Report by Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on the effective Respect for Human Rights in France following his Visit from 5 to 21 september 2005

A founder member of the Council of Europe, France signed the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 and ratified it on 3 May 1974. In 1981, it recognised the right of individual petition to the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter «the ECHR»). It is also a party to the European Social Charter, and has accepted all the articles in the revised Charter. However, it has still not signed or ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities or Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter «the Convention»), which is regrettable. Moreover, although it has signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Protocol No. 14 to the Convention, restructuring its control machinery, and Protocol No. 13, concerning abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, it has not ratified these instruments, important as they are for the prevention of human rights violations. I can only urge it to consider ratifying them in the near future.

Many Europeans see France as the homeland of human rights, and it does in fact provide a high level of human rights protection. It has comprehensive human rights legislation and plays an important part in this area at the international level. Nonetheless, it still has persistent, not to say recurrent, problems - a fact reflected in the many cases brought against it in the European Court of Human Rights. Those most concerned by these problems - particularly government representatives - are aware of and acknowledge them. Indeed, I should emphasise the openness which marked my visit and the unstinting help I was given by all the authorities involved in organising it. This allowed me to visit all the facilities I wished to see, including those regarded as sensitive.

France’s positive human rights image owes much to the efforts and commitment of the NGOs and associations which are working on the ground to protect the most vulnerable members of the community. My visit allowed me to form some idea of the immense work they do, and the contribution they make to their country’s good reputation in this area. Spotting problems is another major facet of their work, and the many reports they produce help to highlight difficulties peculiar to France, and make people aware of them. I have always insisted that the role of civil society is vital - and the fact that France has, in recent decades, delegated certain state prerogatives to associations or NGOs seems to me to make it even more important. Undoubtedly, too, NGO involvement helps to diversify approaches to problem-solving. At the same time, NGOs, and the work they do for the most vulnerable, least privileged members of society, are largely dependent on public funding. When that funding declines, as it seems to be doing at present, a whole range of human rights activities, if not actually endangered, at least become less certain. Indeed, I could not escape the impression that there was some discrepancy between theory and practice.

Moreover, although France has strong laws in this area, my visit did prompt me to raise a number of problems. However, before discussing the chief ones I noted, I should like to make one general comment. Wherever I went, I noted that the full application of the law was occasionally obstructed by habit. Repeatedly, I heard: «we’ve always done it like that», «it’s been like that for years» or «it takes time to make changes». This is by no means a trivial matter, since it raises a clear question concerning the extent to which human rights are respected and practised. I am not saying that the French authorities are blind to the problems. On the contrary, as I said earlier, those problems are not new, and policy-makers, both national and local, are generally familiar with them.

However, I do have the impression that France does not always give itself the resources it needs to operate a relatively full legal arsenal, providing a high level of human rights protection. In some areas, there seems to be a gap - sometimes a very wide one - between law and practice. This general comment applies throughout this report, which discusses France’s main shortcomings in human rights protection and the major challenges facing it today.

Source : Council of Europe website

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Report by Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles on the effective Respect for Human Rights in France