmental cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs in the Treaty on European Union, reinforce the need for clear and readily available judicial processes against breaches of human rights in each Member State, under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, in advance of the establishment of a Community system for the protection of human rights;

2.Considers that the extension of the Community's powers and the processes of economic integration and their consequences require on-going parallel checks to be made on the degree of protection for basic human rights, which can be fully ensured only if the Community institutions draw up and implement a real 'action programme on basic human rights' in consultation with the appropriate bodies of the Council of Europe;

3.Believes that such an action programme should include a set of legislative, political and monitoring measures relating to the impact of the integration process on human rights (social, economic, environmental and consumer rights, rights vis-à-vis the authorities), the questions raised by new technologies (bioethics, freedom of information and the protection of personal data) and areas which call for special measures (children and citizens from outside the Community);

4.Recalls the absolute principle of the universality of human rights; considers, nevertheless, that because of their colour, ethnic or national affiliations, sex or sexual preferences, age, physical handicaps, religion, philosophical or moral beliefs, certain individuals may be more likely to suffer a violation of their human rights than others; calls, therefore, for particular attention to be paid to such persons;

5.Takes the view that, in particular as a result of the implementation (in the Schengen Accords and through the work of specific intergovernmental groups) of an extensive and complex system of 'compensatory measures' to deal with the abolition of internal frontiers, the establishment of a system for protecting and safeguarding human rights is urgently needed;

6.Considers also that, given the increasing complexity of the Community legal order, the adoption of a basic instrument aimed at guaranteeing fundamental rights in areas covered by Community law will ensure greater transparency for European citizens;

A Community system for the protection of human rights

7.Calls on the Commission to draw up an 'action programme' with a view to a consistent and coordinated human rights policy and, to this end, to produce a white paper;

8.Calls on the Commission and the Council to issue a Joint Declaration supporting the European Parliament's Declaration of fundamental rights and freedoms, for inclusion on the agenda for future intergovernmental conferences with a view to its incorporation in the Treaties;

9.Expresses the wish that the Community will rapidly enter into negotiations with a view to its accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and accordingly calls on the Commission to submit the relevant proposal for a decision to Parliament;

10.Calls on the Commission to develop a coherent and coordinated Community human rights policy, by drawing up a White Paper on such a Community policy;

11.Stresses that the Community must ensure that human rights are respected in the Member States in order to lend maximum credibility to its commitment to human rights in the rest of the world;

12.Calls on the Community and the Member States to create a structure in which attention is paid to the protection and promotion of human rights within the Community and to combating racism and xenophobia, with a view to joint action being taken against the Member States concerned;

13.Acknowledges that including references to human rights conventions in cooperation agreements with third countries forms a legal basis for the partner countries to use to encourage the Community to act against violations of human rights on its own territory;

14.Proposes, to that end, that a clause be included in the agreements concluded by the Community stipulating that relations between the Community and the country or countries concerned as well as all the provisions of the agreement in question are to be based on respect for the democratic principles and human rights which inspire the domestic and international policies both of the Community and of the country or countries concerned and 'which constitute and essential element of the agreement';

15.Proposes further that, in the preamble to the agreement in question a general reference should be made to respect for human rights and democratic values as well as references to the universal and/or regional instruments common to both parties;

16.Proposes, finally, that all agreements concluded by the Community should include an express suspensory clause and a general non-implementation clause in the event of serious breaches of human rights;

17.Considers that it is the responsibility of the European Parliament to promote fundamental rights and freedoms and to help to improve their protection in respect of citizens of the Union, and all nationals of third countries;

18.Decides to include on its agenda for its plenary sessions topical and urgent issues relating to the respect for human rights within the Community, on a par with human rights issues outside the Community;

19.Instructs its Committee on the Rules of Procedure to amend the procedure for considering urgent motions for resolutions to bring it into line with its powers with regard to human rights within the EC;

20.Undertakes, as a representative body, to speak out on cases of human rights violations within the Community;

21.Instructs its relevant committees to take up important issues related to human rights policy and practice in the Member States with the governments concerned, which may include sending delegations to carry out on-the-spot investigations;

22.Recommends that legal entities (associations) should also have the right to bring proceedings before the Court of Human Rights;

Poverty and economic, social and cultural rights

23.Deplores the fact that the problem of poverty in Europe is widespread and worsening, and the fact that ever larger sections of society are falling below the poverty line which is a de facto barrier to the enjoyment of fundamental rights; calls on the Commission to study the causes and extent of poverty in the Community and to propose to the European Parliament and the Council measures to improve the situation of those concerned;

