Europe faces same problems as US in dealing with civil unrest: CoE

STRASBOURG (Xinhua) - The European countries would face the same difficulties as the United States on how to respond to civil unrest while avoiding the use of disproportionate force, a spokesperson of the Council of Europe said on Saturday.

"It's a problem shared equally by member states of the Council of Europe in recent years," Daniel Holtgen for the Secretary General of the organization told Xinhua, citing protests in London,  Sweden and Turkey.

Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland has made a statement in which he expressed concern regarding arrests and the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters in Ferguson, Missouri,  in the United States.

"This undermines the full exercise of human rights, starting with the rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression," the Secretary General declared, calling the American authorities "to look into the socio-economic background for the reasons why so many peaceful protesters went to the streets".

"It wasn't a reprimand for a persistent problem, but a reminder of the universal human rights shared by the Council of Europe with the United States in its role as an observer country," Holtgen explained.

"The Secretary General has not received a response from the United States after his statement on the subject," Holtgen said, noting however that tensions had climbed down between protesters and police in Ferguson over the past few days.