14/04/2004 | President
On 13 April, President Peter Schieder wrote to the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Arthur Baghdasaryan, asking for detailed information on recent events in Armenia, including the disruption of a regular session of parliament. In his letter he expressed great concern over arrests of opposition leaders, reportedly including a member of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly, Shavarsh Kocharyan, and people attending opposition rallies, as well as over alleged ill-treatment of the media. Armenia has recently made considerable efforts to honour the obligations and commitments it undertook on joining the Council of Europe. But you are also aware of our concerns about the remaining shortcomings and the Assembly’s decision in January this year not to end the current monitoring procedure until further progress has been made in this respect, Peter Schieder says in his letter.
05/04/2004 | President
Assembly President Peter Schieder today called on all Cypriots to seize the historic opportunity of the 24 April referendum to reunite the divided island of Cyprus before it joins the EU on 1 May. He urged the leaders of both communities, as well as the Greek and Turkish governments, to act with the utmost responsibility and rally all Cypriots in support of the revised UN plan. Peter Schieder expressed his full support for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s efforts. “This is an example of the important role the UN can play in conflict resolution,” he said.
25/03/2004 | President
Assembly President Peter Schieder today urged the Georgian authorities to act with the utmost responsibility and restraint in order to ensure the peaceful conduct of the 28 March parliamentary elections. As regards Adjara, he said it was important to implement the recent agreement signed by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Head of the Adjarian Autonomy Aslan Abashidze, in good faith.
23/03/2004 | President
“I condemn the missile-targeted murder by Israel this morning of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,” said Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder today. “Whatever the alleged crimes committed by Sheikh Yassin, the state of Israel has taken upon itself to act as an executioner in occupied territory under its protection. This is not the rule of law, nor is it human rights. It also violates our ban on the death penalty, which must be observed and applied by all states whose parliaments enjoy observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Making a martyr out of the spiritual leader of Hamas is not going to help the cause of peace in the Middle East,” said President Schieder. The Israeli Knesset has enjoyed observer status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 1957.
19/03/2004 | President
“Just a few days ago, the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights organised a hearing on the human rights situation in Kosovo. The meeting focused on ways to protect human rights of all citizens of Kosovo. Today, Serbian villages across Kosovo are in flames, and a raging mob is set to destroy orthodox churches as symbols of the Serbian presence in Kosovo. Their acts are disgraceful, but so is the absence of clear and unequivocal condemnation of the anti-Serb violence by the Kosovo Albanian leadership. Shifting the blame to the other side, and attempts to exploit the escalation of ethnic violence to further the political cause of the majority population, are unacceptable. Kosovo cannot build its future on the blood of innocent people and the ashes of their burned homes and churches."
18/03/2004 | President
“Seven days after the tragedy of Atocha, El Pozo and Santa Eugenia, the images of horror provoked by terrorist bombs are still on everyone’s mind. 11 March – and the more than two hundred victims savagely murdered on that day – will be forever engraved in the collective memory of Europe and the world. (…) The message we should draw from the tragedy of Madrid is that in the face of such horror our anger is human, normal and justified. I say anger, not hate. Anger can make us stronger, hate only weakens us. Anger may help us to win, but if we succumb to hate, we have already lost”, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder said today, speaking in Strasbourg at a conference marking the tenth anniversary of ECRI.
18/03/2004 | President
Assembly President made the following statement today: “The outbreak of violence in Kosovo, and its heavy human toll, has already been unanimously condemned by the international community. KFOR is sending additional troops to the province to prevent any further clashes and bloodshed. Meanwhile, in Belgrade, Nis and other cities across Serbia, protests provoked by the outbreak of violence, in some cases degenerated into a disgraceful display of ethnic hatred and vandalism. Two mosques have been burned, and a number of policemen and journalists have been brutally assaulted. While concern for the security of the Serbian population in Kosovo is justified, and shared by the international community as a whole, the events of last night have only aggravated the situation of the victims of ethnic violence in Kosovo. Again, I call on Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders to unconditionally condemn and do all in their power to stop all acts of violence, including those committed by members of their own ethnic group.”
16/03/2004 | President
“The UN Commission on Human Rights, meeting in Geneva from 15 March to 23 April, is due to consider a resolution put forward by Brazil on sexual orientation and human rights. The resolution is of great importance as it would be the first general statement opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation at the global level,” Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder stressed in an open letter published today.
12/03/2004 | President
In a letter sent to the Speakers of the two chambers of the Spanish Parliament, Luisa Fernanda Rudi and Juan José Lucas, Assembly President Peter Schieder firmly condemned the bomb attacks in Madrid: "We democrats all feel horror and anger at such a display of inhumanity and hatred. Nothing can ever justify those who defend terrorism," he said.
27/02/2004 | President
Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder today launched a pressing appeal for the abolition of the death penalty in Japan, following the death sentence passed on Shoko Asahara, the leader of a Japanese doomsday cult, and other members of the cult involved in the gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995. “The case for sparing Shoko Asahara’s life is neither easy nor a popular one to make. The Council of Europe is opposed to the death penalty in all its forms, even for the Tokyo subway killer. But human rights apply to every one of us, without exception,” Mr Schieder said.
26/02/2004 | President
In a letter of condolence addressed today to the Speaker of the Parliament of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Assembly President Peter Schieder wrote: “I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of President Trajkovski this morning in what appears to have been a tragic accident. On behalf of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, I extend my condolences to his family and to the families of those others who died. The Macedonian people have lost a loyal servant, and a man who did much to maintain peace and the unity of his country.” President Trajkovski addressed the Assembly in Strasbourg twice (in June 2000 and June 2002). "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" joined the Council of Europe in 1995.
26/02/2004 | President
“Liechtenstein wishes to be an active member of the Council of Europe,” said Assembly President Peter Schieder today following an exchange of views with the President of the Liechtenstein parliament Klaus Wanger in Vienna on dialogue with the authorities of the Principality. On 26 January, the Assembly had confirmed the decision of its Bureau not to monitor Liechtenstein over recent constitutional changes but instead to start a dialogue with authorities of the Principality on the question. President Schieder will inform the members of the Bureau of his meeting on Monday, 1st March in Paris.