24.Considers that economic, social and cultural rights recognized at international level as fundamental rights, i.e. the effective enjoyment of those rights must be recognized and guaranteed for each individual, even though they are in many cases only defined as part of a programme, should enjoy the same level of protection as civil and political rights, given the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

25.Believes therefore that the Community and the Member States should unreservedly ratify and apply the Council of Europe's social charter, that they should respect the international conventions and recommendations of the ILO, and that the government of the United Kingdom should without delay sign the agreement on social policy appended to the Maastricht Treaty;

26.Advocates the introduction of a system of minimum guarantees in respect of housing, income, social aid, health care and legal aid essential to leading a life in keeping with human dignity; such a system should be accessible in particular to the disadvantaged sections of the population and to non-EC citizens legally resident on EC territories; considers that emergency medical care and legal aid should also be accessible to non-EC citizens on the territory of the EC;

27.Considers that the codification of economic, social and cultural rights is not in itself sufficient and that, as the spread of poverty is structural in nature, it must be coupled with sustained action, readily accessible to the most disadvantaged members of society, to tackle the root of the problem;

28.Believes that full participation by disadvantaged persons in the drawing up, monitoring and evaluation of measures in their favour would be an additional guarantee of efficiency and relevance;

29.Supports, therefore, measures to promote self-sufficiency activities of the NGOs as part of an integrated policy to combat poverty, involving the Community and the Member States;

30.Believes it is essential to inform the people of Europe and especially young people of the nature and extent of poverty, in particular by drawing up educational programmes for schools on human rights;

31.Expresses its support for the efforts of all those in the Community and throughout the world who refuse to accept the violation of human rights which poverty constitutes, and calls for the General Assembly of the United Nations to proclaim 17 October as World Day of Opposition to Poverty;

Racism, xenophobia and discrimination

32.Expresses its condemnation of the growing intolerance in Europe towards foreigners, non-EC citizens and persons belonging to minority social groups and roundly condemns acts of openly racist and fascist violence perpetrated in the name of this ideology and, in general, any action liable to be a vehicle for such ideology or to encourage racist behaviour, in particular amongst young people; also expresses its solidarity with all victims of racism and xenophobia;

33.Also expresses its deep concern at the discrimination against, or marginalization of, persons constituting some other form of 'otherness': the physically or mentally handicapped and people belonging to a (non-) religious, ethnic, linguistic or sexual minority;

34.Proposes that a European media campaign be launched by the EC institutions with a view to supporting the struggle against these forms of intolerance and aimed at encouraging initiatives and measures taken at national, regional and local levels;

35.Makes an urgent appeal to the governments of the Member States and the Community authorities to guarantee the protection of foreign communities against racist and fascist violence and to work towards improving their living, housing and working conditions;

36.Calls on the governments of the Member States and the Community authorities to step up the struggle against racism and xenophobia, in particular by adopting and, where appropriate, strengthening legislation against racism and xenophobia, monitoring the application of such legislation and granting legal entities and associations the right to institute proceedings against acts of a racist nature and to act as civil party in such proceedings;

37.Calls on the Council and the Commission to organize forthwith a consistent and integrated campaign against racism and xenophobia as part of the social policy and policy of cooperation in the fields of judicial and home affairs and immigration;

38.Stresses the urgent need for such action, which should be accompanied by a European campaign of awareness of the right to be different and respect for fundamental freedoms, to be targeted at young people and adolescents;

39.Instructs its competent committee to draw up new reports on the question of racism and xenophobia, with particular reference to the causes of the revival in right-wing extremism and xenophobia, and to draw up structural proposals aimed at tackling the underlying causes;

Death penalty

40.Notes that the death penalty is no longer applied in the Community;

41.Reaffirms that the right to life and the right not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment are absolute and inviolable rights, which may not be left to the discretion of states;

42.Calls on the Member States in which the death penalty is still in force to abolish it;

43.Calls on the Member States which have not yet done so to accede to and/or ratify Protocol 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Protocol 2 to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

44.Welcomes the recent ratification by Luxembourg of Protocol 2 to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which seeks to abolish the death penalty;

45.Calls on the Member States to adopt legally binding measures which prohibit the extradition of any accused person liable to the death sentence in a third country;

Conscientious objection

46.Considers that the right of conscientious objection, as recognized by Resolution 89/59 of the UN Commission on Human Rights on conscientious objection against military service, should be incorporated as a fundamental right in the legal systems of the Member States;

47.Notes, however, that this right is not included in any international human rights agreement and therefore falls within the sovereign power of each State;

