Activities of the Assembly’s Bureau and Standing Committee (16 April – 20 June 2011)
Progress report
| Doc. 12642 Part I
| 18 June 2011
1 Introduction
1. On 15 April 2011, the Bureau appointed me rapporteur
for this report. Since the last part session of the Assembly, the
Bureau has met in Kyiv on 26 May 2011. The Standing Committee met
also in Kyiv on 27 May 2011.
2. In line with my predecessors, this progress report covers
the period outside of Assembly sessions, leaving aside the decisions
which have already been ratified by the Assembly. Thus, the first
part of this report presents the Bureau’s activities since the part-session
of April 2011 and up until the June 2011 part session. The activities
of the Standing Committee of 27 May 2011 are presented in the second
part of the report.
3. The Bureau will hold its next meetings on Monday 20 June 2011
at 8 am and Friday 24 June 2011 at 8.30 am (in Strasbourg, during
the part-session), then on 5 September 2011 (Caserta, Italy) following
an invitation by the Italian delegation. The next meeting of the
Standing Committee will be held in Edinburgh (United Kingdom) on
25 November 2011, following an invitation by the delegation of the
United Kingdom.
2 Activities
of the Bureau since the last part-session
2.1 European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (CPT)
4. At its meeting on 26 May 2011, concerning the list
of candidates for the CPT in respect of Spain, the Bureau took note
of the written information about the constitution of the list, provided
by the Chairperson of the Spanish delegation and decided to transmit
this list to the Committee of Ministers.
2.2 Ad hoc committees
of the Bureau for the observation of elections and referenda
2.2.1 Kazakhstan: early
presidential election (3 April 2011)
5. At its meeting on 26 May 2011, the Bureau approved
the report of the ad hoc committee presented by Mrs Liovochkina.
2.2.2 “The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia”: early parliamentary elections (5 June 2011)
6. The pre-electoral
mission to “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” took place
on 17-18 May 2011 and, at its meeting on 26 May 2011, the Bureau
took note of the related press release issued by the ad hoc Committee.
The report of the ad hoc committee which observed the elections
will be presented in the plenary on Monday 20 June 2011.
2.2.3 Turkey: parliamentary
elections (12 June 2011)
7. The Bureau, on 10 March 2011, took note of the composition
of the ad hoc committee for the observation of these elections and
appointed Mrs Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) as Chairperson of
the ad hoc Committee.
8. The pre
-electoral mission
to this country took place on 17 and 18 May 2011 and, at its meeting
on 26 May 2011, the Bureau took note of the related press release
issued by the ad hoc Committee
Note.
2.2.4 Tunisia: election
of a Constituent National Assembly (23 October 2011)
9. The Bureau decided to observe the election of a Constituent
National Assembly in Tunisia and constituted an ad hoc committee,
composed of 20 members in accordance with the D’Hondt system (EPP/CD: 7,
SOC: 6; EDG: 3, ALDE: 3, UEL: 1). It further authorised a pre-electoral
mission approximately one month ahead of the elections, composed
of five members, one from each group, who are also members of the
ad hoc committee.
10. Ad hoc committee of the Bureau on recent detentions, prosecutions
and convictions of members of the opposition in Belarus
11. The ad hoc committee of the Bureau on recent detentions, prosecutions
and convictions of members of the opposition in Belarus held its
second meeting on 30 May 2011 in Paris. It held an exchange of views
on a draft report presented by the Chairman, Mr Tomáš Jirsa (Czech
Republic, EDG), on the detentions, prosecutions and convictions
of members of the opposition in Belarus following the events of
19 December 2010 and instructed the Secretariat to update, enlarge
and finalise the draft report proposed by the Chairman, with a view
to presenting it to the Bureau at the latest during the fourth part
of the 2011 Ordinary Session.
12. Thenext meeting
of this ad hoc committee will take place on Tuesday 21 June 2011
in Strasbourg, during the third part of the 2011 Ordinary Session.
2.3 Issues raised by
committees
2.3.1 Follow-up to Resolution
1583 (2007) “Improving the participation of members in Assembly
plenary sessions and committee meetings”
13. At its meeting on 26 May 2011, the Bureau took note
of the oral and written report of the Chairperson of the Committee
on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs and
invited the President of the Assembly to write to the chairpersons
of the delegations with low participation rates and the speakers
of the parliaments concerned, to inform them of the situation and
possibly to hold a meeting with the chairpersons of the delegations
concerned.
