The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) are behind the event planned for the Greek capital.

“We have noticed a rise of intolerance in several countries in Europe,” says Olivier Beer (photo), the Strasbourg-based UNHCR Representative to the European Institutions. “We are going to organise a conference towards the end of the year in Athens. This conference will discuss the situation in Europe and not only in Greece.”

Last week, the Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks warned against a “worrying intensification” in the activities of race-hate groups across Europe.

In a report on Greece published last month, Muižnieks said the country is “seriously threatened by the upsurge of hate crime and a weak state response.”

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The country took over from Andorra earlier today and announced it would organise a high level conference on combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe. It is also planning a ‘No Hate Speech Movement’ campaign event in Strasbourg.

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In today’s judgment in the case of Garnaga v. Ukraine (application no. 20390/07), which is not final, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:

A violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the Ukrainian authorities’ refusal to allow Ms Garnaga to change her patronymic – the middle name derived from the father’s forename. The court held in particular that the applicable law had not been clear enough and that the authorities had not given a justification for the restrictions on changing the patronymic while at the same time there was almost complete liberty to change one’s forename or surname.

Principal facts

The applicant, Nataliya Volodymyrivna Garnaga, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1968 and lives in Bila Tserkva (Ukraine). Having lived together with her mother, stepfather and half-brother for many years, she wished to change her patronymic – the middle name derived from the father’s forename – from the name derived from her biological father’s name, Volodymyrivna, to one derived from her stepfather’s, Yuriyivna.

In March 2004, she lodged a request to have her patronymic changed but the authorities refused her request in a decision eventually upheld by the courts in October 2006. The courts referred in particular to the Rules on Civil Status Registration and the Civil Code, which both provided that a person could change his or her patronymic if his or her father changed his forename.

Since this did not apply in Garnaga’s case, she could not change her patronymic. In parallel, in May 2004, she changed her original surname, Glazkova, to that of her stepfather, Garnaga, which was also the surname of her mother and half-brother.

Just satisfaction (Article 41)

The court held, by a majority, that the finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient just satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage suffered by Garnaga and it held unanimously that Ukraine was to pay her 222 euros in respect of costs and expenses.

The head of Education and Training, in the Council of Europe’s youth department hopes that a majority of member states will be involved in the campaign by the end of the summer.

Gomes also signalled that the campaign could be extended into schools and confirmed that a proposal to give the project an extra year is also under consideration.

“There is a lot to gain from this campaign,” he says. “The best is yet to come. This is a campaign for human rights but also a campaign for dignity everywhere.”

The campaign is against hate speech online in all its forms, including those that most affect young people, such as cyber-bullying and cyber-hate. The campaign is based upon human rights education, youth participation and media literacy.

The ‘No Hate Speech’ movement is open to anyone from the age of 13 years and doesn’t aim to “limit freedom of expression online.

Follow the campaign on Twitter – #nohatespeech

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It states: Despite the existence of anti-discrimination provisions in Russian legislation, there is a need for the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation covering all spheres of life and containing a clear definition of discrimination.

“An independent and specialised body dealing solely with the issue of discrimination should be set up and should also conduct extensive monitoring of the situation in the field of discrimination and raise awareness among society of discrimination-related problems. The current mandate and limited resources of the Federal Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office do not enable this body to perform adequately these important tasks.”

The 30 April resolution welcomes positive developments in the country, in particular the “flexible and pragmatic approach towards the recognition of national minorities and the scope of application of the Framework Convention.”

However, it also points to areas for concern. “There are still a number of unresolved cases of statelessness in various regions, including in the Krasnodar Krai,” the resolution states.

“Due to the obstacles faced in access to registration and work permits, migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuses. Persons originating from the Caucasus and Central Asia experience selective and disproportionately frequent identity checks by the police and are very vulnerable to police corruption and other abuses, including, in some cases, disproportionate use of force.”

“Despite steps taken by the authorities, the number of racially-motivated offences remains alarming, targeting in particular persons originating from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Asia and Africa, as well as Roma. Expressions of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are also frequently reported, as well as instances of interethnic clashes, sometimes fuelled by local politicians and the media.

