04/07/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“It is with great relief that we have learned of the release of the BBC journalist Alan Johnston”, said Robert Walter, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today. “Alan Johnston has been held hostage in Gaza since 12 March by a terrorist group which claimed religious legitimacy. As the Sub-Committee on the Media stated last week, holding an innocent person hostage for alleged political reasons is a grave violation of universal human values.
29/06/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE’s Sub-committee on the Media has again called on the kidnappers of BBC journalist Alan Johnston to immediately release him. Meeting on the fringes of the Assembly’s plenary, the sub-committee asked all Palestinian authorities to do their utmost to ensure his safe release. “Holding an innocent person hostage for alleged political reasons is a grave violation of universal human values,” the parliamentarians said.
04/05/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Speaking at the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education in Istanbul on 4 May, Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE) recalled on behalf of PACE that ignorance – both of human rights and of cultural diversity – was at the root of most negative attitudes towards different persons and cultures. “The full implementation of existing human rights in everyday life is an unfinished task. Human rights can most effectively be maintained when they are embedded in the culture of all citizens, which requires adequate cultural and education policies by all member states and the Council of Europe, including teacher training, professional training for journalists, training for civil servants in contact with the public as well as continuing training for politicians,” she stressed. She finally called for education to become a major leverage tool in the European process and said that education for Europe should be one of the main aims of European co-operation.
16/04/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
In a statement adopted today, PACE’s Sub-Committee on the Media said it was “deeply concerned” for the safety of the BBC reporter Alan Johnston, kidnapped a month ago in Gaza. Meeting on the fringe of the Assembly’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the sub-committee called on the kidnappers to release him immediately. This was echoed by the Chair of PACE's Culture Committee, Jacques Legendre, who added that "enough was enough" and that there could be no democracy without freedom of expression.
21/03/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Eddie O’Hara (United Kingdom, SOC), rapporteur on the cultural heritage in the South Caucasus for PACE, has welcomed the announcement of the opening on 29 March of the Armenian Akhtamar Church on Lake Van in Turkey, following extensive restoration funded by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. “The involvement of the Turkish Government, the Armenian Church authorities, experts from Turkish and international universities and local contractors is an outstanding example of how co-operation can help save the rich cultural heritage of this region,” said Mr O’Hara. “It now remains to work on access to the site, on its landscape surroundings and on the uses to which the restored site as a whole can be put.” He said he hoped the Armenian authorities will be able to participate in the opening.
26/02/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Blasphemy laws will be scrutinized at a colloquy on questions related to state and religion, organised by PACE's Culture Committee. The colloquy, on Tuesday 27 February 2007 in Strasbourg, will also address laws on state religion and religious influence in national life in areas such as education, matters of dress, holidays and food. Participants – including philosophers, historians and lawyers of different faiths – will also discuss creationism in education, and the contribution of religions to governance.
17/05/2006 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Student disaffection for scientific studies is very worrying, according to PACE's Culture committte. Referring to the reasons for such decline, parliamentarians said the education pupils receive is too abstract, the image of scientists is not very appealing to young people and the social status of researchers and engineers has declined in many European countries. "If a substantial effort is not made in the coming years to counter this situation in which students are opting for other disciplines, there will be legitimate cause for concern about the future of European nations", the adopted text warns.
16/05/2006 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE's Culture Committee is organising a parliamentary hearing on freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs, to take place in Paris on 18 May. The hearing aims to bring together philosophers, historians, theologians, journalists, artists and writers, as well as a panel of personalities from different religions and individuals involved in recent blasphemy cases. Participants at this hearing, which is open to the press, include Caroline Fourest, sociologist and essayist, Ronald Koven, World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), Ibrahim Nawar, Arab Press Freedom Watch (APFW), David Messas, Grand Rabbi of Paris, and Tareq Oubrou, Rector of the Bordeaux Mosque.
31/03/2006 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE’s Culture Committee has strongly condemned the denial of academic freedom in Belarus. In a statement adopted at the end of a Prague colloquy, the committee denounced the “totally controlled” system of education in the country and the harrassment of non-conforming teachers and students.
17/01/2006 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Organised by the Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the PACE, the hearing - in Paris on 18 January at 2.30 pm- concentrates on the situation of Kurdish communities from Iran, Iraq, Syria and the diaspora in order to complete a report by Lord Russell-Johnston (United Kingdom, ALDE), who visited Turkey in 2005. The meeting will be held in camera. Lord Russell-Johnston will meet the press at the end of the meeting at the CoE Paris Office (55, avenue Kléber, 16ème).
12/01/2006 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Organised by the Assembly’s Culture Committee, the hearing - in Paris on 18 January - concentrates on the situation of Kurdish communities from Iran, Iraq, Syria and the diaspora in order to complete a report by Lord Russell-Johnston (United Kingdom, ALDE), who visited Turkey in 2005.
30/11/2005 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
"With the presidential elections in 2006... the people of Belarus have the right to be informed independently and correctly about the situation in their country," said PACE's Sub-Committee on the Media in a declaration approved today. "Without free and independent media, these elections are doomed to be non-democratic." The sub-committee also called on the EU to remove constraints on broadcasting into Belarus.