French President; German, Turkish and Estonian Foreign Ministers to address the Assembly

14/09/2016 Session

French President François Hollande, German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and Estonian Foreign Minister Jürgen Ligi (who will present the activities of the Committee of Ministers, which he currently chairs) will address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) at its autumn plenary session in Strasbourg (10-14 October).

A current affairs debate has been requested on the situation in Turkey in the light of the attempted coup d’Etat. Debates are also foreseen on the political consequences of the Ukraine conflict and on legal remedies for human rights violations in areas not under Ukrainian control.

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, will address the Assembly in the context of a report on sport for all. The parliamentarians will also debate reports on children’s rights related to surrogacy, on lessons from the “Panama Papers” to ensure fiscal and social justice, as well as on co-operation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, will answer questions fom parliamentarians.

On the opening day of the session, the Assembly will decide the winner of the 2016 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize from a shortlist of three: Gordana Igric, a journalist from Serbia and active defender of human rights and media freedom; the International Institute of Human Rights/René Cassin Foundation, which has worked since 1969 for the promotion of human rights and peace through teaching and research; and Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who managed to flee ISIS in northern Iraq, and who brings the plight of the Yazidi community to the forefront of international attention.

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In addition, in the context of the #NoHateNoFear initiative against terrorism, members of several PACE committees will organise a debate with the participation of Antoine Leiris and Luciana Milani – whose wife and daughter respectively were killed in the Paris Bataclan attack – and David Anderson, independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom. This initiative, launched in June 2016 by PACE President Pedro Agramunt, aims to encourage all players in society to stand firm against the terrorist threat by refusing to give in to hatred or fear. The debate will be held on Tuesday 11 October, from 2 to 3.30 pm in Room 1.

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The Assembly will decide its final agenda on the opening day of the session.

Monday 10 October

· Statement by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly

· Progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee

· Observation of the parliamentary elections in Belarus (11 September 2016)

· Observation of the early parliamentary elections in Jordan (20 September 2016)

· Václav Havel Human Rights Prize Award Ceremony

· Questions to Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Tuesday 11 October

· Elections of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights

· The activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2015-2016 and statement by Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD

· Address by François Hollande, President of the French Republic

· Communication from the Committee of Ministers presented by Jürgen Ligi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers

· Lessons from the “Panama Papers” to ensure fiscal and social justice

· Children’s rights related to surrogacy

Wednesday 12 October

· Sport for all: a bridge to equality, integration and social inclusion and statement by Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee

· Address by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey

· Joint debate

- Political consequences of the conflict in Ukraine

- Legal remedies for human rights violations on the Ukrainian territories outside the control of the Ukrainian authorities

· Co-operation with the International Criminal Court: towards a concrete and expanded commitment

Thursday 13 October

· Address by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany

· Possible debate under urgent procedure or current affairs debate