@commissionerhr.coe.int
Official account of Michael O'Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, independent, non-judicial institution promoting human rights in Europe. https://commissioner.coe.int
I welcome the Committee of Ministers’ adoption of two important new Recommendations: one on equality & AI, and another on accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls. It is now up to @coe.int states to turn these roadmaps to a safer digital future into tangible action.
Timely discussion yesterday in Brussels with the Belgian Minister for Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt and Director/FIRM-IFDH Martien Schotmans on preserving the integrity of the ECHR system.
#Italy should establish a National Human Rights Institution in line with the Paris Principles. Italy should also ensure its existing #HumanRights bodies are independent and effective. #NHRI
Read my letter to the Italian Parliament 👇
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
Ireland's upcoming EU Presidency is an opportunity to ensure that human rights remain Europe's key strength — from anchoring peace efforts in Ukraine, to safeguarding protections in tech regulation, to guaranteeing long-term support for civil society, Roma and other marginalized communities 2/2
Constructive exchange with PR-EU/Ambassador Aingeal O'Donoghue of Ireland in Brussels today. 1/2
It’s time to move toward human rights compliance by design, learning from what has failed elsewhere to build what can work here.
#Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 12/12
We must stop 'sleepwalking' into legal and ethical crises. We cannot just wait for the courts to tell us that what is being discussed is unlawful.
#Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 11/12
✅ Refrain from transferring people to countries with which they have no connection, and from applying “safe country” concepts in ways that do not grant adequate value to individual circumstances. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 10/12
✅ Respect the right to liberty: Locking people up is expensive, inefficient, and destroys the trust needed for successful policy. Alternatives to detention exist and should get priority. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 9/12
✅ Avoid risk of refoulement: By ensuring adequate access to remedy, rather than rushed appeal processes with no suspensive effect. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 8/12
✅ No responsibility shifting: States cannot abdicate their legal duty to honour the right to seek asylum through third-party arrangements. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 7/12
✅ Human rights by design: Impact assessments, risk mitigation strategies and independent human rights monitoring must be hardwired into the system, not added as an afterthought. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 6/12
✅ Transparency and accountability: Arrangements with partner countries must be treaty-based and publicly accessible—not informal handshakes. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 5/12
The European Commission, as Guardian of the EU Treaties, has a key role to play in protecting asylum & other human rights.
#Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 4/12
✅ Precaution: States must keep their eyes wide open to potential negative impacts on human rights, and act based on facts rather than false assumptions. #Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 3/12
Particular care is necessary when states attempt to externalise return procedures, an area replete with human rights risks.
Based on global experience, I set out a few guardrails 👇
#Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 2/12
At @ceps.eu IdeasLab’s panel on returns & externalisation, I explained that although effective returns are necessary for a functional protection system, states must remain in full compliance with international law.
#Migration #HumanRights #EUReturnsRegulation #RuleOfLaw #cepslab2026 1/12
Important meetings with EESC President Séamus Boland and DSG EU EEAS Olaf Skoog. We discussed integrating human rights into #Ukraine’s peacebuilding processes, the #HumanRights situation in @coe.int states, & strengthening #EU action for democracy, civil society & forgotten people. @eesc.bsky.social
5️⃣Side by side with defending freedom of expression, and insisting on compliance with its legitimate restriction, we should also invest in ways to tackle expression-related problems beyond law. For instance, we have to tackle disinformation, including with an investment in digital literacy. 7/7
4️⃣When legitimate restrictions are in place, then we have to apply them in practice. That means we need to get more serious about prosecuting hate crimes. It also means that, in the EU, we should vigorously apply the Digital Services Act. 6/7
That means, for instance, that we have to apply the de minimis principle, that we apply the legal toolbox with great care, for instance, avoiding the overuse of defamation or criminal law. 5/7
3️⃣Where, as a matter of international law, speech must be restricted, do so with great caution, always honouring principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. 4/7
2️⃣If we are serious in considering freedom of expression to be so very important for our societies and our democracies, then we need to apply it better in practice. We should value debate, value a plurality of voices, insist on a thriving and free media. 3/7
At the outset of my intervention, I made five headline observations.
1️⃣ We need to call out the extreme danger of absolute free speech and must insist on smart oversight and protections for our human rights. But at the same time, we have to curb excessive enthusiasm for the restraint on speech. 2/7
At @ceps.eu #cepslab2026, speaking in a panel on freedom of expression, I was very conscious of the horrors unfolding in the Middle East & the extent to which the rule of law & int'l human rights are being pushed to the margins. 1/7
#HumanRights #RuleOfLaw #FreedomOfExpression #FreeSpeech #DSA
"Human rights are the foundation of a functioning migration system, not an obstacle to it." 3/3
Read my Observations 👇
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
#HumanRights #asylum #migration #EUReturnsRegulation
European states should: ✅ Provide adequate procedures and remedies ✅ Ensure mandatory risk assessments ✅ Prioritise voluntary returns ✅ Limit the use of detention
2/3
Read my Observations 👇
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
#HumanRights #asylum #migration #EUReturnsRegulation
The upcoming EU Returns Regulation risks impacting on the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers across Europe.
Proposals on weakened remedies could result in exposing people to serious, irreparable harm. 1/3
Read my Observations 👇
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
#HumanRights #asylum #migration
States must exercise extreme caution.
Migration debates require evidence-based policy, strong legal frameworks, and a genuine commitment to listening to the stories of people seeking protection.
#HumanRights #Refugees #asylum #HRC61 3/3
Externalisation of asylum and migration policies is where compliance with international law is most at risk.
No externalisation of asylum and migration policies without:
🔸detailed assessment of the human rights implications
🔸clear, legally enforceable safeguards
#HumanRights #asylum #HRC61 2/3