29/06/2006 | News
In Strasbourg on Tuesday 27 June the Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Minodora Cliveti, opened the third meeting of PACE women parliamentarians, with the participation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Yakin Ertürk, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, the Deputy Secretary General of the “46”, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, and the Mayor of Strasbourg, Fabienne Keller. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to making the parliamentary component of the Council of Europe campaign to combat violence against women a success and said they would support and promote the campaign activities. Welcoming the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the United Nations, Ms Ertürk said she was convinced that the campaign would have an impact worldwide and would support the work of all those fighting to eradicate this scourge.
29/06/2006 | News
Alexander Grushko believes constructive work on dialogue and cooperation in Europe calls for PACE involvement. Addressing the Assembly today, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Chair of the Committee of Ministers, stressed the importance of PACE’s role in ensuring the success of the Council of Europe Plan of Action adopted at the Warsaw Summit. He said the Russian Federation would pursue its cooperation with the Assembly to strengthen intercultural dialogue in Europe and promote pan-European measures against terrorism.
29/06/2006 | News
The people and politicians of Bosnia and Herzegovina must again discuss constitutional reform immediately after the October general elections, PACE said today, urging a reform which “replaces the mechanisms of ethnic representation by representation based on the civic principle”. In a resolution, the Assembly strongly regretted the Parliament’s rejection in April, by two votes, of a package of constitutional amendments. The three constituent peoples and their representatives must “leave behind their war-time thinking”, the parliamentarians said, and end the “perpetual confrontation and obstructionism” which has dominated Bosnian politics.
29/06/2006 | News
"May the Campaign itself be a catalyst for the transformation of attitudes, for generating an awareness of the benefits of diversity to our societies, for promoting a genuine participation in our societies, based on human rights of all, equal in all our myriad differences”, the President of PACE said today in his opening address of the European Youth Campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation. Alexander Grushko, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, as well as Anneliese Oeschger, President of the INGO Conference and Bettina Schwarzmayr, Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, were among the speakers.
29/06/2006 | News
The Assembly today congratulated both Montenegro and Serbia on the peaceful and democratic way in which the dissolution of the State Union took place, and hoped that the outcome of the referendum “will contribute to the further regional stabilisation of the Western Balkans”. Pending a decision on the membership of the new State, PACE allowed the participation of an ad hoc delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro in its activities and announced the stepping up of its programme of parliamentary assistance to both Serbia and to Montenegro. PACE’s Monitoring Committee was instructed to contribute to the negotiation of the commitments that Montenegro will enter into upon accession.
29/06/2006 | News
The Assembly today decided to carry out country-by-country assessments of the extent to which all the Council of Europe’s member states are honouring their statutory and other conventional obligations. In a new procedure, it launched a three-year cycle of reports, based on comparative information from all the Council’s bodies, beginning with Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France and Germany. These states are invited to sign or ratify Council of Europe conventions or, in some cases, join Council monitoring bodies.
28/06/2006 | News
Whatever their legal status, irregular migrants retain their basic human rights, PACE pointed out today, calling for consolidation of the patchwork of international laws which currently apply to them. States should not use unreasonable force to prevent the entry of irregular migrants, and have a duty to rescue those whose lives are in danger. They should be protected from inhuman treatment or trafficking and provided, where necessary, with basic shelter and emergency healthcare, the parliamentarians said.
28/06/2006 | News
“Freedom of expression should not mean the freedom to insult,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, addressing the Assembly as part of a debate on freedom of expression and respect for religious belief. Presenting his joint initiative with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for an “Alliance of civilisations”, Mr Erdogan also said the recent cartoon crisis had revealed the growing and dangerous polarisation of the international community along cultural and religious fault-lines, exploited by extremists. He appealed for a middle way of respect, tolerance and cultural pluralism: “We must mobilise our hopes, not our fears”.
28/06/2006 | News
“The Alliance of Civilisations, which you co-chair with Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain, aspires to deepen the understanding of each other’s cultures and faiths and build on common and shared values,” PACE President René van der Linden stressed in his welcome speech to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “You are trying to bring rapprochement and co-existence of different cultures and religions and overcome all forms of fanaticism and ignorance that breed conflicts and extremism. We in the Parliamentary Assembly fully share and support your aspirations. As a genuinely pan-European body, we are the natural forum for inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue,” Mr van der Linden said.
28/06/2006 | News
Three new judges - in respect of Finland, Monaco and Switzerland - were elected to the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday 27 June 2006. Päivi Hirvelä has been elected judge in respect of Finland, Isabelle Berro-Lefevre has been elected the first judge in respect of Monaco and Giorgio Malinverni has been elected judge in respect of Switzerland. Judges are elected by PACE from lists of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.
28/06/2006 | News
“Freedom of expression should not be further restricted to meet the increasing sensitivities of certain religious groups,” PACE said today at the end of a debate on freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs, in which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part. On the basis of the proposals of the rapporteur, Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), the adopted text said that there cannot be a democratic society without the fundamental right to freedom of expression. “This freedom is not only applicable to expressions that are favorably received or regarded as inoffensive but also to those that may shock, offend or disturb the state or any sector of the population, in accordance with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights”, the text states.
28/06/2006 | News
Adressing PACE today, the President of Russia's Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, stated that Europe is not just about pluralism but about integrated democracy. "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should take the lead in ensuring greater co-operation between parliaments and the different institutions of Europe," he said. The Russian Federation wants to see more pan-European co-operation, Mr Mironov said.