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	National Human Rights Structures can help mitigate the effects of austerity measures by Nils Muižnieks EU Commissioner for Human Rights   Effective protection of human rights at national levels requires good laws and efficient judiciaries – but also strong, independent national human rights structures (NHRSs). This need is especially evident in times of crisis and austerity.   NHRSs – independent commissions, general or specialised ombudsmen, equality bodies, police complaints mechanisms and similar institutions – protect human rights for everybody, but they are particularly important to the most vulnerable groups. They provide an easily accessible helping hand to children, older persons, people with disabilities, Roma, migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.   These vulnerable people – who have a difficult time defending their rights in the best of times – have often been hit hardest by budget cuts in many European countries. NHRSs often prioritise helping such groups by doing outreach work and site visits, organising special telephone hotlines, providing legal assistance and representation in courts, and drawing the attention of the broader public and politicians to their plight.   Detecting emerging problems   Due to a general deterioration of the human rights situation caused by the economic crisis, many NHRSs receive more complaints to handle. Sometimes these complaints are of a new nature, concerning for example dwindling social benefits or the neglect and abuse of older and disabled persons. Rather than dealing solely with the consequences of the crisis and monitoring its impact, some NHRSs have taken a proactive approach.   On a recent visit to Portugal, I was interested to learn of the good work done by the Ombudsman, who has three specialised hotlines – for children, older persons and people with disabilities. While the primary purpose of the hotlines is to listen and give people advice, the information provided by the complaints gives a good indication of emerging problems affecting these groups and should feed into the policy process. This tool has become particularly relevant during the economic crisis which has hit the country.   Another good example of a NHRS coping with the human rights consequences of the crisis is provided by the Spanish Ombudsman, who recently published a study on the situation of people who cannot pay their mortgages. Some of the recommendations set out in the study helped the authorities adopt measures to increase the protection of these people from the risk of exclusion and poverty.   The Scottish Human Rights Commission is working with the executive to screen the impact of austerity on human rights. In the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission recently published an important analysis of the government’s spending review as it affects the right to equality on the basis of race, gender and disability.   Severe cutbacks   Regrettably, many NHRSs have seen their operational capacities curtailed through severe budget and staff cuts, the closure of regional offices, or the merger of various bodies into overarching structures that are not as focussed or accessible as the bodies they have replaced.   NHRSs in Greece, Ireland, Latvia and the UK, for example, have faced cuts to their budgets or staff which may hinder their effectiveness. In some countries, such as Spain and Slovakia, regional ombudsmen or decentralised offices have been forced to close, thereby complicating individual’s access to complaint mechanisms.   The crisis may also represent an obstacle for countries which still have to put in place a nation-wide human rights structure compliant with the principles of independence, effectiveness and competence adopted by the United Nations in 1993.   Seeking advice from NHRSs   At a recent conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights held in Brighton, all 47 member states of the Council of Europe reaffirmed the need to co-operate with national human rights institutions and to consider establishing them where this has not already been done. This is a further recognition that NHRSs can provide a unique contribution to national efforts to protect and promote human rights.   It is therefore necessary that Governments, particularly in countries undergoing serious austerity, involve NHRSs at all stages of the budget process. They can provide expert advice on the groups that need the most protection, on the impact of various policy measures and on the more general human rights consequences of the crisis, which shows no signs of abating in many European countries. Visit the related web page
	More than 20 banks caught rigging interest rates by Reuters & agencies United Kingdom   July 2012   Hundreds of bankers across three continents are embroiled in the interest-rate fixing scandal. British bankers facing criminal inquiry over scandal that was kept secret for years.   Barclays Bank"s chief executive Bob Diamond has quit, with chief operating officer Jerry del Missier following his lead just hours later. The bank says both resignations are effective immediately.   The resignations follow the scandal surrounding several Barclays employees who manipulatied the benchmark London Interbank Offer Rate, known as Libor.   Libor underpins hundreds of trillions of dollars of interest rate-related financial contracts, and is supposed to be an honest estimate of the interest rate at which banks will lend to each other.   Barclays was fined a total of around $450 million by US and British financial regulators last week after it emerged that it had on many occasions submitted Libor estimates that were deliberately low or high on the request of traders who stood to profit from the moves.   At least 20 banks are believed to be under suspicion, with growing demands for a criminal investigation.   Barclays’ shares crashed by 15.5 per cent in a day as the implications sank in, wiping £3.7billion from its value, with other banks also hit.   UK Chancellor George Osborne told the Commons the exchanges ‘read like an epitaph to an age of irresponsibility’.   The Chancellor told parliament that the situation was "a shocking indictment of the culture of banks like Barclays in the run-up to the financial crisis."   "It is clear that what happened at Barclays, and potentially other banks, was completely unacceptable, was systematic of a financial system that elevated greed above all other concerns, and brought our economy to its knees," he said.   Matthew Oakeshott, the former finance spokesman for the Conservatives coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, described Barclays as "a casino that was rigging the wheels and loading the dice."   David Cameron, who is at an EU summit in Brussels, described the situation as an ‘extremely serious scandal’.   Asked how much wider the rate-fixing scandal might go, the Chancellor told MPs: ‘HSBC and RBS are two of the banks under investigation, but international banks such as UBS and Citigroup are under investigation too, partly for activities conducted in this country.’   Mr Osborne said the total impact on the economy and on individuals was ‘extremely difficult to work out, because the Libor rate was manipulated up as well as down’.   ‘Sometimes the rate was too low for the true market price, and sometimes it was too high,’ he said.   ‘The Financial Services Authority has made it clear, however, that that contributed to a risk to the country’s financial stability, and the cost of that is enormous.’   Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement at the FSA, said: ‘The initial indications are that Barclays was not the only firm that was involved in this.’   As well as RBS and HSBC, others under scrutiny include Lloyds, JPMorgan Chase, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.   A number of employees have already been fired and suspended at various banks. Giant Swiss bank UBS said it had approached regulators with information over abuses of the rate-setting system.   The Libor rate is crucial, since it is a key benchmark for trillions of dollars’ worth of financial products.   The multimillion dollar fine on Barclays from the UK and U.S. authorities, is likely to be only the beginning of a wave of punishments and civil suits for damages against other banks caught up in the global web of deceit.   Experts said banks might have to set aside billions of pounds in damages to cover their liabilities resulting from the conspiracy.   Former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said that once any criminal probe was underway, a public inquiry – like the one being conducted by Lord Leveson into media ethics – would have to be held.   "Clearly, the worms that are now crawling out from under the stones at the banking industry are even worse than any of us thought," he added.
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