The AKEL parliamentary group will prepare the relevant resolution, which will be submitted on behalf of the Human Rights Committee itself to the Plenary.
A resolution for the adoption of the revised Charter of the European political parties for an inclusive, non-racist society is expected to be presented soon before the Plenary Session of the Parliament by the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, following a proposal by AKEL Member of Parliament, Giorgos Loukaidis.
The issue was brought before the Committee today, at the proposal of the AKEL MPs, with the majority of the Committee members being positive that the preparation of the resolution should proceed. As Mr. Loukaidis explained in his statements after the meeting, the Charter was presented at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last June and has already been signed by a number of parties.
As mentioned in the debate during the Commission meeting, the Charter commits the contracting political parties to avoid expressions of intolerance and racism, while it also provides for sanctions for those who violate this commitment.
In his statements, Mr. Loukaidis expressed his satisfaction with the fact “that all the parties present at the session took a positive position towards this prospect”, adding that all the guests, including the government, had taken a positive position towards in this initiative.
He went on to say that the AKEL parliamentary group will prepare the relevant resolution, which will be submitted on behalf of the Human Rights Committee itself to the Plenary. “Through this, this initiative will be welcomed, the Charter will be adopted by the House of Representatives and the parties will be invited to co-sign it,” he explained.
To a journalist’s question as to whether sanctions are provided for in the Charter and at what level they are applied, Mr. Loukaidis replied that the parties, which co-sign the Charter, undertake a self-commitment in order to comply with its provisions.
In case of violations by their executives or members, then the parties themselves take the responsibility to proceed with the imposition of sanctions, he said. He explained that the penalties will obviously vary depending on the extent of the violation by some party officials or members, in a way that the parties themselves will regulate. “No third party will come from outside to impose sanctions on a party or on a party official or member. It is a question of self-regulation, self-commitment of the parties themselves”, he concluded.
In her statements after the Committee’s meeting on the matter, DISY Member of Parliament, Rita Superman, pointed out that, despite the actions taken and the legislation passed to deal with racism and xenophobia, it is found that these phenomena are firmly established in our society. “These phenomena must disappear and political parties have a huge role to play,” he added.
“DISY has long been proclaiming and underlining, primarily through its ideological and political manifesto, the value of human life, the equality of all before the law and the equal rights of citizens,” Ms. Superman continued, saying that the party it supports institutions and measures that protect human dignity, while “rejecting any discrimination and marginalization due to gender, origin, religious or other beliefs, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability”. Finally, he called on all parties to incorporate this approach into their actions.
During the discussion in the Committee, the Member of Parliament of the Environmental Movement, Alexandra Attalidou, pointed out, among other things, that moves must be made in this direction, especially at the given moment, with the climate that has developed after the last violent events in Limassol and Chloraka, on the occasion of the aggravation of immigration.
