Brussels, 15/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Committee on Citizens' Rights on Thursday adopted its annual report on the fundamental rights situation in the Union in 2002. It reports some deterioration compared to previous years.
The situation for detainees is worse in several Member States, due to prison overcrowding, the report notes. It asks that minimum sanitary and accommodation standards be guaranteed, and for detention procedures not to violate human rights. Rapporteur Fodé Sylla (GUE/NGL, France) also recommends that a Europe instrument be introduced to compensate the victims of terrorism. He stresses that "the primary aim of prevention and repression of terrorism policies must be respect for the state of law".
The report calls for a European database to be set up, detailing disappeared persons who may be victims of trafficking in human beings, and recommends the adoption of the Council directive on short-stay visas for the victims. The report also mentions the high number of people who dies in 2002 trying to find refuge in the Union. It calls upon Member States to "limit detention for asylum seekers to exceptional cases and conform with the UNHCR directives". The committee also calls upon the Council to adopt the draft directive providing extra protection for those not protected by the Geneva Convention, but who cannot be sent back to their country of origin, and on the Member States to relax their naturalisation procedures in order to allow residents of foreign origin to obtain nationality more easily.
As for data protection the committee is concerned at current negotiation agreements on the transmission of personal data between the Union and the United States, and the obligation imposed by the United States on airlines to grant them access to personal data on passengers on transatlantic flights. Another point raised is actually part of the controversy surrounding the current President of the Council, the problem of the concentration of media power. The committee "deplores the existing situation in Italy, where power over the media remains concentrated in the hands of the Prime Minister".