“There is an increasing use of xenophobic and racist rhetoric by some politicians and the reaction of the authorities to racist statements has not always been adequate. Media disseminates prejudice, sometimes hate speech, regarding some minority groups, such as persons from the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as Roma.

“Persons and NGOs active in the field of human and minority rights face serious problems in the exercise of their rights to freedom of association, expression and opinion, despite amendments of the law on NGOs in 2009. When voicing concerns about minority rights protection, they sometimes face prosecution under the legislation against extremist activities.”

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The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) report published today, calls on the authorities to ensure that “human trafficking is criminalised by all criminal codes applicable on the country’s territory (i.e. in Republika Srpska, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Brčko District).

“At present, only the state criminal code defines human trafficking as a criminal offence and therefore cases of human trafficking are prosecuted only at state level. GRETA urges the authorities to ensure that human trafficking cases are investigated and prosecuted effectively, leading to proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.”

According to the report, most of the victims identified in recent years were trafficked within Bosnia and Herzegovina. GRETA urges the authorities to provide adequate assistance and protection to victims of trafficking and to ensure that they can obtain compensation from the perpetrator or the state. It also encourages the registration of all children at birth and action to ensure that Roma children, who are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking, have effective access to education.

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In its Chamber judgment in the case of Gross v. Switzerland (application no. 67810/10), which is not final, the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that there had been:

A violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the complaint of an elderly woman, who wishes to end her life but does not suffer from a clinical illness, that she was unable to obtain the Swiss authorities’ permission to be provided with a lethal dose of a drug in order to commit suicide.

The court held in particular that Swiss law, while providing the possibility of obtaining a lethal dose of a drug on medical prescription, did not provide sufficient guidelines ensuring clarity as to the extent of this right. This uncertain situation was likely to have caused Ms Gross a considerable degree of anguish.

At the same time, the court did not take a stance on the question of whether she should have been granted the possibility to acquire a lethal dose of medication allowing her to end her life.

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The European Court of Human Rights is scheduled to make known its decision in the case Garnaga v. Ukraine (no. 20390/07) on Thursday 16 May.

The applicant, Nataliya Garnaga, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1968 and lives in Bila Tserkva (Ukraine). Having lived together with her mother, stepfather and half-brother for many years, she wished to change her patronymic – the middle name derived from the father’s forename – from the name derived from her biological father’s name to one derived from her stepfather’s.

The authorities refused her request in a decision eventually upheld by the courts in October 2006. She complains that this refusal violated her rights under Article 8 (right to respect for family life).

Nils Muižnieks writes: “According to some commentators, the upsurge has even reached the point of “an early form of far right terror.”

The Commissioner for Human Rights adds: “It worries me deeply that the European community and national political leaders appear not to be fully aware of the serious threat that these organisations pose to the rule of law and human rights.”

Muižnieks states that “the philosophy of racist extremist organisations is centred on denying the entitlement of ‘others’ – mainly migrants and members of national, ethnic and religious minorities – to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“They invent “enemies” who have to be fought and eliminated. In Greece, for example, between October 2011 and December 2012 around 220 racist attacks were reported to the Racist Violence Recording Network headed by UNHCR and the National Commission for Human Rights. That is about one attack every other day. In my recent report concerning Greece I underlined the need to curb hate crime and combat impunity for hate crimes.”

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The European Court of Human Rights will give written notification of its decision in the case Gross v. Switzerland (no. 67810/10) on Tuesday 14 May.

The applicant, Alda Gross, is a Swiss national who was born in 1931 and lives in Greifensee (Switzerland). For a number of years, she has wanted to end her life. Although not suffering from any clinical illness, she submits that she is over 80 and unwilling to continue suffering the decline of her physical and mental faculties.

Having unsuccessfully attempted to find a doctor willing to issue the prescription required to obtain a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbital, she applied to the Health Board, which rejected her request to be provided with the drug in a decision eventually upheld by the courts in April 2010.

She complains that by denying her the right to decide by what means and at what point her life would end the Swiss authorities have breached Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention.