20/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty Aleksandar Nikoloski (North Macedonia, EPP/CD) reacted today to a new death sentence in Belarus: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms yesterday’s judgment of the Minsk Regional Court, sentencing Aleksandr Taratuta (convicted of...
16/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The General Rapporteur on Political Prisoners of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), has condemned the searches and subsequent detention of Alexei Navalny’s lawyers, and called for their release. “According to reports, the homes of Vadim...
12/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A livestreamed public hearing on "The human rights and humanitarian situation of Karabakh Armenians and the international obligations of Azerbaijan" took place today in Strasbourg on the margins of the Assembly's autumn plenary session. Participants included: * Thomas de Waal, scholar and writer...
10/10/2023 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is to create a “recurring contact platform” for dialogue with representatives of Russian democratic opposition forces who share Council of Europe values, fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and condemn Russia’s war of aggression...
09/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the eve of the 21st World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty Aleksandar Nikoloski (North Macedonia, EPP/CD) made the following statement: “As stated in the Preamble to Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human...
06/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Representatives of Russian democratic opposition forces who share Council of Europe values will continue their ongoing dialogue with leaders and members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) during a live-streamed hearing of three of its committees, taking place on Tuesday...
14/09/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE’s General Rapporteur for Political Prisoners, Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), has expressed deep concern at the ongoing treatment of Russian opposition politician and historian Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was also the winner of the 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize. “Last week the Russian...
12/09/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights raised concerns over the legitimacy and legality of amendments to the Russian Constitution made in July 2020. These amendments, including removing presidential term limits, have allowed President Vladimir Putin to remain in office until 2036...
08/09/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Citing “mounting evidence” that spyware has been used for illegitimate purposes by several Council of Europe member states, a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has urged five governments to provide information on their use of such spyware within three months...
04/09/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The General Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders and Whistleblowers, and on Political Prisoners, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD) and Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), have raised concerns about the health of journalist Amet...
24/08/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The General Rapporteur on Political Prisoners for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), has called for the immediate release of Gubad Ibadoghlu, an Azerbaijani academic and chair of the Democracy and Welfare Party. "Mr Ibadoghlu is an...
08/08/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“I strongly condemn Alexei Navalny’s sentencing on 4 August to further nineteen years in prison under a special regime for ‘extremism’-related charges, during a closed hearing in a penal colony,” today said Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), PACE’s General Rapporteur for political prisoners. Mr...