48.Calls for common principles to be defined with a view to eliminating discrimination between European citizens with respect to military service;

49.Considers that these common principles should include minimum guarantees to ensure that:

-sufficient information is made available on conscientious objector status,

-conscientious objector status can be applied for at any time, including during military service,

-an effective means of appeal is made available should the conscientious objector status be refused;

50.Condemns the trials and imprisonment of conscientious objectors in the Member States, many of whom have been regarded as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International;

51.Stresses that an alternative civilian service should be provided for, of the same length as military service, so that it is not seen as a sanction or deterrent;

52.Encourages the introduction at Community level of alternatives to military service as part of Third World development aid programmes or assistance cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe;

53.Condemns, in particular, the practice in Greece which treats conscientious objectors as criminals and condemns them to long periods of imprisonment in military prisons;

Threats to the rule of law

54.Notes the widespread and serious attacks on the rule of law, democracy and human rights resulting from organized crime and organized financial and economic crime, in particular because of its close links with politics, economics and the civil service, and also because of large-scale tax evasion and avoidance which represent significant losses to ordinary people, notably in social and economic terms;

55.Considers that these activities also constitute an obstacle to the enjoyment of the freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in the Community;

56.Points out that, given the international scale of organized crime and organized economic and financial crime, and the opening of borders within the Community, this cooperation must be developed if measures to combat organized crime and organized economic and financial offences are to be effective;

57.Regrets that the work carried out at Community level to develop police cooperation (Europol) and take joint measures against organized crime and organized financial and economic crime in general (TREVI III) pays insufficient attention to the principles of democracy and the rule of law, and in particular accountability to Parliament and the courts, and regrets that such work will apparently remain outside the remit of the Community;

58.Considers that, together with police cooperation, in order to ensure that measures are effective while preserving the guarantees underlying democratic systems, legal cooperation should be developed and stepped up, starting with certain welcome innovations contained in the Schengen accords (extradition for financial and fiscal fraud and on the basis of the provisions of Title VI of the Treaty of Maastricht);

59.Also considers that, in order to deal adequately with the special characteristics of a criminal world which is now organized on an international scale, a common legal area should be established by passing important common standard criminal laws to complement and form part of a legal area based on the principles of cooperation, extradition, the non bis in idem principle and the international enforcement of sentences;

60.Calls on the Member States to take all the necessary measures in the fight against the Mafia and other forms of organized crime to restore respect for the rule of law within their territories in order to ensure that fundamental rights and freedoms are guaranteed and actually enjoyed;

61.Considers that a long-term campaign against crime organized on an international scale, especially organized economic and financial crime, must also include measures to increase awareness of the problem among European citizens and international public opinion;

62.Undertakes, in this connection, to denounce unequivocally and wherever necessary any threats to the rule of law;

Double jeopardy

63.Believes that the practice adopted by certain Member States of deporting non-Community citizens after they have been convicted and have served a sentence may lead to an individual being punished twice for the same offence;

64.Considers that the authority of res judicata and the principle of individual freedom, which together form the basis of the non bis in idem rule in criminal law, are among the general principles of law;

65.Believes that the principle of free movement within the Community should be accompanied by general recognition of the non bis in idem rule in order to eliminate the possibility of double jeopardy in the Community;

Right of asylum

66.Regrets the fact that several Member States have begun progressively to reduce legal protection and social security for asylum seekers;

67.Regrets the intergovernmental nature of initial measures taken to harmonize the status of nationals of third countries in the Community, adopted under agreements signed between the Member States to deal with the consequences of the abolition of intra-Community frontiers;

68.Deplores the fact that these measures contain no guarantees relating to the protection of fundamental rights, in particular with regard to asylum seekers;

69.Wishes to draw attention to the danger that Europe may set itself up as a fortress if non-Community nationals are discriminated against in terms of the principles on which the Community order is based;

70.Believes that the procedures for examining requests for asylum should initially be harmonized on the basis of fundamental rules of fair and humane treatment, as established by the 1951 Geneva Convention and further elaborated in the Conclusions adopted by the UNHCR Executive Committee and Recommendation R (81) 16 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe;

71.Calls on the Member States to ensure strict compliance with these international agreements and, in particular, to put an end to the irregularities, abuse and contravention of the procedures on arrival in the host country, immediately following the first application for asylum; the immediate repatriation of applicants for asylum and the refusal to provide legal assistance when such applicants are first questioned constitute serious violations of human rights as set out in international agreements;

