Flemish human rights institute to be launched in March 2023
The Flemish Parliament on Wednesday approved the establishment of the Flemish Human Rights Institute (Vlaams Mensenrechteninstituut). The start of the Flemish institute also marks the end of the cooperation with Unia, which is internationally recognised as a national human rights institute. The new initiative should develop into a central Flemish service point where citizens can go for all human rights and all forms of discrimination.
The European Union obliges member states to support, through an independent institute, people who are victims of discrimination based on characteristics such as orientation, origin, religion, disability, or age. In the federal state of Belgium, discrimination is neither a federal nor a state competence.
Equal opportunities
At the federal level, there is Unia, the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities, which fights discrimination and promotes equal opportunities in Belgium. Only this independent public institution does not have jurisdiction over gender discrimination. Persons discriminated against because of a disability should turn to Unia. Those discriminated against on the basis of gender must go to the Gender Centre, which has created a lot of confusion.
With the Flemish Institute for Human Rights, the Flemish government wants to bring more clarity from March 2023 by offering a central Flemish counter where citizens can go for all human rights and all forms of discrimination.
End of cooperation
From March 2023, Flanders will also end its cooperation with Unia, which is internationally recognised as a national human rights institute. This had already been agreed upon in the coalition agreement, but was also definitively decided by the Flemish government in early July. The inspiration for the initiative comes from the Netherlands, where human rights would be protected in a different and more performing way.
However, not everyone is happy with the initiative. For instance, the Council of State already ruled that the establishment of the institute will initially make access difficult for Flemish people, as they may not immediately know who to turn to. A series of midfield and human rights organisations also fear that victims will have fewer legal levers to defend themselves in the future.
"The institute has no legal power and so the fight against discrimination is crumbling."
That criticism was endorsed by several politicians in the Flemish parliament on Wednesday. "The institute has no legal power and so the fight against discrimination is crumbling," said An Moerenhout (Groen). Tom Ongena of Open VLD refuted that criticism. "The institute will be able to litigate, but only in the collective interest, no longer in individual cases."
Hannelore Goeman (Vooruit) addressed the fact that the new institute has only one seat for now, while Unia has five regional centres. "We cannot expect citizens to all come to Brussels to complain," she said. Ongena responded that there is a role for local governments to guide citizens.
#FlandersNewsService | Unia director Els Keytsman and Patrick Charlier pictured at the presentation of the annual report of Unia, the Interfederal center for Equal Opportunities, in Brussels, Monday 24 June 2019. © BELGA PHOTO Benoit Doppagne