2.4 References and
transmissions to committees
2.4.1 References approved
by the Bureau subject to ratification by the Standing Committee
14. On 26 May 2011, the Bureau approved the following
references, subject to ratification by the Standing Committee:
- Doc. 12543, Motion for a Resolution, The need for an international inquiry into
the crackdown against the Belarusian opposition in December 2010,
to the Political Affairs Committee for report (reference no. 3768);
- Doc. 12580,
Motion for a Resolution, Metsamor nuclear
power station – a vital threat to Europe in the present and the
future, to the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture
and Local and Regional Affairs for information (reference no 3769);
- Doc. 12582,
Motion for a Resolution, Fighting “child
sex tourism” through committed legal and political action,
to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee for report(reference no 3770);
- Doc. 12584,
Motion for a Resolution, Strengthening
consumer rights protection mechanisms, to the Social,
Health and Family Affairs Committee for information, reference no
3771);
- Doc 12585,
Motion for a Resolution, Improving user
protection and security in cyberspace, to the Committee
on Culture, Science and Education for report (reference no 3772)
and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for opinion;
- Doc. 12586,
Motion for a Resolution, Reinforcing
the selection processes of experts of the monitoring mechanisms
of the Council of Europe, to the Committee on Legal Affairs
and Human Rights for report (reference no 3773);
- Doc. 12617,
Motion for a Resolution, Lives lost in
the Mediterranean sea: who is responsible?, to the Committee
on Migration, Refugees and Population for report (reference no 3774);
- Doc. 12518,
Motion for a Recommendation, The state
of media freedom in Europe, to theCommittee
on Culture, Science and Education for report(reference
no 3775).
2.4.2 Consultations
15. As regards
Doc.
12587, Motion for a Resolution,
Criteria
for the definition of a political prisoner, the Bureau
decided to send it for consultation of the Committee on Legal Affairs
and Human Rights for a possible follow-up to be given.
2.5 Requests for extension
of references
16. On 26 May 2011, the Bureau approved the following
extensions:
- following a decision
by the Bureau, The humanitarian consequences
of the war between Georgia and Russia: follow-up given to Resolution
1648 (2009), to the Committee on Migration, Refugees
and Population, for report (reference no 3574), extension until
30 April 2012;
- Doc. 11831,
Motion for a Resolution, Lack of appropriate
follow-up, by the Committee of Ministers, to the work of the Parliamentary
Assembly, to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs for report (reference no 3541), extension
until 31 January 2012;
- Doc. 11922,
Motion for a Resolution, The definition
of political prisoners, to the Committee on Legal Affairs
and Human Rights, for report(reference
no 3618), extension until 30 June 2012.
2.6 Other business
17. On 26 May 2011, the Bureau approved the report submitted
by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development on the Analysis of the use made by the Assembly’s
political groups of their allocations for 2010.
3 Activities of the
Standing Committee (Kyiv, 27 May 2011)
18. The Standing Committee, meeting
on 27 May 2011 in Kyiv (Ukraine) heard a welcome address by Mr Volodymyr
Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and held an exchange
of views with Mr Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs
of Ukraine, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe.
19. Following debates, the Standing Committee, on behalf of the
Assembly, adopted the following texts which are available on the
Assembly website:
20. The Standing Committee ratified the changes in the composition
of Assembly committees in respect of the delegations of Estonia
and Moldova and in the composition of the Committee on Rules of
Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs with regard to the
EPP/CD political group.
21. The Standing Committee took note of the draft agenda of the
third Part-Session of the Assembly (20-24 June 2011).
22. The Standing Committee ratified the references adopted by
the Bureau on 26 May 2011 (see par. 2.5.1 above).
23. The Standing committee took note of the report of the Ad hoc
Committee of the Bureau on the “Observation
of the early presidential election in Kazakhstan (3 April 2011)”
and of the information report by the Political Affairs Committee
“Iran’s nuclear programme: the need for an effective international
response”
Note.
24. The Standing Committee decided to hold its next meeting in
Edinburgh (United Kingdom), on 25 November 2011.
Appendix 1 – Appointments
of Assembly Representatives for official activities
Ms Radoluvić-Šćepanovic (Montenegro, SOC),
9th Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of the South East European
Cooperation Process (SEECP), Becici (Montenegro), 13-15 June 2011
at no cost for the Assembly.
