Thomas Hammarberg
Thomas Hammarberg ( born January 2, 1942 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a native of Sweden diplomat and human rights activist. He was between April 1, 2006 and April 1, 2012 Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, following in the first Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil- Robles in his office.
Work and commitment to human rights
Prior to taking over as Commissioner Hammarberg worked for several decades for the enforcement and development of human rights, both in Europe and worldwide. He was from 1980 to 1986 Secretary General of Amnesty International, 1986-1992 Secretary General of the NGO " Save the Children Sweden," 1994-2002 Ambassador of the Swedish Government on Humanitarian Affairs and 2002-2005 Secretary General of the " Olof Palm International Center " in Stockholm.
In 1977 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for Amnesty International.
From 2001 to 2003 Hammarberg served as Regional Adviser for Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. For many years he was the personal representative of the Swedish Prime Minister for Special Sessions on Children, as well as conscripts of the " Aspen Institute Roundtable" on human rights issues in peacekeeping missions. Between 1996 and 2000 he was the appointed representative of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for human rights in Cambodia. In addition, Hammarberg was involved in the work of the Refugee Working Group in the context of the multilateral peace process in the Middle East.
Hammarberg led comply with its brief visits in all of Europe member states, to promote respect for human rights.
Fighting for the Rights of the Sinti and Roma
To strengthen the rights of the Sinti and Roma in Europe, is one of the focal points Thomas Hammer Mountain. Here exists, so Hammarberg, a " shameful lack ". In a series of speeches and statements Hammarberg tried actively to encourage an improvement in the living conditions of the largest minority in Europe and criticized the alarming extent which had adopted against this group of racism. Hammarberg draws an unadorned picture of the situation of Roma and Sinti in Europe and has to deal with members of this minority by the Italian authorities criticized, among others, in his last report on Italy. 2011 Hammarberg has published a comprehensive position paper on the human rights situation of Roma and Sinti in Europe, in which he emphasizes the need for a unified and comprehensive program to improve the current situation.
In a public letter to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel Hammarberg called in 2009 for a halt to the deportations of Roma, particularly in Kosovo, as the deportees were there exposed to political persecution and had to live in camps. A year later he repeated this call in a letter to the German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière. An organized by Hammarberg Special Committee described the situation in a Roma camp in Kosovo as a humanitarian disaster.
For his perseverance and passion in action for the rights of the Sinti and Roma Thomas Hammarberg is on April 3, 2012 in Berlin by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma and the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation with the European civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma are excellent.
Publications
Hammarberg has published much on human rights issues, especially the rights of children, refugee policy, minority issues, xenophobia, Islamophobia, Roma Rights, as well as intergovernmental affairs and security. He is also known for his lectures on human rights in numerous intergovernmental and academic institutions. As a human rights commissioner, he has published on the website of the Council of Europe a series of articles about his views on various human rights issues in Europe. He also regularly publishes statements on human rights issues.
Since he was appointed in April 2006 to the Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg visited almost all of the 47 member states of the European Council and publish a report.