72.Calls on the Community and the Member States to adopt an international agreement on minimum standards for fair and satisfactory asylum procedures, which would provide the Member States with a uniform legal basis for the examination of asylum claims, enhance their capacity to achieve effective harmonization of their asylum policies, and set a clear standard against which to measure asylum procedures and practice in host third countries to which asylum-seekers may be sent;

73.Calls on the Commission to consider whether a supranational body could be set up to be responsible, at Community level and in cooperation with the UNHCR, for giving its opinion on final decisions to reject asylum applications;

74.Urges that Article K9 of the Treaty on European Union be utilized as early and as widely as possible and in any event as envisaged in the Declaration on Asylum attached to the said Treaty;

Emergency criminal laws

75.Believes that emergency criminal laws may give rise to cases of abuse and arbitrary interpretations since they imply increasing the police's discretionary powers to the detriment of judicial investigations and procedural guarantees and that as a consequence there should be guarantees to prevent such potential abuse and that provision must be made for judicial and parliamentary reviews;

76.Considers in any case that even if conditions indicating an exceptional and serious situation leading to the adoption of special criminal laws have been fulfilled, strict arrangements must be made to ensure that these are temporary;

77.Considers, at all events, that a number of guarantees must be provided for the purposes of respecting fundamental rights, in accordance with the principles of democracy and of international law, namely:

-respect for the principle of presumption of innocence,

-respect for the rights of the defence so as to avoid, in particular, the reversal of the burden of proof,

-clarity of law,

-respect for the principle that laws may not be applied retroactively,

-respect for the principle of proportionality,

-respect for the physical and psychological integrity of persons in custody or charged with an offence,

-the need for an official search warrant,

-the protection of personal data;

78.Calls on those Member States which have introduced emergency criminal proceedings or which have actually introduced a state of emergency at regional level to abandon such procedures and, in particular, to introduce a ban on solitary confinement;

Conditions of detention

79.Considers that it is essential to stress the idea of the reformatory function of the sentence and the aim of reintegrating prisoners as human beings and members of society;

80.Reasserts firmly the absolute nature of the ban on inhuman and degrading treatment;

81.Utterly condemns the use of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and expresses its dismay at the fact that such practices are used in Europe during police questioning and in prisons and believes that, where such practices are directed at immigrants, applicants for asylum or persons belonging to minority groups, they may set a dangerous precedent for racial discrimination and xenophobia, since they are applied by representatives of the legal authorities;

82.Recalls that, by virtue of the principle of presumption of innocence, any pre-trial detention decision should be based on legitimate and exceptional reasons; accordingly, regards as arbitrary the use of detention on remand as a general rule;

83.Questions whether the resources made available to prison administrations are adequate for guaranteeing living conditions in keeping with human dignity, given the overcrowding and lack of hygiene reported in certain detention centres;

84.Considers that detainees must enjoy at least the following fundamental rights:

-the right to privacy;

-the right to dignity and to physical and moral inviolability;

-the right to receive visits and mail;

-the right to health and hygienic conditions;

-the right to receive legal and social assistance, with particular reference to reintegration into society;

85.Calls for the police code of ethics to be based on respect for human rights;

86.Instructs its appropriate committee to draw up a European draft code of conduct for the police based on international criteria such as those set out in the UN Code of Conduct for law enforcement officials;

87.Welcomes the fact that an additional protocol on the rights of persons deprived of their liberty is being prepared at the Council of Europe;

88.Calls on the Member States which have introduced emergency measures in respect of criminal offences and which actually apply emergency proceedings to specific regions to keep the period of detention without trial to a minimum in accordance with Article 5(3) of the European Convention on Human Rights and court rulings based on that Article;

Length of proceedings

89.Is aware of the general lengthiness of judicial proceedings in Europe;

90.Believes that, apart from the danger of leading to a denial of justice, excessive delays in the field of justice have unforeseen consequences and undermine the fairness of proceedings;

91.Calls for the concept of a reasonable time limit, as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, to be introduced into the national legal orders, and calls on the Member States to consider how to cut down procedural delays;

Acquisition and/or retention of nationality

92.Expresses its concern with regard to Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code which, without any legal basis and in defiance of international commitments, is used to deprive members of the Muslim minority of their Greek citizenship if they leave the country with the 'intention' of not returning;

93.Considers that freedom of movement and the extension of European citizenship call for the replacement of the principle of 'ius sanguinis' by the principle of 'ius soli' as a basis for citizenship;

94.Considers, in general terms, that obstacles to the acquisition of nationality are a source of discrimination which is unjustified in present-day Europe;

