28/10/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), Chairman of the PACE Political Affairs Committee and rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo, will make a field visit on 2-4 November 2011 to evaluate the political situation. The rapporteur will have meetings with the authorities of Kosovo and also with representatives of political forces, local government and NGOs.
14/10/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In his speech at the Forum for the Future of Democracy, held in Limassol from 13 to 14 October, João Bosco Mota Amaral (Portugal, EPP/CD) welcomed the fact that “political apathy or citizens’ disinterest in institutionalised procedures of democracy has now given place to numerous movements of civil society, which have brought people to the streets and ‘woken up’ public or civic conscience.”
12/10/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on abolition of the death penalty, expressed her dismay after a military court in the northern West Bank has sentenced a former member of the Presidential Guard to death.
05/10/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE Political Affairs Committee today backed the intention of the Rapporteur for Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), to make a fact-finding visit to Minsk in the coming months in order to have the opportunity to meet not only with the authorities but also with political prisoners, including former Presidential candidates and Ales Bialiatski, President of the Human Rights Centre Viasna, following reports of physical and psychological ill treatment.
28/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Representatives of several Egyptian political parties will be in Strasbourg during PACE’s next plenary session, in response to the invitation addressed by Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), rapporteur on co-operation with the emerging democracies in the Arab world, and Konstantinos Vrettos (Greece, SOC), rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, at the end of their visit to Cairo from 23 to 27 September 2011.
22/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on co-operation with the emerging democracies in the Arab world, and Konstantinos Vrettos (Greece, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, will be visiting Egypt from 23 to 26 September 2011.
13/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"The celebration of the International Day of Democracy takes on a very special meaning this year at a time when movements of popular protest have broken out in the Arab world, bringing changes both spectacular and unexpected. The protagonists of the “Arab Spring”, who have forged rapid links via social networks and the Internet, want democratic change founded on trust and transparency: they aspire to dignity, freedom, social justice and respect for human rights in a law-based state, declared PACE Bureau on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy.
06/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In a debate today in Caserta, Italy, on the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe, based on a report by Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE), the Political Affairs Committee argued that the partnership between the EU and the Council of Europe should lead to a common space for human rights protection across the continent in the interest of all Europe's citizens.
06/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
On the basis of a report by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL), the PACE Political Affairs Committee today gave the go-ahead for granting Partner for Democracy status to the Palestinian National Council. The Assembly is to take a decision on this matter at its October plenary session in Strasbourg.
01/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
At the invitation of the Italian delegation to the PACE, its Bureau, the Political Affairs Committee and the Committee on Rules of Procedure meet in Caserta (Italy) on 5 and 6 September. The Political Affairs Committee will discuss the granting of “partner for democracy” status to the Palestinian National Council, based on a report to be presented by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL). The PACE will vote on a draft resolution on this subject at its next plenary session in Strasbourg (3-7 October 2011).
08/08/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Following last week's arrest of Ales Bialiatski, head of the NGO Viasna and Vice-President of the International Human Rights Federation, on charges of “tax evasion”, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on Belarus has urged the authorities in Belarus to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Bialiatski and to put an end to all forms of harassment against him and other human rights defenders in the country.
21/07/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Following the recent executions of two men, Oleg Grishkovets and Andrei Burdyka, in Belarus, as reported yesterday by the state-run Vecherny Grodno newspaper, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), the rapporteur on Belarus for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has reiterated the Assembly’s long-standing and categorical opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances.