BRATISLAVA, June 1, (SITA) — The Cabinet Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality will probably undergo changes in spite of the fact that the Cabinet did not approve the creation of a Committee for Rights of Individuals with Non-Heterosexual Orientation. Ministers from the KDH and SDKU-DS parties were opposed, which resulted in the proposal lacking the one vote it needed to be adopted. This Wednesday, the Cabinet agreed on changing the council’s statute, as proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Rudolf Chmel, increasing the number of experts on human rights on the council from six to eight.
The structure of currently existing committees active in the council is based on different reasons for discrimination. The main criterion for the originally chosen six experts was their expertise in the field of human rights generally, mostly in the field of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Increasing the number of experts is aimed at providing expert coverage for a much wider scope of issues. According to the material, the human rights agenda also needs the insight of experts and therefore the original number of six experts is considered insufficient.
On the other hand, the Slovak National Center for Human Rights (SNSLP), established in 1994 at the initiative of the U.N., may be facing its destiny soon. According to an analysis adopted by the Cabinet this Wednesday, the center fails to fulfill several criteria: requirements and guarantees regarding independence, transparency, plurality and representing social and civic forces and NGOs, as well as scientific and thought movements. Therefore, the report submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Rudolf Chmel proposes changing the position and competencies of SNSLP. This could in fact mean closing or transforming the organization.
The authors of the analysis have objections to a small extent of the center’s competencies and the subsequent weak position of SNSLP, the non-existence of mechanisms to prevent political influences, low visibility of the center’s activities and only limited impact in resolving the situation in human rights, low capacity in the field of equality and lack in the personal and expert capacities of the agency. Proposals to resolve these issues vary; the goal is to increase the impact of activities aimed at protecting and supporting human rights. SNSLP could face transformation in keeping its functions as both human rights and equality institution; it could be transformed and only keep competencies in only one of the fields with moving the other to another body; or the center could be completely shut down and all its competencies moved.
“An institution dealing with human rights is very much needed. However, for a very long time, the center has not been such an institution,” said Prime Minister Radicova at a press conference. She, however, did not mention the possibility of abolishing SNSLP, she only discussed restarting it. “Getting the center started so that it not only writes reports but also fulfills its real functions, was the subject and basis of the material that the deputy prime minister submitted. It proposes three ways to transform the existing center this fall, all of which basically mean transferring most of the functions to the ombudsman for human rights,” said the prime minister.
As the various branches of the government have different opinions on the further existence of SNSLP, Deputy Prime Minister Chmel and Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska should each elaborate an analysis on the financial and legal impact of either abolishing the center or keeping it as an institution dealing with equality issues. Both analyses should be completed by October; the Cabinet will then make a decision.
SITA