95.Reaffirms that the exercise of the fundamental right to leave any country and return to one's country may not be penalized by the withdrawal of citizenship rights;

Political and trade union discrimination

96.Condemns the excessive number of infringements of trade union rights and the rights of trade union officials in many Member States and certain European scientific bodies and calls for such practices to be terminated through the recognition of trade union freedom as a fundamental right in all Member States and all European scientific bodies;

97.Deplores in particular the unilateral denunciation of long-term collective agreements, denial of the right of elected trade union representatives to information about business management, denial of the right of workers to be represented in connection with complaints or disciplinary measures, and failure on the part of employers to consult trade union representatives about questions concerning surplus personnel, health and safety;

98.Expresses its concern at the fact that, in one Member State in particular, numerous cases have arisen in which there was a failure to apply the legal principles, applicable in a constitutional State, of the presumption of innocence and of a verdict of not guilty if no clear proof of the accused's guilt is adduced;

99.Condemns the unilateral removal of trade union rights from the workers at GCHQ in the United Kingdom;

100.Wishes, in general terms, to draw attention to the fact that any administrative sanction must result from an investigation that is sufficiently thorough and demonstrates expertise and compliance with the laws and constitutional principles without regard to individual political positions so as to avoid arbitrary decisions;

101.Considers that administrative investigations in the FRG do not adequately meet these conditions because the introduction of the criterion of 'proximity to the state', measured in terms of active involvement in the SED, in mass organizations and substantive or honorary positions in the state, the economy and in society, means that decisions are clearly politically biased;

102.Expresses its concern, in this connection, at the dismissal of academics and civil servants in general, and the investigations and accusations against lawyers and solicitors and in political circles in the former GDR, which are being carried out in defiance of the law and without prior examination and are an infringement of the freedom of expression and of opinion;

103.Remains concerned at the dismissal of public service employees, in particular school and university teachers, the unjustified restrictions on access to public service and the refusal to take into account time worked in the public service in assessing a person's working life or calculating pensions;

104.Is also concerned at the lack of coherence of administrative penalties and measures adopted by the United Kingdom to abolish subsidies to certain social and cultural associations and groups in Northern Ireland and to slash the budgets for institutions permitting minorities to express their opinions;

105.Is concerned at the risk of abuse of power arising wherever an administrative measure aimed at countering or punishing a specific act is applied generally;

European legal assistance

106.Reiterates its disapproval of the intergovernmental nature of work in certain areas of common interest (justice, home affairs, immigration policy) following the opening up of frontiers;

107.Believes that mechanisms created in this context should be subject to monitoring by courts of law and that access to such monitoring should be guaranteed to those concerned in the form of legal assistance which should be organized at Community level;

Respect for privacy

108.Notes that, in view of the completion of the internal market, the need of transborder traffic, including the exchange of personal and other privacy-related data, has increased significantly;

109.Points out that the unrestricted exchange of personal and other privacy-related data poses an unprecedented threat to the right to privacy;

110.Considers that harmonization of privacy legislation among the Member States is urgently needed;

111.Reconfirms the need to adopt a Council directive with the aim of securing the harmonized adaptation of national legislation;

112.Considers that harmonization of legislation should be directed towards acquiring a high level of privacy protection within the Community, without lowering the standards achieved in some Member States;

113.Welcomes the proposals of the Commission as submitted to the Council in October 1992;

114.Calls upon the Council to review these proposals in due course and to adopt a privacy directive without delay;

Protection of personal integrity

115.Calls on the Member States to amend their legislation with a view to granting greater protection to individuals with particular regard to the trade in human organs, possible abuses of genetic engineering, human exploitation, sexual abuse, forced sterilization and any other form of physical or mental abuse of human beings;

116.Expresses its deep concern at the increase in medical tests and controls carried out without any objective justification, and sometimes without the consent of the persons concerned, which are used as a selection criterion for access to employment, private or social insurance and housing etc., and which are a flagrant example of discrimination;

Motions for resolutions incorporated in this annual report

117.Believes that the principle of the presumption of innocence and the guarantee of fair procedures are essential preconditions for a fair penal code which respects the principle of non-discrimination before the law;

118.Reiterates that the freedom of peaceful assembly as set out in Article 11 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms protects the right of collective defence of interests organized through trade unions democratically constituted at the place of work;

119.Believes that the ban on inhuman or degrading treatment is absolute in nature and deplores the situation of certain refugees on Community territory, despite international commitments in this field;

120.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Committee, the Executive Committee of Amnesty International and to the governments and parliaments of the states with which the European Community has Association Agreements.