26/01/2005 | News
While emphasising that the election of Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority opens a new window of opportunity for dialogue and renewal of a peace process in the Middle East, PACE today called on the international community to make an active contribution to the resumption of contacts between both parties. According to the adopted text, "the contacts between all parties concerned must be resumed immediately in order to take full advantage of the momentum resulting from the outcome of the election”. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia “should assume their responsibilities in line with their international positions and aspirations and be much more actively involved in the negotiation process". The parliamentarians said that a political solution can only be achieved through an end to violence and terrorism. "A ceasefire on both sides should be declared without delay", they said.
25/01/2005 | News
Two 'elected representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community' have been participating in PACE activities since Monday 24 January. They are Özdil Nami, from the Turkish Republican Party, and Hüseyin Özgürgün, of the National Unity Party. They will from now on be able to speak in the Assembly Chamber, although only one of them may speak in each debate. Their participation in committee activities will be a matter for each committee to decide. The decision to allow them to participate follows last April's Assembly Resolution 1376, which stated that "the Turkish Cypriots’ international isolation must cease", following their massive support for the Annan plan. The number of two representatives is based on paragraph 10 of Resolution 1113 (1997), according to which "Cyprus is entitled to three Representatives (and three Substitutes) in the Parliamentary Assembly, two of which are to be Greek Cypriots and one a Turkish Cypriot".
25/01/2005 | News
"Six million Jews died during the Holocaust. Six million faces, six million names, six million human fates. Together with millions of other Europeans, who were killed because of their ethnic origin, disability, political views or sexual orientation, they were the victims of the worst crime in the history of mankind. A crime conceived, planned and carried out here in Europe, less than a lifetime ago", PACE President René van der Linden said today during a commemoration ceremony of the 60the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at the Council of Europe. "We cannot and must not tolerate the revival of the ideology behind this crime, we must not accept that the horrors caused by the Nazi regime and the memory of the Shoah are banalised, questioned, denied or even ridiculed. I wish I could have said that Europe is free of anti-Semitism, that it is free of hatred and intolerance and neglect for human life and dignity, but we all know that this is not yet the case", he said.
25/01/2005 | News
Armenia and Azerbaijan should actively submit constructive proposals to each other via the OSCE’s Minsk Group for achieving a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Assembly said today – and if that fails, they should consider using the UN’s International Court of Justice. More than ten years after the conflict began, “considerable parts of the territory of Azerbaijan are still occupied by Armenian forces”, the parliamentarians pointed out – adding that occupation of foreign territory by a member state was a grave violation of that state’s obligations to the Council of Europe. They called on Azerbaijan to establish contacts with the political representatives of both communities from Nagorno-Karabakh, without preconditions, regarding the future status of the region. The Assembly also offered its help in creating a “parliamentary dimension” to the Minsk Process.
25/01/2005 | News
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today, Viktor Yushchenko said that, as President, he would do everything within his power to ensure that the democratic changes in his country were irreversible. Emphasising that the holding of above-board elections had opened the way for a new Ukrainian society - one which was open, democratic and European - the new President thanked the Parliamentary Assembly for helping streamline the process of amending Ukraine's Constitution and hailed the work of its monitoring co-rapporteurs. Ukraine would honour its commitments to the Council of Europe, he said.
25/01/2005 | News
PACE today called on UNMIK and KFOR/NATO to commence work, in co-operation with the Council of Europe, towards establishing a Human Rights Court for Kosovo, as part of a series of essential reforms to the human rights protection system. PACE believes that this court should follow the procedures and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It should have power to annul decisions and acts of UNMIK and KFOR, and award appropriate redress or compensation. Following the proposals contained in the text on the "Protection of Human Rights in Kosovo" prepared by Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), the parliamentarians underlined that the Court’s judges should be appointed by the President of the ECHR. Acoording to the parliamentarians, Kosovo is part of Europe, and the fact that it is currently under interim administration should not deprive its inhabitants from the effective protection of European human rights standards.
25/01/2005 | News
The prosecutions of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and two other former Yukos executives went beyond the mere pursuit of justice to include such elements as “to weaken an outspoken political opponent, intimidate other wealthy individuals and regain control of strategic economic assets”, PACE said in a resolution adopted today. It called on Russia, with the help of the Council of Europe, to continue preparing and implementing reforms of its legal and judicial system, and law enforcement agencies, so as to strengthen the rule of law and the protection of human rights.
24/01/2005 | News
Adopting its order of business on the first day of the session, the Assembly decided to hold an urgent debate on “Europe and the Tsunami disaster” at 3pm on Thursday 27th, with the participation of Yvette Stevens from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A second urgent debate on “Prospects for peace in the Middle East” was also agreed, to take place at 10am on Wednesday 28th, with the participation of representatives of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Israeli Knesset. The debate on Georgia’s honouring of its obligations and commitments will now take place on Monday afternoon, and the debate on the draft Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in human beings on Wednesday afternoon. Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis will make his address on “the state of the Council of Europe” on Thursday at noon.
24/01/2005 | News
René van der Linden (Netherlands, EPP/CD) was today unanimously elected PACE President for a mandate of one year, twice renewable. He succeeds Peter Schieder (Austria, SOC) as the 23rd President of the Assembly since its creation in 1949. He is the second Dutchman to fill this post. In his inaugural speech, Mr van der Linden said his priorities as PACE President would be increased co-operation with other international organisations, particularly the EU, UN and OSCE, making the Assembly’s work even more relevant to Europe’s citizens, and achieving a successful Third Summit of Heads of State and Government (Warsaw, Poland, 16-17 May).
24/01/2005 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly today elected its Vice-Presidents: Fátima Aburto Balsega (Spain), Giorgi Arveladzé (Georgia), Claudio Azzolini (Italy), Miroslav Benes (Czech Republic), Rudolf Bindig (Germany), Mikko Elo (Finland), Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco), Marcel Glesener (Luxembourg), Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland), Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom), Tito Masi (San Marino), Frano Matusic (Croatia), Mikhail Margelov (Russia), Murat Mercan (Turkey), Elsa Papadimitriou (Greece), Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (Malta), Bernard Schreiner (France), Hanne Severinsen (Denmark), Zoltán Szabo (Hungary), Vacant seat (Moldova).
24/01/2005 | News
Addressing the Assembly this afternoon, Claude Frey, Chairman of the Executive Council of the North-South Centre, gave a reminder of the Centre's objectives, and particularly welcomed the signature just six days before of a co-operation agreement between the Assembly and the North-South Centre. He said that it was now time to take the next step forward, so that all the Council of Europe member states which had not yet joined the North-South Centre could do so. In this context, he foresaw a bright future thanks to the new agreement, which would increase the synergy between the Parliamentary Assembly and the Centre.
24/01/2005 | News
A year on from the “Rose Revolution”, it is time to normalise the situation in Georgia and bring the political process firmly back to the country’s institutions, the Assembly said today at the end of a debate on Georgia’s honouring of its obligations and commitments. “The post-revolutionary situation should not become an alibi for hasty decisions and neglect of democratic and human rights standards,” the parliamentarians warned. But as a sign of understanding to the new authorities, they agreed to revise deadlines for some of Georgia's Council of Europe commitments. They also encouraged President Saakashvili’s initiative to propose a peace plan for South Ossetia – which he is due to present to the Assembly on Wednesday.