01/06/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE Rapporteur on the Prosecution of offences falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), today welcomed the arrest by the Interior Ministries of the Republika Srpska and Serbia of Zdravko Tolimir, one of the remaining fugitive’s war criminals. Mr Lloyd noted that this arrest is an important step in the reconciliation process and demonstrates that, with the needed political will, fugitives can be found. “The arrest of Zdravko Tolimir is a very important step in the right direction” he said.
29/05/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), the Chair of PACE's Legal Affairs Committee, has expressed his indignation at the extension of the house arrest imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader in Myanmar and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Mr Marty strongly condemned this decision and denounced the systematic use of imprisonment for political reasons in the country.
15/05/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A member of PACE Legal Affairs Committee will visit Skopje to seek “supplementary information” before deciding whether or not to recommend a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the former President of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” Boris Trajkovski. Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) has been authorised by the committee to make the visit, though no date or programme has been decided yet.
14/05/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The presentation of Belarus as an unopposed candidate for the UN Human Rights Council is "nothing less than scandalous" given Belarus’ dismal human rights record, according to a statement approved today by PACE's Legal Affairs Committee. The committee urges the UN General Assembly to reject Belarus’ candidacy.
25/04/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE investigator Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) today strongly deplored the UN Security Council for the “flagrant injustice” of blacklisting individuals suspected of having links to terrorism without evidence of any wrong-doing, flouting its own principles. The process of blacklisting – in which individuals have their assets frozen and are banned from travelling – is carried out behind closed doors by a New York-based committee (the “1267 committee”) at the request of Security Council members. Those blacklisted are not informed or given a chance to be heard, and there is no appeal. The list currently contains 362 individuals and 125 companies or organisations.
17/04/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE Legal Affairs Committee today expressed indignation that serious human rights violations continue to be committed in Europe, especially in the North Caucasus, and said co-operation with the European Court of Human Rights and the Anti-Torture Committee was “essential”. In a statement adopted on the eve of a special, all-day debate on human rights in Europe, the committee reminded the Committee of Ministers, the Council’s executive body, that it was responsible for holding states accountable if they did not co-operate with these bodies.
04/04/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend, the rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, today appealed to Vietnamese President Nguyễn Minh Triết to reprieve Le Manh Luong, a British national facing the death penalty in Vietnam. "The Council of Europe campaigns worldwide for an end to the death penalty - and this case of a British national shows once again that European countries are directly concerned by executions in other parts of the world. Putting this man to death will not achieve justice, and I appeal to the President to send a progressive signal by sparing his life."
13/03/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
European governments must show “zero tolerance” to human rights violations and root out impunity for violators, a PACE committee has said ahead of a major debate on the state of human rights on the continent. PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee said there was a “gap” between the commitments undertaken by Council of Europe member states and the situation in practice. “It is time to end hypocrisy and turn words into deeds”, the committee said in a draft resolution. The all-day debate, involving global human rights personalities, takes place on Wednesday 18 April in Strasbourg.
16/02/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The request made by PACE rapporteur on secret detentions Dick Marty to visit the US detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba has been turned down. Mr Marty, who made the request in October 2006, aimed to question detainees about reports that they were earlier held in secret prisons in Europe. "If I cannot speak freely with detainees ... such a visit would be pointless,” he said. “I do not believe in parliamentary tourism at the taxpayer's expense. I am disappointed at this refusal by the US, an observer to the Council of Europe, but my investigation continues.”
02/02/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Speaking at the 3rd World Congress against the Death Penalty in Paris on 2 February, PACE rapporteur Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) stressed that “the Council of Europe’s experience has shown that a moratorium is an excellent way to smoothly move away from executions. When the general population realises that stopping executions in no way leads to an increase in murders or other serious crimes – and it is a well-documented fact that this is definitely not the case, even to the contrary – then there is much less resistance against the final abolition of the death penalty in public opinion.”
21/12/2006 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of has warmly welcomed today’s adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Convention against Enforced Disappearances. In a statement, the committee declared: “This important text, strongly supported by the Parliamentary Assembly, outlaws the barbaric practice of enforced disappearance and foresees concrete measures to prevent and punish such crimes more effectively. Ending impunity is the strongest signal that can be sent to potential future perpetrators, and the Council of Europe, far from solely pointing the finger at distant parts of the world, recognises that much still remains to be done in its own member states, as well as in Belarus – the last European country that is not yet part of the Council of Europe.”
27/11/2006 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), as Chair of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, has just sent an urgent appeal to the Russian authorities to ratify Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights before the end of the year. The purpose of Protocol 14, which was opened for signature in May 2004, is to ensure more satisfactory functioning of the European Court of Human Rights. "45 of our 46 member states have already ratified it," said Marty, "but Russia’s non-ratification is preventing improved functioning of the Court because all the member countries have to ratify Protocol 14 before it can enter into force."