03/10/2008 | Session
Council of Europe member states and parliaments should conduct periodic assessments of the state of their own media freedom, measuring their laws and practice against a range of basic principles drawn up by the Council of Europe, the Assembly said today. The parliamentarians proposed a list of such “indicators” in a resolution based on a report by Wolfgang Wodarg (Germany, SOC).
03/10/2008 | Session
PACE today welcomed the draft Council of Europe Convention on access to official documents as the first binding international treaty to lay down a general right of access to official documents. Nevertheless, the Assembly considered that the draft had shortcomings and therefore recommended that the Committee of Ministers send it back to the Steering Committee on Human Rights for further consideration.
03/10/2008 | Session
In a text unanimously adopted today, PACE has recommended that a framework convention of the Council of Europe be drafted on the severest and most widespread forms of violence against women, in particular domestic violence, sexual assaults, harassment, forced marriages, honour crimes and female genital mutilation. According to the Assembly, this convention should encompass the gender dimension and address the specific nature of gender-based violence.
03/10/2008 | Session
Highlighting the role of teachers and other educational staff in promoting a culture of human rights and democracy, the Assembly today called on European governments to promote “a lifelong learning perspective in respect of teacher education”, in order to help teachers adapt to the needs of rapidly-changing democratic societies.
03/10/2008 | Session
While recalling that the independence of the judiciary is fundamental, and that no influence should be exerted on the Constitutional Court of Turkey, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today expressed concern about the judicial proceedings that could lead to the closing-down of the Democratic Society Party. “The dissolution of political parties should be regarded as an exceptional measure to be applied only in cases where the party concerned uses violence or threatens civil peace and the democratic, constitutional order of the country," he said.
02/10/2008 | Session
PACE today expressed concern about elements of draft counter-terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom that would enable the detention of a terrorist suspect for up to 42 days without charge, with limited judicial review. The parliamentarians expressed “serious doubts” whether all the provisions of the draft legislation are in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights. “A lack of appropriate procedural safeguards may lead to arbitrariness”, the unanimously adopted text underlines.
02/10/2008 | Session
Since the facts surrounding the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia are disputed, there should be an independent international investigation into what happened, PACE said today after debating the consequences of the war. In a resolution, the Assembly declared that both Georgia and Russia had violated Council of Europe principles and values, and their commitment to settle conflicts by peaceful means. Both sides were responsible for violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
02/10/2008 | Session
"It is unfortunate that so few women are members of the executive bodies of political parties," said Lluís Maria de Puig, President of PACE, today, on the occasion of the launch of the 2009 Gender Equality Prize, specifying that women accounted for fewer than 20% of members of parliament in nearly half the member states. "I am convinced that this Prize, instituted by the Assembly, will encourage political parties in Europe to strive for greater parity," Mr de Puig added.
02/10/2008 | Session
PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights today adopted the following statement: “The Committee is worried about the fate of Guantanamo detainees who have been cleared of all suspicion of terrorist activity, but who cannot return to their home countries where they would now risk persecution. The Committee recalls the primary responsibility of the United States, which must recognise and adequately compensate the injustice done to these men."
02/10/2008 | Session
PACE Monitoring Committee has received the report from the Human Rights Commissioner regarding his visit to Yerevan from 13 to 15 July 2008 and is extremely alarmed about its findings and conclusions that show that only limited progress has been achieved regarding key demands of the Assembly. The committee therefore invited the Human Rights Commissioner to return to Yerevan and report back to the committee at its meeting in Paris on 17 December 2008.
01/10/2008 | Session
PACE today welcomed a number of praiseworthy initiatives to advance the rights of national minorities in Serbia, but said there were still “serious deficiencies” in realising these rights. Serbia should “react with greater celerity and firmness against the perpetrators of interethnic violence in all its forms”, the parliamentarians said. Among other things, they called for steps to make the national councils for national minorities more effective, and the adoption of a new law on discrimination.
01/10/2008 | Session
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría at the Assembly on 1st October, expressed the OECD’s support for the adoption of the U.S. systemic rescue plan: “I am confident that in the coming days the U.S. legislators will reach an agreement.” Europe may need such a plan as well, he said, “considering the exposure of European financial institutions.”