As part of our efforts to support human rights, Norway aims at strengthening the legal co-operation in important fields where the Council has special expertise. During the chairmanship in 2004, priority was given to further measures in the fight against terrorism and to measures against organised crime.
10/12/2007 :: The Norwegian government attaches great importance to the fight against international terrorism. When strengthening legal measures in this field we must take into account the fact that there is already a substantial body of multilateral conventions. The key priority should therefore be to work towards the universal ratification and implementation of all existing international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
At the same time, there is a need to intensify regional efforts, not least through capacity building. The Council of Europe has a key role to play in this regard, given the broad range of expertise and mechanisms that are available to it.
We should first consider whether the best approach would be to strengthen the implementation of existing instruments. We endorse the recommendation to develop specifically targeted measures and instruments to supplement the action being taken and fill any existing lacunae in international law.
The Council’s counter-terrorism measures will be based on its guidelines on human rights and the fight against terrorism. Core values and human rights must be upheld and must never be sacrificed in order to fight terrorism.
During the chairmanship period, Norway worked for closer co-operation between the Council of Europe and the OSCE also in the fight against terrorism. We aimed at strengthening the co-operation on legal action such as promoting ratification of the Revised European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism and of the Cybercrime Convention. Since the OSCE is a pan-European organisation with extensive field activities and experience, it could also make a valuable contribution to broaden the adherence of the Council of Europe guidelines on human rights and the fight against terrorism.
In giving priority to the fight against organised crime, focus was given to the work of elaborating a European Convention on action against trafficking in human beings geared towards the protection of victims’ rights. Further, Norway supported the efforts to combat corruption and money laundering, and worked towards completion of the protocol amending the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime.
Norway has supported the work on the Convention on Cybercrime. We seeked to ensure broad support for the convention, and co-operated with the Council of Europe on international activities to support the Convention.
The Council has done extensive work to counteract the dramatic increase in violence in everyday life. A white paper containing recommendations of concrete measures to prevent such violence has been elaborated. Norway, during its Chairmanship, organised a Council of Europe conference to present the white paper.
To support the ongoing processes within the Council of Europe on protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of people with disabilities, Norway hosted a seminar on human rights and disability during its Chairmanship.