28/01/2011 | Session
In a resolution adopted today on the basis of a report on capitalising on older people’s working potential by Denis Jacquat (France, EPP/CD), PACE proposed a series of measures to promote active ageing. In the Assembly’s view, states should, in particular, consider “adopting legislation to prohibit age discrimination and removing labour-market barriers”, thus enabling older people to enter, remain in or return to the labour market more flexibly.
27/01/2011 | Session
At the opening of this morning`s session, the President of the Assembly regretfully announced that the Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha, would not be able to be present in Strasbourg and to make his speech this afternoon at 3pm.
27/01/2011 | Session
Christian communities could disappear from the Middle East, where Christianity had its beginnings, if low birth rates and emigration – fuelled in some places by discrimination and persecution – are not properly addressed, PACE has warned. In a recommendation adopted today, based on a report by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD), the Assembly unequivocally condemned the October 2010 massacre of worshippers in the Syriac Catholic cathedral in Baghdad and the January 2011 suicide bombing in a Coptic church in Alexandria.
27/01/2011 | Session
The protection of the rights and the integration of the nomad Roma cannot be the only responsibility of countries of origin, it requires international cooperation and support from pan European institutions such as the Council of Europe, said Traian Bãsescu, President of Romania on 27 January at the Parliamentary Assembly.
27/01/2011 | Session
Dismayed by the unprecedented wave of violence and persecution which followed the announcement of the results of the presidential election in Belarus in December 2010, the Assembly today called on the Belarus authorities to “release immediately” all opposition candidates, journalists and human rights activists detained on political grounds and to put an end to all acts of harassment and intimidation...
27/01/2011 | Session
Following the vast protest movement in Tunisia, which put an end to Ben Ali’s 23 years of rule over the country and led to the composition of a new government on 17 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called on “Tunisia’s political forces to start democratic reforms without delay” so as not to fail the people’s expectations.
26/01/2011 | Session
Organised crime is perverting democracy, and European countries must act together to stamp it out, Serbian President Boris Tadic warned parliamentarians on 26 January in Strasbourg. Tadic called for a "strategic alliance", with governments of the Western Balkans prioritising their work to beat the criminals. Turning to alleged crimes of organ trafficking revealed by the Assembly report on Tuesday, Tadic called for an immediate, full and independent criminal investigation of the charges.
26/01/2011 | Session
“Impunity must be fought resolutely [and] co-operation between all states is essential”, the Assembly today declared in adopting a resolution on the obligation of member states of the Council of Europe to co-operate in the prosecution of war crimes. On the basis that justice and accountability for war crimes are essential to regional reconciliation, the text urges all member and observer states to take all necessary measures to combat impunity for war crimes, in accordance with the initiatives of the Assembly and the United Nations.
26/01/2011 | Session
Fifteen years after the conflicts that ravaged the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the countries of the region must redouble their efforts to achieve "full reconciliation and Euro-Atlantic integration". In a resolution adopted unanimously today, and in line with the conclusions of the rapporteur, Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), the PACE invites the countries concerned to treat the issue of displaced persons as a priority.
26/01/2011 | Session
In a resolution adopted unanimously today, PACE has called on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo* to improve the protection of witnesses in war crimes cases tried in national courts. As the mandate of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will soon expire, most of these cases are now tried in the national courts.
26/01/2011 | Session
PACE has named nine states with “major systemic deficiencies” which are causing repeated violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a resolution adopted today, based on a report by Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), the Assembly said structural problems in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine were causing “extremely worrying delays” in implementing judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
26/01/2011 | Session
At the opening of a current affairs debate on the functioning of democracy in Hungary, Bjorn Von Sydow (Sweden, SOC) expressed serious concern with respect to the developments related to the rule of law, human rights and the functioning of democratic institutions in that country. He requested that a monitoring procedure be initiated…