25/08/2008 | Monitoring
“Russia and Georgia are member states of the Council of Europe and they must abide by the principles the Organisation stands for: respect of human rights, humanitarian law and rule of law must be ensured by all means”, said Mr Van den Brande, co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Russia after his visit to Moscow and North Ossetia. He was shocked by the stories of the refugees about “the massive and indiscriminate shelling and bombing of Tskhinvali and the destruction of residential areas”.
22/08/2008 | Monitoring
“It is unthinkable that, in the 21st century, a member State of the Council of Europe invades the territory of another member State. The occupation by Russia of a part of Georgia, as well as the human rights violations in the territories under its control, are unacceptable and cannot go unpunished,” declared Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), PACE co-rapporteurs on the monitoring of the obligations and commitments by Georgia, after their visit to Tbilisi and Gori from 18 to 21 August.
20/08/2008 | Monitoring
Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD), one of the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the monitoring of the obligations and commitments by Russia, will travel to Moscow today to collect information and discuss with the authorities their views on the conflict in Georgia. During his visit from 20 to 22 August, he is scheduled to meet with high level political representatives of the State Duma and the Council of the Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Emergency Situations, as well as the Russian parliamentary delegation to the Assembly.
18/08/2008 | Monitoring
"I would like to express my great satisfaction and relief at the liberation of Alexander Kozulin – who should never have been detained in the first place" said Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur on Belarus, Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE) today, commenting on the liberation of former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin.
18/08/2008 | Monitoring
Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), PACE Rapporteurs on the monitoring of the obligations and commitments by Georgia, will travel to Tbilisi next week to collect information on the ground and discuss the situation at the highest political level.
22/07/2008 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), today congratulated the Serbian authorities on the arrest of the war criminal Radovan Karadžic. “The arrest of the Radovan Karadžic shortly after the arrest of another indictee Stojan Župljanin earlier in June this year confirms that the Serbian authorities are committed to honouring their commitment with regard to the co-operation with the ICTY” said Charles Goerens. “The arrest of Karadžic proves that the remaining indictees are within reach. It creates a momentum for further strengthening the co-operation with the Tribunal to apprehend and bring to justice quickly all remaining indictees” continued Andreas Gross.
20/06/2008 | Monitoring
An urgent debate on Armenia at the plenary session of the PACE is warranted, according to the head of PACE’s Monitoring Committee. Progress made so far by the Armenian authorities in meeting the Assembly’s demands following the February 2008 post-election violence has been judged insufficient by the committee’s co-rapporteurs Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), its chair Serhiy Holovaty said in a letter today to the Assembly’s President.
12/06/2008 | Monitoring
Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE co-rapporteurs on the monitoring of Armenia’s obligations and commitments, will be making a fact-finding visit to Armenia on 16 and 17 June, in order to assess the implementation of PACE Resolution 1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia.
28/05/2008 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee, meeting in Kyiv on 26 and 27 May 2008, welcomed the initiatives taken by the Armenian authorities to address the issues contained in Resolution 1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. However, it is concerned that, to date, these initiatives have led to only a few tangible results regarding compliance with the demands of the Assembly as set out in this Resolution.
27/05/2008 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee today expressed great concern at the “deteriorating” human rights situation in Azerbaijan, undermining any efforts being made by the authorities to meet basic democratic standards in the forthcoming Presidential election. In a draft resolution approved today during a meeting in Kyiv, the committee said restrictions on freedom of expression – including harrassment and intimidation of opposition journalists – and limits on freedom of assembly and association were “inadmissible in a Council of Europe member state”, and declared that the issue of political prisoners had not been resolved.
23/05/2008 | Monitoring
PACE Monitoring Committee is due to approve a draft report on “the functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan” on Tuesday 27 May 2008 during its meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. “This report will lay out a road map for the authorities ahead of the October Presidential election,” said co-rapporteurs Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Evguenia Jivkova (Bulgaria, SOC), speaking on the eve of the meeting.
23/05/2008 | Monitoring
The members of PACE Monitoring Committee will meet in Kyiv the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and the Minister of Justice, as well as the heads of the opposition parties and ruling coalition parties.