Petra Bayr stated that not using the death penalty is a requirement for having observer status at the Council of Europe, emphasizing that even a non-discriminatory death penalty is unacceptable.
"We consider there are reasonable grounds for investigation, given that he held the positions of chair of the Nobel Committee and Secretary General of the Council of Europe during the period covered by the released documents," Paal Loeseth, director of Norway's economic crime police unit, Oekokrim, said in a statement. "Among other things, Okokrim will investigate whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position," the statement added.
Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said that middle-of the road politicians are playing into the hands of the populist right. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, he pointed to the lazy correlation of migration and crime as an example. This doesn't correspond with reality, he said. For every inch yielded, there's going to be another inch demanded, he said.
The political head of the body that oversees the European Convention on Human Rights has told the BBC that it is 'absolutely ready' to discuss reforms amid pressure from the UK and other countries over migration. Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, predicted that quitting international human rights law would leave the UK 'isolated' on the world stage.
Although Russia has been a member of the convention since 1997, civil rights activists have always complained that torture and degrading treatment are widespread in Russian police stations and detention centers. Formally, the convention allowed international monitors access to Russian prisons, but this effectively stopped following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
