06/10/2020 | Monitoring
“I am sad and angry about the tragic loss of lives, both civilian and military, caused by the new outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These hostilities are escalating rapidly into an all-out war which seriously threatens the stability of the region”, said the Chair of PACE’s...
06/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I welcome the inter-Libyan dialogue, of which the second round of talks continues in Bouznika (Morocco), between the delegations of the Libyan High Council of State and House of Representatives,” declared Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), PACE rapporteur on “Recent developments in Libya and the Middle...
06/10/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Chair of PACE's Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Dame Cheryl Gillan (United Kingdom, EC/DA), has expressed concern at the unfolding situation in Kyrgyzstan. “I am concerned by the news of mass unrest and street violence in Kyrgyzstan following the parliamentary elections on 4...
02/10/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A virtual parliamentary webinar on the importance of migrants’ remittances in times of crisis heard evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on amounts being sent home by migrants, and discussed ways of keeping these transfers flowing and making them easier. The webinar, which was organised by PACE’s...
01/10/2020 | Monitoring
“We are greatly concerned by the detention warrants issued against 101 members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on 25 September and 1st October 2020, notably for their alleged responsibility in the 2014 ‘Kobane protests’” said PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Turkey Thomas...
28/09/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Titus Corlăţean (Romania, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has welcomed the decision by the Kazakh authorities to abolish the death penalty entirely by signing the Second Optional Protocol to the...
28/09/2020 | Monitoring
“We are extremely concerned by the outbreak of military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan and its escalation, which put regional stability at risk. We deeply regret the losses of civilian and military lives reported by both parties,” said the PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Armenia...
25/09/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, meeting by videoconference, expressed its concern about academic freedom and institutional autonomy of higher education institutions, considering that they were under threat, ranging from the criminalisation of researchers, scholars and...
23/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
As states reintroduce extraordinary measures to deal with recent increases in the COVID-19 virus, PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has again warned that “democracy, human rights and the rule of law cannot be allowed to become the collateral damage of the pandemic”. While supporting States and...
23/09/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“There is a need for a global regulatory framework for AI, with principles based on the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” said the Political Affairs Committee today, which proposed that the Committee of Ministers support the elaboration of a “legally binding instrument...
22/09/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE’s Social Affairs Committee is calling for a “dedicated legal instrument”, preferably binding and with global reach, to ensure Artificial Intelligence respects human rights principles, particularly in health care. It would lay down benchmarks in areas such as privacy, confidentiality, the...
22/09/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“There is a wide variety of chronic and long-term illnesses – such as Lyme disease, Crohn's disease, or Charcot's disease – which cause physical disorders that are often disabling, impacting on society's perception of patients and preventing them from fully enjoying their rights and excluding...