25/05/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Today on the occasion of International Missing Children’s Day, I would like to call special attention to the problem of missing refugee and migrant children in Europe,” said Serap Yaşar (Turkey, NR), PACE’s rapporteur on “Missing refugee and migrant children in Europe. “The pandemic situation...
22/05/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), General Rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has today expressed concern over the detention of journalists, an appalling phenomenon which has been observed for many years...
20/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The member States' health systems will have to strive to adapt in order to be able to better cope in the future with a health emergency such as COVID-19, while respecting fundamental rights and freedoms,” said Andrej Hunko (Germany, UEL) who was appointed yesterday as rapporteur on the lessons...
18/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
With COVID-19 raising fears of increased surveillance, PACE’s rapporteur on Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, Selin Sayek Böke (Turkey, SOC), has issued a strong call for a new framework to regulate AI in this area, urging “a new era of citizen empowerment” for health data which will protect...
18/05/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The negative impact on sexual and reproductive health and rights of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as innovative solutions to cope with the crisis, were the focus of a parliamentary webinar streamed live via Facebook on 19 May 2020 at 16h CEST.Organised by PACE’s Committee on Equality and Non...
15/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic which has spread to all continents –resulting in more than 4 million cases of infection and 280,000 deaths worldwide to date – what conclusive lessons can be drawn and used in the event of future health crises, while giving priority to human rights? The...
15/05/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Council of Europe member States must adopt “relevant laws and sanctions to uphold the integrity of sports competitions against manipulation”, according to PACE‘s Culture Committee. This type of ‘organised crime’ can “only be tackled effectively through a common political commitment and legally...
15/05/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
As nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and the cognitive sciences converge, a PACE committee has called for “a new culture of public dialogue” on scientific advances to ensure that new technologies respect human rights. The committee makes reference to existing tools, such as...
15/05/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the inequalities existing in our societies, and marginalised still further those who were already most at risk. Many LGBTI people already faced discrimination in access to employment, housing and adequate health care, and the last few weeks have...
14/05/2020 | Monitoring
The PACE rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) and Sir Roger Gale (United Kingdom, EC/DA), have expressed their concern at the crackdown on critics of the authorities under the guise of combating the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as the safety of prisoners...
13/05/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE monitors for Turkey Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden, SOC) and John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/DA), as well as the General rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States Alexandra Louis (France, ALDE), have reacted to the decision of the Grand Chamber of...
11/05/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir (Iceland, UEL), PACE rapporteur on “Stop violence against, and exploitation of, migrant children”, has called for urgent action from European governments to assist internally displaced children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “UNICEF’s new report, Lost at Home...