Several articles of a security bill
currently being examined by the Senate restrict rights to
freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly and members of
the Italian Upper House should not vote it unless it is changed
to abide by the human rights standards set by the Council of
Europe, the body's commissioner for human rights, Michael
O'Flaherty, has written in a letter to Senate Speaker Ignazio La
Russa.
In the letter addressed to La Russa, Commissioner O'Flaherty
asked members of the Senate to refrain from adopting the bill on
public security, unless it is substantially amended to ensure
that it complies with Council of Europe human rights standards,
citing in particular six articles that "introduce crimes defined
in vague terms and include other severe restrictions, creating
space for an arbitrary and disproportionate implementation".
The commissioner also said that the rights to freedom of
expression and of peaceful assembly, enshrined in the European
Convention on Human Rights, are a "cornerstone of democratic
society", stating that member states have a "certain margin of
appreciation for sanctioning intentional disruptions in the
context of public assemblies" but "their discretion is not
unlimited, as underlined by the case-law of the European Court
of Human Rights".
La Russa responded saying he had given "instructions to the
Senate's offices to reject the unacceptable claim" made by
Michael O'Flaherty to deliver to Senators the request not to
vote the security bill, "which is actually still being examined
by the appropriate commissions", calling the missive an
"inadmissible interference in the autonomous and sovereign
decisions of a parliamentary assembly".
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