Statement of Albina Ovcearenco Counter-Terrorism Task Force, Council of Europe
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me to be here today on behalf of the Council of Europe and to address such an eminent audience of representatives of international organisations, host authorities, victims’ organisations and academic circles.
On behalf of the Council of Europe, I would like – first of all – to thank the organisers for this useful and thought-provoking Conference and the authors of the draft Recommendations for the considerable efforts they have made to provide a paper which approximates and develops further the existing European policies regarding assistance to victims of terrorist acts.
The Council of Europe considers that addressing the needs of victims of terrorist acts and their families is one of the priorities of the international action against terrorism.
Since the 1980s, the Council of Europe has integrated the victims’ perspective into its work in the field of the fight against crime and has paid particular attention to states’ capacity to restore the situation of victims of terrorism.
The Council of Europe's action has resulted in the adoption of a number of binding and non- binding instruments which provide Council of Europe member states with useful guidance in defining their legislation and practice on assistance to victims, including the victims of terrorism.
The compendium of Council of Europe standards – available for the participants of the Conference – contains the relevant Council of Europe conventions, including the European Convention on the Compensation of Victims of Violent Crimes, and a dozen relevant resolutions and recommendations, including the 2006 Recommendation on Assistance to crime victims.
This Recommendation addresses the support services offered to victims, and also deals with such matters as the provision of information to victims; victim protection; social measures; selection and training of staff working with victims; aspects of criminal and civil justice systems; compensation and mediation.
In 2005 the Council of Europe also adopted further Guidelines on human rights and the fight against terrorism specific to the protection of victims of terrorist acts. These Guidelines recognise the suffering endured by victims and call for them to be shown national and international solidarity and support.
States are also encouraged by this document to provide victims and, where appropriate, their close family, with emergency and continuing assistance.
In addition the Guidelines deal with key issues, such as the need to award fair and appropriate compensation to victims of terrorist acts, to facilitate their access to the law and to justice, as well as to protect their private and family life, their dignity and security.The objectives of the Guidelines were endorsed in the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, which contains a binding provision for Council of Europe member states on protection, compensation and support for victims of terrorism.
Following the finalisation of these standard-setting activities, the current priority of the Council of Europe is to ensure the effective implementation of the existing standards in its 47 member states.
It is evident that terrorist acts, and other forms of transnational crime, or the threat of such acts, call for constant improvements to the forms of assistance available to victims and for the development of new, innovative approaches.
However, it is of the utmost importance to avoid duplication, which may also create confusion and double standards and ultimately undermine the efficiency of states’ responses to the needs of the victims of terrorism.
We recognise and welcome the standards elaborated by other international organisations in the field of victims and terrorism, in particular those of the European Union which Mr Seniore has already mentioned:
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EU Council Framework Decision on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings EU Council Directive relating to compensation for victims of crime, and EU Framework Decision on combating terrorism.
We welcome the present initiative and we believe that the European Union can and should make a substantial contribution to the protection of victims of terrorism by acting within its powers and by building on the existing national laws and European policies and instruments in this field.
Thank you very much for your attention.
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