14/04/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE's General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and rapporteur on political prisoners in Russia, Sunna Ævarsdóttir, (Iceland, SOC), today reacted to the sentence of Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian historian and opposition politician, to 15 days administrative detention for...
08/04/2022 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Fifty-one years after the first World Roma Congress of 8 April 1971, racism and discrimination against Roma and Travellers remain alarmingly rife in Europe,” declared Petra Bayr, the Parliamentary Assembly’s General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, on the occasion of International...
07/04/2022 | President
“We must consider the best ways to support children affected by the war in Ukraine,” PACE President Tiny Kox said today, speaking on the occasion of the launch of the new Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child at a high-level conference in Rome co-organised by the Council of...
06/04/2022 | President
PACE President Tiny Kox met today, in Lviv, with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. The President is visiting Ukraine at the invitation of the Speaker, and is accompanied by the leaders of the Assembly’s five political groups and the Secretary General of the Assembly. In Lviv they...
06/04/2022 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Zita Gurmai (Hungary, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Coordinator of the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence, today denounced the horrifying sexual violence reportedly perpetrated by Russian military forces in Ukraine. “Testimonies of rape and sexual...
06/04/2022 | President
At the invitation of Ukrainian Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tiny Kox, together with the members of the Assembly’s Presidential Committee, travelled to Ukraine for the first official Council of Europe visit since the...
05/04/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Legal Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris, denounced the frequent excessive use of force by law enforcement officers in member States, “violating the principles of necessity, proportionality, precaution, and non-discrimination", notably in policing peaceful demonstrations, in handling...
04/04/2022 | Election observation
Fundamental freedoms were largely respected in Serbia’s 3 April presidential and early parliamentary elections, and voters were presented diverse political options, but a number of shortcomings resulted in an uneven playing field, favouring the incumbents, international observers said in a...
04/04/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Council of Europe member states should “identify and freeze” as many of the assets of Russian oligarchs subject to targeted sanctions for their responsibilities in the war of aggression launched against Ukraine by the Russian Federation, said the PACE Legal Affairs Committee. In the Committee’s...
04/04/2022 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and its exclusion from the Council of Europe, the Political Affairs Committee has stressed the importance of strengthening the strategic partnership between the Council of Europe and the EU, “on the basis of their shared values and commitment...
03/04/2022 | President
PACE President Tiny Kox has expressed shock and horror at reports of civilian killings by Russian forces withdrawing from Bucha and other towns around Kyiv. “These horrible crimes need to be thoroughly investigated, and the perpetrators of any war crimes in this terrible war brought to justice...
01/04/2022 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“I am deeply concerned about the safety of LGBTI people in the context of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine”, said Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), the Assembly’s General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI people. “LGBTI people are already facing increasing violence, discrimination and...