22/06/2009 | Session
In his opening address at the summer session, Lluís Maria de Puig said that he hoped the Assembly would adopt a resolution on Tuesday calling for the Belarusian parliament's Special Guest status to be restored. This was simply a first step and very strict conditions would be applied before even a second one could be contemplated, he said. Nevertheless, it was an “outstretched hand”, to the authorities and the opposition, both of whom would have the opportunity to take part in the Assembly's activities.
22/06/2009 | Session
PACE today elected two Vice-Presidents: Dariusz Lipinski, Poland and Lilja Mósesdóttir, Iceland.
11/06/2009 | Session
The biennial debate on “the state of human rights in Europe”, addresses by Irish President Mary McAleese and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, and debates on Belarus and Armenia are among highlights of PACE’s summer session in Strasbourg on 22-26 June. Parliamentarians are also due to decide on the creation of a “partner for democracy” status within the Assembly, aimed at the parliaments of countries neighbouring Europe, and will consider a challenge to the credentials of the Ukrainian delegation. There has also been a request for an urgent debate on the election process for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
30/04/2009 | Session
In a text adopted today on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia and the follow-up given to Resolution 1648 (2009), PACE recommends that priority be given to dialogue between all parties, and steps must be taken to support civil society initiatives. “It is the people living in the conflict region who are the victims of this conflict. Steps have to be taken to give them opportunities to build up a humane and peaceful future without further war. To achieve this, building trust is essential. Without political willingness to go for solutions, nothing will change,” said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Rapporteur for the Committee on Migration, who made a fact-finding visit to South Ossetia on 13 and 14 March this year.
29/04/2009 | Session
The Assembly reviewed this morning the action taken by Georgia and Russia on Resolution 1647 (2009) adopted by the PACE in January 2009. The information report submitted by the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee (Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE)) concluded that Georgia has not yet fully complied with all of the Assembly’s demands. Russia, for its part, has failed to comply with most of the demands and might even be seen as moving further away from the minimum conditions for meaningful dialogue.
28/04/2009 | Session
In a resolution adopted today, PACE invited the member states to adapt their national legislation in order to prohibit and penalise forced marriages, female genital mutilation and any other gender-based violations of human rights, encouraging them to prosecute abductions, illegal confinements and forced returns of women or girls to their countries of origin. According to the parliamentarians, cultural or religious relativism cannot be invoked to justify these acts.
28/04/2009 | Session
Despite a period of turbulent transformation and several challenges, Serbia is “moving forward and making progress on the road to European integration”, according to PACE. In a resolution adopted today, the Assembly called on Serbia to prepare a “roadmap” of concrete actions to reform its democratic institutions – especially the parliament – improve human rights and reinforce the rule of law. This would “prepare the way” for closing the Assembly’s monitoring procedure, the parliamentarians said.
28/04/2009 | Session
'Markets alone cannot give answers to the current economic crisis, declared Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, adressing the Parliamentary Assembly on 28 April. Referring to recovery plans, Mrs Halonen reminded listeners that "a human-rights based approach will lead to more equitable and sustainable solutions" and that "the Council of Europe can provide us with useful tools in responding to the challenges of today," she said.
28/04/2009 | Session
The Assembly today reminded European governments of their “obligation and responsibility” to protect human rights defenders and their work “by providing an enabling environment” and, if necessary, “protection mechanisms to ensure the physical integrity” of those who face specific threats. The parliamentarians expressed concern about the situation of human rights defenders who are most exposed to attacks and abuses: those fighting against impunity for serious crimes and against corruption, as well as those working on economic, social and cultural rights, on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, as well as for the rights of migrants, national or ethnic minorities.
27/04/2009 | Session
Declaring a state of emergency should be “a means of last resort only”, clearly limited in time and subject to legislative and judicial oversight, according to PACE. Approving a report by Holger Haibach (Germany, EPP/CD) today, the Assembly said it was “concerned” by recent declarations of states of emergency in several member states, especially Georgia and Armenia. While permitted under the European Convention on Human Rights “in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation”, such declarations should never exceed what is required by the situation, and should always stay within international law, the parliamentarians said.
27/04/2009 | Session
PACE today decided to award its Human Rights Prize to British Irish Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation which since 1990 has been monitoring the human rights dimension of the Northern Ireland conflict and, more recently, the peace process. In March a panel including leading figures from the world of human rights chose British Irish Rights Watch from among fourteen individuals and NGOs nominated for the prize and praised its “courageous and outstanding work in monitoring and bringing to light human rights abuses, and its fight against impunity in Northern Ireland”.
27/04/2009 | Session
In his opening speech, PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, underlined that Durban II illustrated that “hatred, intolerance and destructive urges persist despite the determination that has been the driving force of all the democratic movements since the Second World War, a determination to eradicate the outrages which occurred as a result of this self-same hatred."