31/01/2006 | Monitoring
The changes to the Constitution adopted by referendum on 27 November will at last allow Armenia to make progress in respecting the commitments it accepted on joining the Council of Europe, according to a statement by PACE's Monitoring Committee. But the committee asks: "Was it really necessary to stuff the ballot boxes and inflate the turnout artificially to get the reform through?"
15/12/2005 | Monitoring
Georgia’s progress over the last year can be regarded as “generally encouraging” but this is still only a first step towards fully meeting its Council of Europe obligations and commitments, PACE's Monitoring Committee said in a draft report approved today.
15/12/2005 | Monitoring
In a declaration adopted today, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has urged the Ukrainian Parliament to carry out its constitutional duty and renew the composition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine without any further delay.
28/11/2005 | Monitoring
At its meeting in Paris on 23 November the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe considered a memorandum submitted by the Rapporteur on Slovakia, Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, ALDE), and recommended the closure of post-monitoring dialogue. Having considered a memorandum submitted by the Rapporteur on Latvia, György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD), the committee also recommended the closure of the post-monitoring dialogue for this country, and decided to prepare a revised memorandum for the next committee meeting.
16/11/2005 | Monitoring
The head of PACE’s Monitoring Committee György Frunda, during a visit to Moscow, has again called on Russia to abolish the death penalty in law – reminding the authorities that Russia is the only one of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states which has not yet done so. “There have been no executions in Russia for ten years – this is now an accepted fact,” he said. “So why is it so difficult for Russia to ratify Protocol No. 6?” Mr Frunda said he understood that public opinion was against abolition, but pointed out that the same was true for other countries which had taken this step, and called for more public debate on the issue. “The Council of Europe does not blackmail anybody. But every member state has to fulfil its commitments. We have been waiting ten years.”
14/11/2005 | Monitoring
The chairperson of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) monitoring committee, György Frunda (Hungary, EPP/CD), will be in Moscow from 14 to 16 November to discuss prospects for an early ratification of Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights (abolishing the death penalty) with the Russian authorities. Meetings are scheduled with the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly as well as representatives of the State Duma’s Legal Affairs Committee, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly, the Administration of the President and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
14/10/2005 | Monitoring
György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD), the Chair of the Assembly's Monitoring Committee, visits Riga from 17 to 19 October 2005 to discuss progress in education reform and the speed of naturalisations with Latvian authorities as part of the Assembly’s "post-monitoring dialogue" with the country. He will meet the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as well as leaders of minority groups, and will visit both a Russian-medium and a Ukrainian-medium school in Riga.
03/06/2005 | Monitoring
In the last three years Russia made little progress regarding its outstanding commitments as a Council of Europe member state, concludes a report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly’s Monitoring Committee (PACE) and made public today. A draft resolution, which was prepared by David Atkinson (United Kingdom, EDG) and Rudolf Bindig (Germany, SOC), and will be debated at the PACE summer session in Strasbourg (20-24 June) lists some positive achievements, such as the adoption of a new criminal procedure code, reduction of the number of prisoners in detention centres and the conclusion of border agreements with several neighbour states. On the other hand, the commitments on which the progress is stalling include the formal abolition of the death penalty, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova and the obligation to bring to justice those found responsible for human rights violations in Chechnya.
23/03/2005 | Monitoring
PACE's co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine today welcomed “a new positive spirit” in Ukraine’s willingness to tackle its commitments to the Council of Europe, but said they were glad the new leadership “seems to have understood the necessity to pass from revolutionary ‘euphoria’ and rhetoric to concrete acts that will help make democratic processes irreversible”. Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, LDR) and Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) were speaking at a press conference following a fact-finding visit to Kyiv from 20 to 23 March 2005.
01/03/2005 | Monitoring
Co-rapporteurs Jerzy Smorawinski (Poland, EPP/CD) and Soeren Soendergaard (Denmark, UEL) return to Albania from 28 February to 3 March to assess progress following the Assembly’s last assessment, with a focus on parliamentary elections in the summer.
04/02/2005 | Monitoring
Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) and Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 10-13 February. As well as meeting President Aliyev, they are due to talk to representatives of the media, human rights NGOs, the opposition, election officials and senior judges. They will also meet oil company executives and the representatives of oil workers.
15/12/2004 | Monitoring
PACE's Monitoring Committee, meeting today in Paris, adopted the following statement: “The Committee regrets the failure of the Ukrainian authorities to respect its calls made in June and September 2004 to conduct the election process with absolute impartiality and respect for Council of Europe standards. Although the first round clearly showed that Mr Yushchenko and Mr Yanukovych were the two winning candidates, both rounds were marred with systematic fraud, massive manipulations, and abuse of power by state officials ...