Appendix 2 – Press release
of the delegation which observed the parliamentary elections in
Turkey on 12 June 2011
Ref. PACE 028 (2011)
Turkey’s well-managed, democratic elections demonstrated pluralism,
but also showed a need for improvements on fundamental freedoms
Strasbourg, 13.06.2011 – The 12 June 2011 elections to the
Turkish Grand National Assembly demonstrated that recent changes
enacted by the Turkish government have improved the electoral system,
yet there were some worrying developments, especially regarding
freedom of expression, including media freedom. The electoral process
was generally characterized by pluralism and a vibrant civil society.
Voting and counting observed on Election Day showed a mostly calm
and professionally-managed process.
Some elements of the legal framework continue to constrain
activities of the media and political parties by limiting freedom
of speech.
The 10 percent threshold for political party representation
in Parliament – the highest in the OSCE region – remains one of
the central issues that limit the representative nature of the legislature.
For the first time, contestants were allowed to buy political
advertisements. Political parties are granted free airtime in the
final week of the campaign on the main state-owned public television
channel; additional airtime is granted to parties proportionally
based on votes received in the last elections. Independent candidates
do not qualify for free airtime and opposition parties claimed that
they receive significantly less coverage in Turkish media compared
to the governing party.
The registration of political parties and independent candidates
offered voters genuine choices. The practical allowance for the
use of other languages, including Kurdish, in political campaigning
is an important change this year that strengthened the country’s
pluralistic, democratic debate.
Government control over influential media groups allegedly
resulted in biased reporting and self-censorship, but journalists
and NGOs said business interests also limit media freedom. Observers
noted the detention and ongoing investigations of more than 50 journalists
in Turkey, some linked to alleged connections with an attempted
coup. Limiting freedom of the media is a violation of the 1990 Copenhagen
Document and a host Council of Europe documents. On 2 May 2011 the
Turkish Constitutional Court amended the Press Law to extend the
statute of limitations for filing criminal cases against journalists
from two months to eight years. This ruling has been cited by many
observers, including the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,
as putting journalists under the permanent threat of criminal lawsuits.
Procedures during the elections were generally well organized
and conducted in an orderly and professional fashion, even though
there were initial problems with the registration of some independent
candidates. The Supreme Board of Elections (SBE) enjoyed broad public
confidence and respect through its transparent, professional and
efficient administration of the election. Voters had to present
photo identification at polling stations. Transparent ballot boxes
were used for the first time. In a technical improvement, the SBE
had prepared voter lists for the elections based on a nationwide
electronic civil registration system that links a voter’s registered
residence with a unique personal identification number. However,
many stakeholders raised questions about remarkable changes in the
number of registered voters in recent years, and the printing of
a disproportionally high number of excess ballot papers.
Political parties had sufficient ability to convey their programs
to voters. The election campaign took place in a polarized environment.
The parliamentary observers welcomed the fact that the stakeholders
mostly exercised restraint even if there was heavy police presence
and tensions in parts of the South East, as well as isolated reports
of physical attacks. At the same time, many rallies with large crowds
of citizens occurred largely free of violence. Most importantly,
the election day was overall carried out without violence.
The counting observed was done efficiently and in compliance
with the existing regulations. Party representatives and observers
had access to the results in the polling stations.
There is a need to broadly promote more participation and
representation of women in the political life of the country. Less
than 9 per cent of the seats in the outgoing parliament were held
by women, and the candidate lists presented by the political parties
did not meet promises made; women never made up even 20 per cent of
the candidates on any party’s candidate list.
On Election Day, observers witnessed the opening of polling
stations, voting and the closing process, including the vote count.
Local election officials and poll workers appeared well-trained,
polling proceeded in a calm and well-organized manner. Turnout was
reported at 84 per cent.
In keeping with its OSCE and Council of Europe commitments,
Turkey invited parliamentarians from the OSCE and Council of Europe
to observe these elections. The observers were mostly granted access
to all levels of election administration and polling stations on
Election Day. In order to remove any uncertainty and to comply fully
with OSCE commitments, it is desirable that the law specifically
allow international observers access to national election proceedings.
The observation, bringing together more than 70 observers,
including 61 Members of Parliaments from 30 countries, was a joint
effort of delegations from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), led by OSCE PA
Vice-President, and Member of the Danish Parliament Pia Christmas-Moeller,
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),
led by Member of the Swedish Parliament Kerstin Lundgren.
For more information, contact
Neil Simon, OSCE PA, +45 60 10 83 80, [email protected]
Nathalie Bargellini, PACE, +33 6 65 40 32 82, [email protected]
