Council of Europe unveils counter-terrorism initiative

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) launched an initiative on Monday to counter terrorism.

Using the hashtag NoHateNoFear, the initiative was unveiled at the opening of the PACE summer session here, which brings together parliamentary representatives of the CoE's 47 member states.

"We have to prevent the mutual suspicion and hostility that fear of terrorism engenders as a sickness in its own right," PACE president Pedro Agramunt stated. "This is the main purpose of our assembly's initiative against terrorism."

The PACE members gathered in the CoE's chamber brandished placards bearing the NoHateNoFear message.

"Terrorism is violence calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm, panic, despair, anger and hate," Agramunt continued. "But terror only works when we let our fear and anger dictate what happens next. We must not fall into this trap. We must prevent them from achieving their broader objective, which is to divide us."

He called on politicians to take their responsibility and speak out publicly against fear and hatred, and to promote fundamental freedoms and the values of tolerance, non-discrimination, and respect for human dignity.

"Through practical action in their parliaments and in their constituencies, parliamentarians can help immunize society against fear and hatred," the PACE president said.

To close the ceremony, a video that French journalist Antoine Leiris had posted on Facebook was broadcast in the chamber. In the video, Leiris, who lost his wife in the attack on the Bataclan theater in Paris in November last year, posted a defiant message to the terrorists: "You will not have my hatred."

"This message lies at the very heart of our initiative," Agramunt commented.

Against a background of political, social, and economic instability in Europe, exacerbated by the refugee crisis which has encouraged nationalist and populist responses in parts of the continent, the fight against terrorism is generating tensions between the duty to protect citizens, and respect for everyday freedoms.

In addition to the issue of terrorism, the refugee crisis will occupy much of the PACE agenda this week. On Tuesday, parliamentarians will debate a report entitled 'Refugees at risk in Greece' on the eve of a speech in the chamber by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The report followed a CoE delegation to refugee camps in the country.

"We were able to see with our own eyes that Greece is doing everything possible to help," Agramunt stated on Monday. "The refugee crisis is a European responsibility and a European response is needed."

Also on the agenda of the PACE summer session is the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey, violence against migrants, the fight against the hyper-sexualization of children, transparency and openness in European Union(EU) institutions, and women in the armed forces.

The role of PACE as a pan-European forum for inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation will be debated on Wednesday, at a time when the EU waits nervously for the outcome of the 'Brexit' referendum in the United Kingdom on June 23. Endit